The 2011 Major League Baseball season came to a dramatic end with a World Series Game 7 victory for the St. Louis Cardinals over the Texas Rangers.
But baseball is still taking center stage at ESPN.
You could even say ESPN is rolling out the red carpet for baseball.
Tonight, ESPN2 will televise the first-ever Rawlings Gold Glove Awards Show at 10 p.m. ET.
The one-hour show will emanate from the Baseball Tonight studio, right here in Bristol at the ESPN campus.
The Rawlings Gold Glove Awards are presented to Major League Baseball’s best defensive players in both the American League and National Leagues at every fielding position.
That’s two leagues, nine positions and 18 awards.
Although the Gold Gloves have been presented on ESPN air before, this is the first time ESPN has produced an entire show dedicated to the prestigious awards.
“The show is the result of months of collaboration between Rawlings and ESPN to showcase these awards in a new and entertaining way,” said Mike Ryan, ESPN VP of Programming & Acquisitions.
The show will be hosted by Baseball Tonight commentators Karl Ravech, John Kruk and Barry Larkin (a three-time Gold Glove winner) and include extensive highlights and analysis of the top defensive performers and plays of the year.
All 18 Gold Glove winners will be announced during the telecast, and ESPN and Rawlings have even enlisted the help of a couple former Gold Glove winners: Omar Vizquel (a nine-time winner) and Mike Matheny (a four-time winner) to help present the awards.
“Baseball Tonight has been serving fans since 1990 and we continually challenge ourselves to deliver the best baseball content we can,” said Ryan.
The Gold Glove Award winners are voted on by MLB managers and coaches in each league.
The complete list of nominees was announced in a press release with many of the top players in baseball mentioned.
During the telecast, ESPN baseball commentators will showcase the beautiful Gold Glove trophies, which have been infused with 24K gold for the first time.
Also new this year is the creation of the Rawlings Platinum Gold Glove Award.
All 18 Rawlings Gold Glove winners will be eligible for the inaugural Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, with the winner to be determined by fan voting.
“Fans get to experience the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards with an ESPN flavor,” said Ryan.
Immediately following tonight’s telecast, fans can vote for the Platinum Gold Glove Award winner on the ESPN, ESPN Baseball Tonight and Rawlings Facebook pages.
Voting is open until Nov. 7, and the winner will be announced at the Gold Glove Award ceremony in New York on Nov. 11.
For more information on the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, visit RawlingsGoldGlove.com.
