Trout not among nine new Gold Glove winners

By BEN WALKER

AP Baseball Writer

updated 11:16 p.m. ET Oct. 30, 2012

J.J. Hardy thought he'd hit a home run, only to be robbed when Mike Trout made one of the most sensational grabs of the season.

On Tuesday night, Hardy caught a break.

The Baltimore shortstop won a Gold Glove, putting him among a group of nine players honored for the first time for their fielding excellence.

"It means a lot to me," Hardy said. "It's definitely an award I always hoped to get and never really expected to get. I'm surprised and honored at the same time."

Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen, San Diego third baseman Chase Headley and Oakland right fielder Josh Reddick also were first-time selections.

"I'm just happy I can pull it out for them and get the A's name even more out there," Reddick said. "It's a huge honor, I'm always taking pride in both sides of my game and trying to be a complete player. You never know what one play, whether the first or the ninth inning, is going to win a ballgame. That's what my mother and father taught me."

The Orioles were the only team with three winners. Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones and catcher Matt Wieters were second-time choices, joining Hardy for the awards chosen by major league managers and coaches and presented by Rawlings.

Trout, the Angels rookie who spent the year climbing walls to take away potential homers, was not picked. Among his best catches came against Hardy at Camden Yards in June.

The San Francisco Giants, fresh off winning a World Series in which they excelled with their gloves, did not have a Gold Glover.

These were the first major awards presented during the offseason, and the MVPs, Cy Youngs and others will come in mid-November. Gold Gloves always seem to raise a ruckus, with many claiming the prizes - actual gloves colored gold - don't define the most deserving fielders.

Hardy led the AL in fielding percentage, making only six errors in 158 games. Others relying on more advanced metrics and insist Seattle's Brendan Ryan was the best shortstop - then again, even though awards are strictly for fielding, players who don't produce at the plate often get bypassed, and Ryan hit a weak .194. Hardy hit 22 home runs.

"I've always hoped but I never expected it," Hardy said. "It's definitely an award I've seen a lot of shortstops get that are really flashy and kind of catch the eye of a lot of people. I don't look at myself that way. I kind of look at myself as just trying to be consistent and steady. I never felt like people noticed."

Wieters, meanwhile, was chosen despite leading AL catchers with 10 errors. He was recognized for the many things he does well - he threw out 39 percent of would-be basestealers and rarely let pitches get past him.

Strong-armed St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina won for the fifth straight year and Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira added his fifth award. Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Miami pitcher Mark Buehrle became four-time winners.

Buehrle won three times with the Chicago White Sox before joining the Marlins last winter.

"With a whole new group of managers voting for you, it wasn't like it was handed to you," Buehrle said. "The Gold Glove gets to be, `He won it last year, give it to him again.' This one means a lot, because switching leagues, it was different managers voting on it. I had to do my job to earn it."

The other first-time winners in the National League were Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche, Chicago Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney and Atlanta right fielder Jason Heyward.

"I'm extremely thrilled," Barney said. "It's something you came into the season working toward, but it's not something that I thought the results would be there as quickly as they were. I'm extremely happy about it. There's a lot of good competition out there, obviously, and I'm really surprised that ended up happening for me. So it's an exciting night for me."

In the AL, pitchers Jake Peavy of the White Sox and Jeremy Hellickson shared the honor as first-time winners. This was only the third time since the Gold Gloves were first presented in 1957 that there was a tie - there were four NL outfielders in 2007 and four AL outfielders in 1985.

Also winning this year: Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon and Colorado left fielder Carlos Gonzalez.

Several players were rewarded for their wins.

Beltre received a $100,000 bonus and Hardy got $75,000, Gordon, LaRoche, Molina, Peavy and Rollins each added $50,000; Gonzalez, Jones and McCutchen $25,000 apiece.

In addition, Gordon's salaries for 2014 and 2015 increase by $250,000 a year to $10.25 million and $12.75 million. His 2016 player option also rises by $250,000 to $12.75 million.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

More newsChristian Petersen / Getty Images

Is Bochy game's best manager?

