Chunichi, Lotte dominate Golden Glove voting

TOKYO, Nov. 8 (18:42) Kyodo


Right-hander Kenshin Kawakami and catcher Motonobu Tanishige
featured among five players from Japan Series winners the Chunichi
Dragons to win Golden Glove awards Thursday.

Kawakami and Tanishige's wins marked the first time in the
Central League that the same battery mates from the same team have
captured the awards, given to the best fielder in each position based
on votes by baseball journalists, for the second consecutive year.

The Nippon Ham Fighters had four winners, with ace Yu Darvish
picking up the award for the first time, and the Lotte Marines had
five in a two-team sweep of the Pacific League honors.

The 21-year-old Darvish, who helped Nippon Ham win the PL
pennant, is the second youngest Golden Glove winner from the league
after Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, who won the award as
a 19-year-old with the Seibu Lions.

Also for Chunichi, second baseman Masahiro Araki and shortstop
Hirokazu Ibata both won for the fourth year in a row while third
baseman Norihiro Nakamura won his sixth overall and first in the
Central League.

Outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi, who helped the Yomiuri Giants
win the CL title, picked up his seventh honor and became the first
Yomiuri player in four years to take the honor.

Among the other Golden Glove recipients in the PL were Lotte
first baseman Kazuya Fukuura and third baseman Toshiaki Imae. There
were no winners from Seibu for the first time in 11 years.

[Full Article: http://www.japanball.com/news.phtml?id=11124]