Most Gold Glove Awards at each position

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award has a long and rich history. It's a great honor just to win one of these over a Major League career, but there are some players in baseball history who are in the top echelon when it comes to sparkling defense. Here's a look at the player who won the most Gold Glove Awards at each position, along with the active leader at that position:

Pitcher: Greg Maddux, 18
Maddux was so dominant on the mound that it’s sometimes easy to forget that the man won the most Gold Glove Awards of any player at any position in baseball history. The Hall of Fame right-hander’s first Gold Glove Award came in 1990, and that began a run of 13 straight years in which he was the National League’s Gold Glove Award winner for pitchers. If it wasn’t enough that Maddux won four straight NL Cy Young Awards from 1992-95, you almost had no chance as an NL pitcher even when it came to a Gold Glove trophy if Maddux was still pitching.

Active: Max Fried (3)

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez, 13
From Day 1, you could see Rodriguez was going to be special on the baseball field, particularly behind the plate. “Pudge” made his Major League debut for the Rangers on June 20, 1991, against the White Sox and another Hall of Fame “Pudge” -- Carlton Fisk. Rodriguez threw out two runners in his first career game, nailing Joey Cora in the fifth inning and Warren Newson in the eighth. Rodriguez only played in 88 games that rookie season, but won his first Gold Glove Award the following year. That began a streak of 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards with the Rangers. His 10th, which came in 2001, tied Johnny Bench for most all-time by a catcher. He broke Bench’s record while with the Tigers in 2004, and finished with 13 in his illustrious career.

Active: Salvador Perez (5)

First base: Keith Hernandez, 11
He was a five-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion and won the 1979 NL Co-Most Valuable Player Award. But Hernandez is perhaps most known for his smooth glove at first base, winning all 11 of his Gold Glove Awards in succession from 1978-88. With his excellence both at the plate and in the field, Hernandez garnered MVP votes in eight of his 17 seasons, including a runner-up finish in 1984 and a fourth-place finish in ’86.

Active: Paul Goldschmidt and Anthony Rizzo (4)

Second base: Roberto Alomar, 10
Alomar won 10 Gold Glove Awards in 11 seasons from 1991-2001 while playing for the Blue Jays, Orioles and Cleveland. The Hall of Famer was a magician at second base and also a 12-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion, named the MVP of the 1992 American League Championship Series for the Blue Jays and MVP of the 1998 All-Star Game.

Active: DJ LeMahieu and Andrés Giménez (3)

Third base: Brooks Robinson, 16
Robinson remains revered as the best defensive third baseman of all-time, and with good reason. His 16 Gold Glove Awards at the position are the most of any position player in baseball history. If you were an AL third baseman from 1960-75, and your name wasn’t Brooks Robinson, you did not win the Gold Glove Award for the hot corner. Robinson may have shined brightest during the 1970 World Series against the Reds, when he made great play after great play and was named MVP. The most iconic is the play he made on a ground ball down the third-base line by Cincinnati’s Lee May in Game 1 at Riverfront Stadium -- Robinson snared it on the backhand as his momentum took him well into foul ground and still threw May out. Robinson was an 18-time All-Star, a two-time World Series champion and the 1964 AL MVP.

Active: Nolan Arenado (10)

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith, 13
The Wizard. Those two words, for a baseball fan, conjure up images of impossible defensive plays being made, spectacularly athletic double plays, and the customary backflip while heading out to his position at shortstop for the Cardinals. Smith was a human highlight reel at short for 19 years, winning the NL Gold Glove Award for the position every year from 1980-92. Known primarily for his defense, the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star also hit one of the most memorable -- and shocking -- home runs in baseball history, launching one over the right-field wall at Busch Stadium to win Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS against the Dodgers. Jack Buck’s legendary call of the moment lives on: “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!”

Active: Brandon Crawford (4)

Outfield: Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, 12
Prior to 2011, there were three Gold Glove Awards presented for outfielders without regard to their specific position. Two of the greatest all-around players in baseball history -- Mays and Clemente -- share the distinction of winning the most Gold Glove Awards as an outfielder.

Mays, known as the “Say Hey Kid,” could do it all. He hit, hit for power, flew around the bases and made incredible plays in center field. Those plays earned him a dozen Gold Glove Awards over his 22-year Hall of Fame career, all in succession from 1957-68. Ironically, all were won after Mays made one of the most famous catches in MLB history -- “The Catch” against Cleveland's Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. It was an over-the-shoulder grab in deep center at the Polo Grounds, followed by a whirlwind throw that prevented a run from scoring. In addition to all of his defensive accolades, he was also the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year, a two-time NL MVP and an All-Star in 20 of his 22 MLB seasons.

“Excellence” is an understatement when it comes to describing Clemente in every facet. And outfield defense was no exception -- from 1961-72, he won an NL Gold Glove Award every year. That run may very well have continued had he not tragically died in a plane crash while traveling to deliver aid to Nicaraguans after a devastating earthquake in December 1972. Clemente’s glove was, of course, only one element to his beautiful game -- he also had exactly 3,000 hits, won the 1966 NL MVP Award, was a two-time World Series champion and an All-Star in 12 of his 18 MLB seasons.

Left field: Alex Gordon, 8
Gordon won the AL Gold Glove Award in left field in all but two years from 2011-20. He also won two Platinum Glove Awards in that span, an honor presented to the best overall defensive player -- regardless of position -- in the league. The beloved Royals star helped Kansas City reach the World Series in back-to-back years in 2014 and '15, and he was selected as an All-Star three times.

Active: Steven Kwan and Ian Happ (2)

Center field: Kevin Kiermaier, 4
Prior to retiring after the Dodgers won the 2024 World Series, Kiermaier dazzled over the past decade with his incredible abilities in center field, mostly from 2015-22 with the Rays. He owns four Gold Glove Awards and a Platinum Glove Award, and his leaping home run robberies and diving snares on what initially appear to be hits all the way have left fans and fellow players alike in awe. His last Gold Glove honor came in 2023 while with the Blue Jays.

Active: Trent Grisham and Brenton Doyle (2)

Right field: Mookie Betts, 6 (active)
While Fernando Tatis Jr. has made headlines recently with his tremendous defensive performance in right field following a move to that position in 2023, Betts remains the gold standard at the position in terms of Gold Glove Awards. Interestingly, Betts moved to shortstop to begin the 2024 season with the Dodgers, but eventually moved back to right field later in the year. Besides all of the defensive hardware, Betts has an MVP Award, eight All-Star selections and two World Series rings to his name.