DeMarco: The 'Terrific' skipper may have Giants on top again in 2013, especially with everything in place related to team's core players.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49617659/ns/sports-baseball/

mountain lion hanley ramirez Christian Bale visits victims Perez Hilton national weather service kristen stewart Christian Bale

How 9/11, Mormons inspired Matthew Modine to make "Jesus Was a Commie"

NEW YORK, Oct 30 (TheWrap.com) - Matthew Modine is a card-carrying liberal. The actor actually carries around a card that says as much, with issues on the back that he cares about, such as racial equality and universal suffrage.

Modine is also certain Jesus was a Communist, capitalism is corrupted and Barack Obama is going to get reelected, which is a big reason his short, "Jesus Was a Commie," has outraged Glenn Beck, conservative radio hosts and religious conservatives across the country.

"I just did a radio interview with a guy from Colorado," he said. "The guy said actors were the scum of the earth. I wanted to say, 'Who do you think you are? You're a DJ from Colorado with a talk show; what does that make you? Do you even have a passport? Have you ever been out of the United States?' He was clearly a Christian really offended by the title, really angry. Whenever you say communism in America, people often think you're speaking of Stalin and Lenin."

"Jesus Was a Commie," which has won awards from a handful of film festivals, debuted Monday night on ShortsHD as part of a showcase of Modine's shorts and re-airs November 5 -- just in time for the election.

TheWrap sat down with the actor-turned-director to discuss the short film, Mitt Romney and, well, Jesus.

Q: "Communism" automatically has a negative connotation.

A: When the film played in Italy, Germany and Canada, they all said ?well, of course, Jesus was a communist.' In America, it's the catchword for anything that's evil and bad in the world.

Q: Has most of the attention stemmed from the title?

A: Yes, and now that you've seen the film, you know it has little to do with Jesus or Communism but more to do with the economic problems we face not just in America but in the world. The environmental problems we face in America and the world. The way that politics and this polarity is ripping our country to shreds.

Q: The short raises more philosophical questions than concretely political ones, but you released it ahead of the election. Were you inspired by politics?

A: I'd never made political films until after 9/11. After the shock of 9/11, I started to wonder, ?Wow, there are people so angry at America and our way of life, our politics, our behavior, that they are willing to have people climb into airplanes and fly airplanes into buildings to retaliate.'

What must our country be doing? During the Bush administration and during that time, you couldn't question anything about 9/11. There was pure evil in the world that was willing to destroy our way of life. That's it. They must be exterminated; they must be killed, which is not very Christian. That began my political awakening.

Q: You said some of it also dates to growing up in Utah.

A: My dad joined the Mormon church because his mom told him it would be good for business. It was good for business until we started playing X-rated movies -- "Midnight Cowboy" was the X-rated movie. The Mormon church came down on us like a lead balloon. My brother Mark came back from Vietnam and got arrested for growing marijuana in his backyard. That got us thrown out of the state of Utah.

Q: Really?

A: Not literally, but it made living there very complicated.

Q: In the film, you touch on everything from capitalism to environmentalism to religion, did you have a specific message?

A: The goal was to raise questions, to try to see the big picture of where we are as a society and where we are as a culture.

Q: How do you see Americans treated now?

A: With the Obama administration, it was like there was a black cloud that was sitting on our country that was finally lifted. People around the world really do look to America as a place of opportunity and hope and change. When Obama was elected president, there was great optimism and enthusiasm. It was palpable.

Q: Do you think some of that has waned?

A: Not at all. While Bush was president, I felt worse than during the Cold War when Reagan was in office. We have another test with Mitt Romney, who I think represents the kind of stubbornness and lack of world vision that the Bush administration demonstrated. Mitt Romney will be terrible for human beings around the world.

Q: Are you optimistic for November?

A: I don't think there's any question that Barack Obama will win. I don't think it's even a race.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/9-11-mormons-inspired-matthew-modine-jesus-commie-205857020.html

lisa marie presley florida panthers tannehill joel ward mock draft washington redskins north country