Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was honored for his fielding prowess on Thursday, winning the Fielding Bible Award as the top defensive first baseman in baseball in 2014. Fielding Bible founder John Dewan made the announcement.
Gonzalez totaled 12 defensive runs saved per Baseball Info Solutions in 2014 and leads all first baseman with 62 defensive runs saved from 2009-14.
The first baseman has won three Gold Glove Awards in his career, the last in 2011. But this is his first Fielding Bible Award.
"Adrian Gonzalez has been the best defensive first baseman in baseball over the last six seasons but somehow he has never won a Fielding Bible Award. Until now," wrote Dewan. "He fields his position well, does a great job with difficult throws, and handles bunts and double plays with the best of them. But he's not flashy. Just consistently excellent.
Gonzalez received seven of 12 first-place votes and four second-place tallies, totaling 110 points (in a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 format) to easily outpace Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who finished second with 79 points.
Voting is done by a panel of 10 members plus two groups of people, including Dewan, writers Bill James, Peter Gammons, Joe Posnanski, Rob Neyer and Dave Cameron; Brian Kenny of MLB Network, Doug Glanville and Mark Simon of ESPN, and Strat-O-Matic inventor Hal Richman. The two groups are video scouts from Baseball Info Solutions and a fan poll run by sabermatrician Tom Tango.
Gonzalez is also one of three finalists for the National League Gold Glove Award at first base, along with Adam LaRoche of the Nationals and Justin Morneau of the Rockies. The Gold Glove Award winners, voted on by major league coaches and managers plus a sabermetric component, will be announced on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN2.