Austin Dean, a foreign hitter at LG, took the first baseman position. Austin had a batting average of 0.313, 23 homers and 95 RBIs in 139 games this year, contributing greatly to LG's first win in 29 years. Having suffered from nightmares of foreign batters for several years, LG was able to smile for the first time in a long time thanks to Austin. Austin's award is also meaningful in the history of Golden Glove. In recent years, the hero of the first baseman's golden glove was Park Byung-ho of KT. 토토사이트 순위
After becoming the first Golden Glove winner in the first baseman category in 2012 when he was with the Nexen Heroes, he moved to KT in 2022, and won the Golden Glove title six times in this category as well. This is the most valuable among active players. However, as Austin took the title this time, Park failed to break the seven-time award tie set by Doosan coach Lee Seung-yeop.
In addition, Austin was named the second foreign hitter winner among the first baseman Golden Glove winners since NC Eric Thames won the award between 2015 and 2016.
There were also changes at third base. Choi Jeong, an SSG veteran, has been a regular winner in this category. He holds the record by winning a total of eight awards. However, Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha) took the post this time. After beating Choi Jeong, who had 29 home runs with 31 homers, Noh won the Golden Glove this time. Choi Jeong ranked third in voting records in this category, trailing only LG's Moon Bo-kyung.
Noh Si-hwan said, "I came running to hand over Choi Jeong, but I want to say thank you to the seniors because I got the award."
Kiwoom Lee Jung-hoo's dominance in the outfield also stopped. Lee Jung-hoo has won the award for five consecutive years since 2018, ranking second in the history of the most awards in this category. He fell into an unexpected slump at the beginning of the season and ended the season early in July due to an ankle injury. Park Kun-woo took the place where Lee Jung-hoo was missing. LG Hong Chang-ki and Samsung Koo Ja-wook are the second winners since 2021. Park Kun-woo was honored as the first winner of his career.
There were also significant changes in designated hitters. Son, who had won in the outfield category, has been honored as a designated hitter. Having five golden gloves for outfielders, Son earned his sixth golden glove as a designated hitter. "I don't think I'm old enough to become a designated hitter yet," Son said. "I'm very greedy as an outfielder. Next year, I'll play many defensive innings to become an outfielder."