Happy 71st Birthday To Greatest Defensive First Baseman

Happy 71st birthday to the greatest defensive first baseman ever! Cue arguments! Lol! Not sure how Keith Hernandez is not in the Hall of Fame. Mr. Rawitch and Ms Jane Forbes Clark – HELP! 😊
Here’s an interesting tidbit below regarding the leading gold glove award winners at every position in baseball. All of these players have one thing in common except for one. All are in the Hall of Fame except for Keith Hernandez. Hall of Fame voters/committees let’s get this right!! Keith Hernandez for the HALL OF FAME!

Pitcher: Greg Maddux, 18
Maddux was so dominant on the mound that it’s sometimes easy to forget that the man won the most Gold Glove Awards of any player at any position in baseball history. If it wasn’t enough that Maddux won four straight NL Cy Young Awards from 1992-95, you almost had no chance as an NL pitcher even when it came to a Gold Glove trophy if Maddux was still pitching.

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez, 13
“Pudge” made his Major League debut for the Rangers on June 20, 1991, against the White Sox and another Hall of Fame “Pudge” -- Carlton Fisk. Rodriguez threw out two runners in his first career game. Rodriguez only played in 88 games that rookie season, but won his first Gold Glove Award the following year. That began a streak of 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Rangers. His 10th, which came in 2001, tied Johnny Bench for most all-time by a catcher. He broke Bench’s record while with the Tigers in 2004, and finished with 13 in his illustrious career.

First base: Keith Hernandez, 11
He was a five-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion and won the 1979 NL Co-Most Valuable Player Award. But Hernandez is perhaps most known for his smooth glove at first base, winning all 11 of his Gold Glove Awards in succession from 1978-88. With his excellence both at the plate and in the field, Hernandez garnered MVP votes in eight of his 17 seasons, including a runner-up finish in 1984 and a fourth-place finish in ’86.

Second base: Roberto Alomar, 10
Alomar won 10 Gold Glove Awards in 11 seasons from 1991-2001 while playing for the Blue Jays, Orioles and Cleveland. The Hall of Famer was a magician at second base and also a 12-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion.

Third base: Brooks Robinson, 16
Robinson remains revered as the best defensive third baseman of all-time, and with good reason. His 16 Gold Glove Awards at the position are the most of any position player in baseball history. If you were an AL third baseman from 1960-75, and your name wasn’t Brooks Robinson, you did not win the Gold Glove Award for the hot corner. Robinson may have shined brightest during the 1970 World Series against the Reds, when he made great play after great play and was named MVP. Robinson was an 18-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion and the 1964 AL MVP.

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith, 13
The Wizard. Those two words, for a baseball fan, conjure up images of impossible defensive plays being made, spectacularly athletic double plays, and the customary backflip while heading out to his position at shortstop for the Cardinals. Smith was a human highlight reel at short for 19 years, winning the NL Gold Glove Award for the position every year from 1980-92. Known primarily for his defense, the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star also hit one of the most memorable -- and shocking -- home runs in baseball history, launching one over the right-field wall at Busch Stadium to win Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS against the Dodgers. Jack Buck’s legendary call of the moment lives on: “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!”

Outfield: Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, 12
Prior to 2011, there were three Gold Glove Awards presented for outfielders without regard to their specific position. Two of the greatest all-around players in baseball history -- Mays and Clemente -- share the distinction of winning the most Gold Glove Awards as an outfielder.
Mays, known as the “Say Hey Kid,” could do it all. He hit, hit for power, flew around the bases and made incredible plays in center field. Those plays earned him a dozen Gold Glove Awards over his 22-year Hall of Fame career, all in succession from 1957-68. Ironically, all were won after Mays made one of the most famous catches in MLB history -- “The Catch” against Cleveland's Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. It was an over-the-shoulder grab in deep center at the Polo Grounds, followed by a whirlwind throw that prevented a run from scoring. In addition to all of his defensive accolades, he was also the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year, a two-time NL MVP and an All-Star in 20 of his 22 MLB seasons.

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