A Gold Glove can make an impressive conversation piece sitting in the trophy case.
But too many of them, and they can start to overwhelm anybody’s trophy room.
“They are like furniture now,” St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds said about the trophies spread around the room in his California home. “They’ve become part of the house. You just walk by them and not even think about it.”
But when seven are lying around, the significance is not lost. Although Edmonds is reluctant to talk about his circus-like, highlight-reel catches, others are quick to anoint the 11-year veteran the best in the game.
“There is not a ball he can’t get to as far as his angles and the jump he gets on the ball,” Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre said.
“He’s the highlight man,” Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon said.
Edmonds has made a career of tracking down balls in the gaps and over his head. As impressive as his offense was in 2004 (he won his first Silver Slugger Award), it was his diving catch of a drive by Brad Ausmus in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series that propelled the Cardinals to the World Series.
“You never appreciate a guy unless you’ve got him every day,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “I saw him a little bit that last year or two I was in the American League, I saw him on the highlights, but you got to see a guy every day. Seeing Jim every day, he makes every play.”
What is Edmonds’ secret? Some believe it’s 20-20 vision.
Edmonds, the legend goes, is able to read the catcher’s signs, which allows him to anticipate the ball if it’s hit to his area. Edmonds, though, will say only he discusses the game plan against opposing batters with his pitchers and pitching coach Dave Duncan.
Twins center fielder Torii Hunter, a four-time Gold Glove winner, accepts the theory that Edmonds has great anticipation but questions whether he can see a couple of fingers from 300 feet.
“I don’t believe that one,” Hunter said. “If he sees signs from center field. . . . I’m going to try to look for that, but I doubt it. It’s all about the catcher, the way he set up.”
Edmonds appeared to know where the ball was headed considering the jump he got on Ausmus’ ball last October. The Cardinals trailed 1-0, and the Astros had runners on first and second with one out. If the ball drops, the score is at least 3-0.
Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan then struck out Roger Clemens to end the second inning.
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“It was one of those where I was, `C’mon, Jimmy, c’mon,”‘ Suppan said. “And then he reaches out. He really set the tone for the game.”
Edmonds doesn’t discount his offense, especially coming off a season in which he had 42 home runs and 111 RBIs, but he admits reaching this level defensively is more gratifying.
“Out of all the things I’ve done in the game I think [seven Gold Gloves] is one of the most gratifying because I know the effort it takes to play good defense,” Edmonds said. “I was always told I couldn’t play baseball at this level. I was really told I could not play center field.
“One day, I wish I could parade them around.”