The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), as voted by the managers and coaches in each league. Managers are not permitted to vote for their own players. Eighteen Gold Gloves are awarded each year (with the exception of 1957, 1985 and 2007), one at each of the nine positions in each league. In 1957, the baseball glove manufacturer Rawlings created the Gold Glove Award to commemorate the best fielding performance at each position. The award was created from a glove made from gold lamé-tanned leather and affixed to a walnut base. Initially, only one Gold Glove per position was awarded to the top fielder at each position in Major League Baseball; however, separate awards were given for the National and American Leagues beginning in 1958.

Individual awards for left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder were issued from 1957 to 1960. The phrase "at each position" was not strictly accurate from 1961 through 2010, when the prize was presented to three outfielders irrespective of their specific position. Any combination of outfielders, often three center fielders, could win the award in the same year. Critics called for awarding a single Gold Glove for each individual outfield position, arguing that the three outfield positions are not equivalent defensively. The awards for individual outfield positions were again issued in 2011. In the 1985 American League voting, a tie for third place resulted in the presentation of Gold Glove Awards to four outfielders (Dwayne Murphy, Gary Pettis, Dwight Evans and Dave Winfield); this scenario was repeated in the National League in 2007 (Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltrán, Aaron Rowand, and Jeff Francoeur).

Brett R. Lawrie (born January 18, 1990 in Langley, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional baseball third baseman with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He was traded to the Blue Jays from the Milwaukee Brewers on December 5, 2010 in a deal for starting pitcher Shaun Marcum. He is the brother of University of Washington softball pitcher Danielle Lawrie.

While playing high school baseball for the Langley Blaze of the B.C. Premier Baseball League, Lawrie was selected with the 16th overall pick in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Brewers. The selection of Lawrie was the fourth highest a Canadian player has ever been drafted, behind only Jeff Francis, Adam Loewen, and Phillippe Aumont and the highest a Canadian position player has ever been drafted (Loewen was drafted as a pitcher, but now is a position player in the New York Mets organization).

Lawrie was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team at the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship where he led the tournament with a .469 batting average, 3 home runs and 16 RBIs. He was also selected to play for Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Mark Charles Teixeira ( /teɪˈʃɛrə/ tay-SHERR-ə; born April 11, 1980, in Annapolis, Maryland), nicknamed "Tex" is an American Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees. Primarily a first baseman, he has also played third base and in the outfield. He played college baseball at Georgia Tech, where in 2001 he won the Dick Howser Trophy as the national collegiate baseball player of the year.

Teixeira was drafted in 2001 by the Texas Rangers, and made his MLB debut for them in 2003. In mid-2007 he was traded to the Atlanta Braves, and traded again in mid-2008 to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In December 2008, he agreed to a contract with the New York Yankees. Teixeira has won four Gold Glove Awards and three Silver Slugger Awards. Teixeira also holds the all-time major league record for most games with a home run from both sides of the plate, with 13.

Teixeira grew up in Severna Park, Maryland, and attended Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he played for the school's varsity baseball team. Teixeira is Portuguese American. He also has roots in the South American country of Guyana, the country from which his grandfather migrated as a young man.

Manuel Arturo Machado (born July 6, 1992) is an American baseball shortstop for the Bowie Baysox, the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He attended Brito High School in Miami. Machado was drafted by the Orioles with the third overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He bats and throws right-handed. He stands at 6'2" and weighs 180 pounds. Keith Law, a writer for ESPN.com and the lead baseball analyst for Scouts Inc said that if Machado stays at shortstop, "you have a potential All-Star offensively who is no worse than average with the glove". Machado has been compared to New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. Machado said "it's a great honor" to be compared to Rodriguez, but he doesn't compare himself to anyone.

During his senior year of high school, he hit .639 with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs in 29 games.

Machado committed to play for Florida International University. Even if he hadn't signed with the Orioles he would not have been able to play baseball for FIU because he missed the deadline to enroll for fall classes.