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Today, after a 2010 season in which nothing went right, 2/3 of the Mariner outfield were rewarded with Gold Gloves.  Ichiro won his 10th straight Gold Glove and Franklin Gutierrez won the 1st of his career.

Much has been made of the Gold Glove award since the development of advanced defensive statistics in baseball (UZR, run prevention).  These sabermetrics have shown that the Gold Glove award is, more or less, bogus.  The leading example of this is Derek Jeter winning the award despite his terrible range (shown by UZR).

With that being said, Franklin and Ichiro deserve these awards.  They both are in the upper echelon of defensive outfielders and have shown that through the course of their careers.  Guti may have deserved the award more last year but when it comes to the Gold Glove award, we aren’t going to be picky.

Both of these guys deserve to be acclaimed and they were today, so congratulations to them.  If the season was a dark room, your defense was a very small lamp that lit up a corner.

Andrew

GOOOOOOOO                                                                                                                                                                                 HUSKIES!!!
GOOOOOOOO                                                                                                                                                                                 HUSKIES!!!

Here’s the Good Guys’ picks for the week.

Matthew (4-3 on the year):

For the Huskies to pull off the upset tomorrow, here’s what I think needs to happen:
-They need to somehow get pressure on Andrew Luck.
-They have to at least occasionally stop the Stanford running game.
-They need to control the clock and score touchdowns, not field goals.
-They need to keep Stanford within 10 points at all times.
-They need at least 4 game changing plays (turnover, 50-yard pass, big sack on third down, etc).
I think the Huskies will score often, but not enough to match Stanford point for point. I see this either getting out of hand quickly, or a tight game all the way through. I’ll go with the tight game, with Stanford having a little more in the fourth quarter.
Stanford 38 UW 28

Dan (4-3 on the year):

The Huskies will have their hands full tomorrow, especially on defense. Between the running game led by a terrific o-line and Step Taylor, and the passing game led by Luck, Owusu, and Walen, Stanford is a duel-threat at all times. I see a heavy dose of run from the Cardinal because their o-line vs. our d-line is probably the biggest mismatch on the field. Stanford’s running game is better than last year, even without Gerhart. However, if the Huskies can get off to a quick start like against Oregon State, then maybe the crowd can aid the defense and things could get interesting. I am personally 6-1 in my last 7 trips to Husky Stadium, and I will be there tomorrow, so maybe I’m the X factor. Although I doubt it. I see Stanford winning this one, and the Dawgs miss out on one of those 3 wins needed to make a bowl.
Stanford-42, UW-24

Joe (4-3 on the year):

Last week, I got burned.  I really thought the Huskies had turned a corner and were ready to win two in a row on the road for the first time in ages.  I was terribly wrong.  Arizona dominated in all three aspects of the game.  They let off the gas in the 3rd quarter, but the Dawgs had no response.  One of the worst performances I have ever seen from the Huskies.  Yes, ever.  There have been some bad teams around here the past decade, but I expected them to suck.  I expect better from this team, so that is why it was such a disappointment Saturday night.  So, for all these reasons, I am picking them to beat Stanford.  When trying to predict the Huskies, throw logic and common sense out the window.  I think they’ll come out inspired and aggressive.  Stanford’s defense is simply not that good.  They gave up 28 points to the Cougars, enough said.  The Huskies defense is worse, so this game will be high scoring.  I have almost my entire Pac-10 fantasy team playing in this game, so I am ordering up a shootout.

UW 45 – Stanford 42 (in OT)

Andrew (5-2 on the year):

There’s not a lot of reason to think the Huskies will win this game.  Stanford should dominate in the trenches, with UW having quite a few injuries on the defensive line.  They have receivers who are much better than the Huskies corners have looked.  They have a running back who is really playing well in the last few weeks.  Oh, and their quarterback is pretty good too, if you hadn’t heard of him.  Sure, their secondary is questionable but they have coaches smart enough to negate that weakness.  With that being said, I’m going to pick the Huskies.  Why?  I don’t know, mainly because this is the most inconsistent team in the Pac-10 (yes, even more than Cal).  I think the Huskies will try to stretch a Cardinal defense that is tough in the trenches but doesn’t have a ton of speed.  I can see lots of fly sweeps being called and quick wide receiver screens.  As for the defense, well, I don’t know how they’re going to do but maybe they’ll show up like they did against Oregon State.  Will this team bounce back yet again?  I think so.  It’s a cold, Seattle day, Dan is going to the game (he’s usually good luck), and I believe (if you look for me, I’ll be flapping my arms in the east end zone throughout the game, just like Angels in the Outfield).
UW 35 – Stanford 27