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La Russa: Vina Is Still Worthy Of Gold Glove
Mike Eisenbath St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 30, 2001
Fernando Vina had only five errors, all on throws, until committing four errors in the last 11 days. Three of those came while fielding the ball - on tough-to-handle hops.
The errors have dropped him from the top spot in fielding percentage among National League second basemen. He was fourth going into Wednesday night's game. Could these last 10 days cost Vina his first Gold Glove Award as the league's best defensive second baseman? "It's what you do over the six months," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "For a guy to win a Gold Glove, you shouldn't put it all on fielding percentage, although his fielding percentage is very good. But over six months, he's been the best we've seen out there."
Managers and coaches in the league cast the ballots at the end of the season. Vina and the Cardinals thought he deserved the award last season but it went to Cincinnati's Pokey Reese, who made four more errors than Vina. Reese had about 100 more fielding chances than Vina last year. Vina leads all NL second basemen in chances this season.
"I'm not going to worry about it," Vina said. "If it happens, it would be great. But there is too much politics involved for me to worry about it."
Vina has batted between .302 and .308 since Aug. 7 and is closing in on his career high in RBIs. Only Colorado's Juan Pierre has been tougher to strike out in the league.
"He plays at a really high level," La Russa said. "We wouldn't be a winning club without him."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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