Gerardo Parra... Wasn't he the one that released "Rico Suave"?
-- Jackass commenter over at JSOnline.com
Oh, who looks really dumb now? Guess it's not just AZCentral.com where idiots lurk online... But if those ignorant of baseball didn't know who Parra was last night, they should this morning, as he became the first Diamondback player to win a Gold Glove since Orlando Hudson in 2007. And it was fully justified, because Parra's defense has been amazingly good this year.
As torpedosneak is traveling, the next D-backs tournament entry will appear tomorrow, so thought I could fill in the space with my choice for Parra's ten best plays of the year. Though it wasn't easy to limit myself to only ten, and I had to do several passes to get the number reduced that far. They're in reverse chronological order after the jump, so nothing should be read into the sequence. Which one is your favorite?
9/27: Parra races across to make an impressive sliding grab on a foul ball by Aaron Miles in foul territory (as also shown in the picture on top of this article).
9/24: Parra makes a diving catch and slides into the wall for the second out in the top of the sixth inning
8/31: Parra catches Carlos Gonzalez's fly ball and fires home to nail Dexter Fowler at the dish, completing a double play
8/30: Parra makes a nice catch on a fly ball off the bat of Mark Ellis in the top of the first inning
8/21: Parra dives to steal a hit from Michael Bourn in the bottom of the sixth
8/5: Parra makes a nice catch in left field to retire Aaron Miles in the top of the first inning
7/22: The D-backs turn a nice double play on Todd Helton sacrifice fly to left field in the third inning
6/13: Parra collects Omar Infante's single and fires to the plate to nail the runner trying to score.
5/25: Parra fields a single and fires to second to catch Seth Smith taking a wide turn for the out in the first
5/8: Parra's sliding catch steals a hit away from Ryan Ludwick for the first out in the bottom of the fifth inning