SAN FRANCISCO _ Like smothering a pitch in the dirt, Giants catcher Buster Posey stopped Yadier Molina's eight-year reign while winning the first Gold Glove Award of his career.
The Giants flashed quite the haul of golden leather up the middle, too: shortstop Brandon Crawford won for the second consecutive year while second baseman Joe Panik joined Posey as an unexpected first-time winner when the awards were announced Tuesday.
It's the first time in 22 years that the Giants can boast of three Gold Glove winners in one season; Barry Bonds (outfield), Darren Lewis (outfield) and Matt Williams (third base) won in 1994. The Giants haven't had multiple Gold Glove winners since catcher Mike Matheny and shortstop Omar Vizquel received awards in 2005.
And Panik and Crawford achieved a rare honor, joining the 2002 Cardinals (Fernando Vina and Edgar Renteria) as only the second NL Gold Glove middle infield combo since the 1974-77 Big Red Machine featured Joe Morgan and Dave Concepcion.
Crawford, who is the Giants' first repeat winner at any position since Vizquel in 2005-06, prevailed over stiff competition from the Cubs' Addison Russell and the Phillies' Freddy Galvis. Posey, who was a finalist for the second consecutive season, finished ahead of the Cardinals' Molina and former Brewers backstop Jonathan Lucroy. Panik, a first-time finalist, was a surprising choice over the Diamondbacks' Jean Segura and the Rockies' DJ LeMahieu.
Posey had the strongest statistical case to win a Gold Glove. Not only did the Fielding Bible already announce him as the major leagues' top defensive catcher for the second consecutive season, but Posey was the 12-expert panel's only unanimous choice at any position.
Posey set career highs in games caught (123) and innings behind the plate (1,069 2/3) while posting his best caught stealing rate (37 percent). He committed just three errors, had two passed balls and advanced metrics revealed his unparalleled ability to frame borderline pitches for strikes.
Posey led major league catchers with 23 defensive runs saved _ a Fielding Bible calculation based on pitcher handling, controlling the running game, handling bunts, good plays/misplays and getting extra strikes; the Padres' Derek Norris was a distant second, with 14.
Molina committed just two errors while catching a career high 146 games, but didn't have his finest defensive season. His caught stealing rate plummeted from a career mark of 42 percent to just 21 percent, he allowed eight passed balls and nearly twice as many wild pitches got past him (42) than did Posey (22).
But a statistical index forms just 25 percent of the Gold Glove selection criteria, and there was some question whether Molina's stellar reputation would win out with the major league managers and coaches who form the electorate.
If Posey's award was uncertain, Panik's came from out of nowhere. His .992 fielding percentage was best among all NL second basemen with at least 500 innings at the position, but his inclusion as a finalist was a bit of a surprise if only because he started just 118 games because of concussion symptoms.
Panik had an opportunity because the defending Gold Glove winner at second base, Miami's Dee Gordon, was suspended 50 games this past season after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. And as revelatory as Javier Baez's defense was for the Cubs in the playoffs, the snap-tagging infielder started just 38 games at second base during the regular season.
Panik still had to beat out LeMahieu, who won the award in 2014. He did, becoming the first Giants second baseman to win the honor since Robby Thompson in 1993.
Crawford, by several measures, was coming off a stronger defensive season than his first Gold Glove campaign in 2015. He committed two fewer errors (11), posted a higher fielding percentage and his Ultimate Zone Rating of 21.3 was the highest of his career. The rating led all major league shortstops, in addition to all defensive players at any position in the National League.
Crawford also led all major league players in Defensive Runs Saved Above Average, a weighted metric that is as illuminating as any current statistic at evaluating total defensive value.
According to the Fielding Bible, Crawford saved 20 runs _ one more than Russell did.
That provides small consolation, though, since Crawford's season ended with a two-error game as the Cubs came back to win Game 4 and clinch their NL Division Series at AT&T Park.
Most certainly, defense wasn't the reason the Giants came up short in the NL West. They finished the regular season with baseball's top fielding percentage (.988) and their 72 errors was the fewest of any team. Only the Cubs and Astros were credited with more defensive runs saved.
Even as the Giants struggled to the third worst record in the major leagues after the All-Star break, they remained in record-setting form in the field. They set a National League record when they played 17 errorless games from Aug. 15 to Sept. 2. And prior to first baseman Brandon Belt dropping a pop-up Aug. 14, they had played 12 consecutive without committing an error.
That added up to an incredible 30-game stretch in which the Giants committed just one error.
Belt, who was a Gold Glove finalist a year ago, didn't crack a top three that included the Cubs' Anthony Rizzo, the Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt and the Padres' Wil Myers.
