Golden Glove voting

Here’s how I voted for this year’s Golden Glove Awards

Central League
Pitcher: Takumi Akiyama, Tigers
I would have prefered Nomi, but he’s not on the ballot. Shoichi Ino and Kazuto Taguchi also appear to be deserving winners.
Catcher: Ryutaro Umeno of the Tigers.
More playing time would have made Umeno a no-doubt selection this season over Seiji Kobayashi and Yasutaka Tobashira…
1st Base: Jose Lopez, BayStars.
2nd Base: Tetsuto Yamada, Swallows.
Ryusuke Kikuchi was well off his game this year. He still makes lots of fantastic plays, but he was well off his norms, while Yamada – has become increasingly dependable.
3rd Base: Toshiro Miyazaki, BayStars. Tomohiro Abe of the Carp probably wins this if he spent more time at 3B.
SS: Hayato Sakamoto, Giants.
Sakamoto took a stride forward from last year, when he was about even with Kosuke Tanaka of the Carp.
OF: Masayuki Kuwahara, BayStars
OF: Takayuki Kajitani, BayStars
OF: Yoshihiro Maru, Carp.
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo had a terrific year and should get some votes, although Yang Dai-kang was probably the CL’s best outfielder in terms of quality.

Golden Glove
Pacific League

Pitcher: Hideaki Wakui, Marines.
He NEVER hurts himself with his fielding.
Catcher: Tatsuhiro Tamura, Marines
This is really a tough choice. There are indications Kai was a little better defensively, but Tamura played a LOT more, so he deserves credit for that.
1st Base: Sho Nakata, Fighters.
2nd Base: Daichi Suzuki, Marines
3rd Base: Nobuhiro Matsuda, Hawks
Zelous Wheeler had a great season and should get some votes.
SS: Kenta Imamiya, Hawks.
Takuya Nakashima missed playing time, while Ryoichi Adachi was fit and playing well. This could be the most interesting race of all next year if Sosuke Genda cuts down on his errors, since he could be right there among those three.
OF: Haruki Nishikawa, Fighters
OF: Yuki Yanagita, Hawks
OF: Shogo Akiyama, Lions
An off year for Shogo Akiyama, and Hiroaki Shimauchi of the Eagles could easily have gotten a vote instead of him, while Akira Nakamura had an excellente season for the Hawks as well.

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