Gary Matthews, who spent this season robbing home runs in center field for the Rangers, was robbed by voters of his first Gold Glove Award. For the third consecutive season, Ichiro Suzuki, Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter were winners among AL outfielders. This kind of voting has become common, as Rafael Palmeiro won his third-consecutive Gold Glove in 1999, despite only playing 28 games at first base for the Rangers.

To the voters’ credit, all three winners did play the majority of their games in the field this season. However, anyone who watched Matthews play this season knows that he was easily one of the top-three outfielders in the league. So why didn’t he win? Did playing for the Rangers hurt him? Well, Texas players have done well in the past (Sundberg, Pudge, Palmeiro, Rogers, A-Rod) and Mark Teixeira picked up his second Gold Glove this year.

The problem here stems from the reason Palmeiro won in 1999. He had won the previous two seasons and had a great reputation for his defense. Looking at the other 2006 AL winners, only one (Mark Grudzielanek) was a first-time winner, and that is because last year’s AL winner at second base (Orlando Hudson) no longer plays in the American League.

Minnesota’s Torii Hunter and Oakland’s Eric Chavez both won for the sixth-straight season, yet both players battled injuries and did not play the stellar defense they had played in previous years. Not only should Hunter have been replaced by Matthews, but Joe Crede played an outstanding third base and should have been considered over Chavez.

The disappointment from losing won’t last long for Matthews, who is set to cash-in as a free agent soon. The San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs have already shown significant interest in signing him.

Former Rangers Ivan Rodriguez (12 career) and Kenny Rogers (5) joined Derek Jeter (3) as the other AL winners. NL winners will be announced Friday.

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