It was expected to be the biggest battleground for the Golden Glove, but the result was bland. The first and second places were twice the difference.먹튀검증
KBO held the "2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO Golden Glove Awards" given to the best players in each KBO League position at the COEX Auditorium in Samseong-dong, Seoul on the 13th.
Ahead of the award ceremony, outfielders, shortstop, first baseman and catcher was expected to face fierce competition, which would not be easy to determine the superiority and inferiority of each other. However, there was a wide gap in votes except for outfielders. Notably, the gap between the catcher and the first baseman was two times higher.
In the catcher's category, Samsung's Kang Min-ho beat LG's Park Dong-won to win the Golden Glove, the seventh catcher's prize. Kang garnered 191 votes. Park Dong-won came in second with only 89 votes. KT's Jang Sung-woo received five votes, SSG Lee Ji-young received one, NC's Kim Hyung-joon received one, and Hanwha's Choi Jae-hoon received one.
There was no significant difference in performance. In terms of the "WAR" based on Sports-to-I, Park was slightly ahead of Kang Min-ho's "WAR" with 3.30.
Kang Min-ho played in 136 games this season and recorded a batting average of .365 with 19 homers and 77 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .496 and an OPS of .861. He played 803 innings (5th in the league) as a catcher, and had a steal blocking percentage of 23.4% (72 allowed, 22 blocked), two errors and a defense percentage of .997 (2nd in the league).
Park Dong-won played in 130 games this season and posted a batting average of 272 (118 hits in 434 times at bat), 20 homers, 80 RBIs and 58 runs on-base percentage of .349, a slugging percentage of .461, and an OPS of .810. He played 944 ⅔ innings (No. 1 in the league) wearing a catcher's mask, and had a steal blocking percentage of 25.0 percent (87 allowed, 29 allowed), four errors, and a defense percentage of .996 (third in the league).
In recognition, veteran Kang Min-ho seems to have garnered a lot of votes. In addition, he continued his "two-way system" in the catcher category for the 14th year. Kang became the recipient in 2008, 2011-2012, 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2024.
After winning the award, Kang Min-ho said, "I came lightly without knowing that I would receive the award, but I feel good to receive it. My family didn't come with me because I was afraid I wouldn't receive the award today," and said, "I love you" to my children and wife who will be watching on TV.
The same applies to the first baseman. The two-way race was between the home run king, NC Davidson, and the RBI king, LG Austin.
During this season, Austin played in 140 games with a batting average of 319 (168 hits in 527 times at bat), 32 homers (sixth), 132 RBIs (first place), 99 runs, 61 walks, 82 strikeouts, and a .384 OPS.957 on-base percentage. It was even better than last year's, and he became the first LG player to record 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.
Davidson played in 131 games and posted a batting average of .370 with 46 homers and 119 RBIs, a slugging percentage of .633 and an OPS of 1.003. Besides being the home run king, he also displayed impressive capabilities by posting the second-highest percentage in RBIs, the second-highest percentage in slugging, and the third-highest in OPS. He has set a record of 40 homers in four years as a foreign hitter. It was the highest in four years since Mel Rojas Jr. (46 homers) in 2020.
Austin received 193 votes (63 percent), beating Davidson who received just 83 votes (28.8 percent). Austin arrived from the U.S. to keep his promise with fans and attended the award ceremony. He even enjoyed the joy of being awarded.
In contrast, Davidson became the fifth homerun king who failed to win the Golden Glove Award. Austin played for two seasons and is a member of the popular LG Twins. He is ahead of Davidson who joined the KBO league for the first time this year.
Austin praised Davidson for being a great player and being able to compete with him as a candidate. He was a great player, no matter what the award he won." He then smiled and said, "I really don't know. I don't know what made me win the award, but I think I got it because the reporters here helped me and voted for me."