The 2026 Gold Glove Award winners were recently announced, and surprisingly, three members of the Boston Red Sox won! Boston has never been known as a defensively great team, so to have a trio of players win in one year is special. I thought it would be fun to highlight the last player to win a Gold Glove for the Red Sox at each position. There were a few surprises no doubt!
Pitcher: Mike Boddicker (1990)
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| 1990 Topps #652 |
Other Winners: none
Boddicker came over at the 1988 trade deadline to help give a boost to "Morgan's Magic". This would be the famous trade that sent Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling to Baltimore. Boddicker was a solid #2 pitcher behind Roger Clemens for 2 1/2 years, with his last season in Boston (1990) being his best. In addition to winning 17 games that year, he won his only Gold Glove. He is the only Red Sox pitcher to win one.
Catcher: Jason Varitek (2005)
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| 2005 Donruss #121 |
Other Winners: Carlton Fisk (x3), Tony Pena
After helping to break "The Curse" in 2004, Varitek followed up with arguably his best season, winning both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger for catcher. He was also the starting catcher for the All-Star team. Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk leads the team at this position with 3 Gold Gloves.
1st Baseman: Adrian Gonzalez (2011)
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| 2011 Topps Lineage #145 |
Other Winners: George Scott (x3), Kevin Youkilis
Gonzalez spent less than 2 years in Boston, but while he was there he was everything they could have hoped for. In his one full season, he won his 3rd Gold Glove in 4 years and placed in the Top-10 in MVP voting. He was shipped to L.A. the following year in one of the most famous salary dump trades in baseball history. George "Boomer" Scott leads the Red Sox at 1st base, where he won 3 of his total 8 Gold Gloves.
2nd Baseman: Ian Kinsler (2018)
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| 2018 Topps Update #US10 |
Other Winners: Dustin Pedroia (x4), Doug Griffin
Kinsler is one of those rare players who won a Gold Glove while playing for two different teams. He started 2018 with the Angels before a midseason trade to Boston. He ended his 37 game tenure in Boston with a World Series ring and his second Gold Glove. Ironically, he was acquired to fill in for injured 4x Gold Glove winner Dustin Pedroia.
Shortstop: Rick Burleson (1979)
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| 1979 Topps #125 |
Other Winners: none
This surprised me. The Red Sox have only won a Gold Glove at short once. That was earned by fan-favorite Rick "Rooster" Burleson in 1979.
3rd Baseman: Caleb Durbin (2026)
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| 2026 Topps Update #US73 |
Other Winners: Frank Malzone (x3)
Durbin becomes the first Red Sox third baseman to win a Gold Glove since Frank Malzone, who happened to be the first Red Sox player ever to win a Gold Glove. Not bad for a guy who played with a bad foot and dislocated pinky finger!
Left Fielder: Carl Yastrzemski (1977)
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| 1977 Hostess #4 |
Other Winners: none
Before 2011, the powers that be didn't differentiate between the three outfield positions when awarding Gold Gloves. I had to go through all of Boston's outfield winners, and discovered only one primarily played left field. Given the unique challenges of the Fenway Green Monster, it surprised me that only the great Carl Yastrzemski was ever awarded a Gold Glove, an award he managed to win 7 times over his career.
Center Fielder: Ceddanne Rafaela (2026)
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| 2026 Topps Heritage #397 |
Other Winners: Jimmy Piersall, Reggie Smith, Fred Lynn (x4), Ellis Burks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jackie Bradley Jr.
Rafaela is the 7th center fielder in Red Sox history to win a Gold Glove, and the first multiple winner since Fred Lynn, who won 4. I get the feeling Ceddanne will match that within the next few years.
Right Fielder: Wilyer Abreu (2026)
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| 2026 Topps #677 |
Other Winners: Jackie Jensen, Dwight Evans (x8), Shane Victorino, Mookie Betts (x4)
In contrast to the wall in left field, Fenway's spacious right field is a challenge all it's own. The team basically needs to employ a second center fielder to cover all that ground. Abreu joins Mookie Betts and all-time Gold Glove winner Dwight Evans as players who have mastered right field. Abreu and Rafaela are also just the third pair of outfield teammates to win Gold Gloves in back to back years, joining the tandums of Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke (1990-92 with the Pirates) and Dwight Evans and Fred Lynn (1978-79 with the Red Sox).
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