Boone and Pettis Again Win Gold Gloves

For the California Angels, the 1986 Gold Glove voting was a case of the rich getting richer and Doug DeCinces again getting left out.

Catcher Bob Boone and outfielder Gary Pettis, the two Angels who won Gold Gloves Tuesday, have been there before. This is Boone’s second with California and fourth overall. Pettis won his first Gold Glove in 1985.

However, DeCinces, a 12-year veteran, was shut out one more time, this year losing the third-base award to Minnesota’s Gary Gaetti despite committing nine fewer errors. Gaetti had 21 errors an 474 chances, DeCinces 12 errors in 347 attempts.

The voting, tabulated by The Sporting News, is done by major league managers and coaches.

At 38, Boone becomes the oldest non-pitcher to win a Gold Glove. Phil Niekro was 44 in 1983, when he won the award with Atlanta. Last season, Boone led American League catchers in assists (84) and double plays (16).

Boone also won Gold Gloves in 1982 with the Angels and in 1978 and 1979 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Pettis, 28, was the leading vote-getter among American League outfielders, receiving 58 of a possible 80. Only New York first baseman Don Mattingly, with 71, appeared on more league ballots.

Pettis admitted some surprise at those totals. After his extraordinary 1985 season, during which he committed only four errors, Pettis received 42 votes. In 1986, Pettis struggled defensively during April and May, had four errors before the All-Star break and finished with seven.

“This wasn’t as spectacular a season as ’85 was,” Pettis said. “I think I played well enough to win one . . . (but) if I felt that was as good as I can play, I’d quit right now.”

Pettis, who was criticized in the media for his slow start, eventually finished with a .985 fielding percentage, a league-leading 462 putouts and 9 assists.

“You guys were ripping me all year,” Pettis said with a smile. “People were saying, ‘Last year, Gary would have caught that ball,’ and I started to believe them. Finally, I said, if I can’t get to them, maybe nobody can.

“It’s just the same as it is offensively. Players go on streaks, defensively, too.”

After three seasons in the major leagues, Pettis has won two Gold Gloves. According to Pettis, that feat should not come as a surprise.

“I came here with people expecting a lot of things,” he said. “And the way things have gone, I don’t see any reason to change that thinking.

“This is only the beginning.”

In the National League, the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela received the first Gold Glove of his career.

The Gold Glove teams:

American League

1B--Mattingly; 2B--Frank White (Kansas City); 3B--Gaetti; SS--Tony Fernandez (Toronto); OF-- Jesse Barfield (Toronto), Kirby Puckett (Minnesota), Pettis; C--Boone; P--Ron Guidry (New York).

National League

1B--Keith Hernandez (New York); 2B--Ryne Sandberg (Chicago); 3B--Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia); SS--Ozzie Smith (St. Louis); OF--Tony Gwynn (San Diego), Dale Murphy (Atlanta), Willie McGee (St. Louis); C--Jody Davis (Chicago); P--Valenzuela.