Doosan Bears' Nippert wins KBO Golden Glove
The winners of the 2016 Golden Gloves in the Korea Baseball Organization pose with their trophies at an award ceremony at the K Hotel Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Doosan Bears American pitcher Dustin Nippert, the reigning MVP of this year’s Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), picked up another honor for his stellar season, winning Golden Glove award, Tuesday.
At the award ceremony at the K Hotel Seoul, the 35-year-old starting pitcher won the honor with a whopping majority, receiving 314 out of 345 votes cast by members of the press corps. He was followed by the Kia Tigers Dominican pitcher Hector Noesi who earned 15.
This was his first time to grab the award. As Nippert currently stays in the U.S. and couldn’t attend the ceremony, one of the Bears staff members took the award.
Nippert spent one of his career high seasons this year, helping his team to defend the Korean Series championship title for the second straight year.
Starting 28 games this season, he recorded 22 wins and three losses with 142 strike outs in 167.2 innings, leading the league in most wins, winning percentage (.880) and an ERA (2.95).
Unlike the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, an award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players with superior individual fielding performance, the KBO Golden Glove is awarded to the best player in 10 positions.
Thanks to their outstanding performance this season, the Bears players distinguished them among their peer players as four out of 10 positions were from the Bears.
For catcher’s glove, the Bears catcher Yang Eui-ji won the award for three consecutive years. Playing 108 games this season, Yang batted .319 with 22 home runs and 66 RBIs. He also won the MVP honor at the Korean Series.
The Bears shortstop Kim Jae-ho also won the award for the second straight year. Playing 137 games this season, Kim recorded a batting average of .310 with 129 hits including seven home runs and 78 RBIs. The team’s captain also finished this season with a .984 fielding percentage, committing only 10 errors.
The Bears left fielder Kim Jae-hwan was included in one of three outfield winners for the first time in his professional baseball career. Playing 134 games this season, Kim posted a batting average of .325 and 37 home runs with 124 RBIs.
Eric Thames, who played for the NC Dinos three seasons from 2014 to this season, won the Golden Glove at first base position.
Thames, last season’s MVP, shined this year as well, leading the league in home runs with 40 and slugging percentage with .679. With the win, he became the first imported player to win the award for the second straight year. He will play for the MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers from next season.
Seo Geon-chang of the Nexen Heroes grabbed the Golden Glove at second base. Seo, who won the award in 2012 and 2014, recorded a batting average of .325 with 182 hits, 63 RBIs and 111 runs.
SK Wyverns third baseman Choi Jeong, who grabbed the Golden Glove for the three consecutive seasons from 2011 to 2013, reclaimed the award in three years. Playing 141 games this season, Choi posted 40 home runs with 106 RBIs and 106 runs.
The other two outfield winners are Choi Hyung-woo who played for the Samsung Lions through this season and Kim Joo-chan of the Kia Tigers.
Choi who signed a record-breaking four year deal worth 10 billion won with the Tigers last month was named as the MVP runner-up following Nippert. This season, he led the league in batting (.376), hits (195) and RBIs (144).
Kim grabbed the Golden Glove for the first time in his 16-year-long professional baseball career. Playing 133 games, he posted a batting average of .346 with 23 home runs and 101 RBIs.
At designated hitter, Kim Tae-kyun of the Hanwha Eagles won the award edging out Lee Seung-yuop of the Lions who aimed to win his 11th honor. Playing 144 games this season, Kim recorded a batting average of .365 with 193 hits including 23 home runs and 136 RBIs. He led the league in on-base percentage with .475. This was Kim’s first Golden Glove as a designated hitter. He grabbed the Golden Glove twice as a first baseman in 2005 and 2008.