November 09, 2004 - If baseball is a game of inches, then that inch most often comes on a play where a fielder either makes a dive to save the score or watches the ball get past him for the loss.

An inch here equals a win. An inch there equals a loss.

Sometimes the complicated game of baseball comes down to the simplest of things.

To make those game-winning plays, you need to employ a group of players who care about their fielding percentage as much as they do their on-base percentage. You need guys who are going to crash into the wall with the game on the line. Guys who aren't afraid to get a little dirty when the job demands it.

Good glove work often means the difference between playing in October or watching the World Series from a sports bar like the rest of us. In this era of the juiced ball (and the juiced player), it seems like anyone can hit the ball over the fence. What you need to win is a player who will also be able to catch the ball with the game/season/series on the line without tripping and letting the pill bounce off his head for a homerun.

That's why IGN Sports has teamed with EA Sports and the MVP Baseball series for the second straight season to salute these men with the Golden Gloves.

Today, we present the first screens of MVP Baseball 2005 to go along with the winners of the American League Gold Gloves. Then be sure to check back to IGN Sports tomorrow for nine new screens of MVP 2005 saluting the best from the National League.

P: Kenny Rogers, Texas

He might not be the guy you want on the mound for say, Game 6 of a playoff series (that walk with the bases loaded still hurts), but you can't doubt the man's fielding prowess from the hill. Sure, his name is mostly associated with chicken and country music, but the baseball Kenny Rogers is one of the best in the game fielding bunts, comebackers, and line drives flying back toward his head.

C: Ivan Rodriguez, Detroit

Funny story #1: I see Pudge at a party out at the Super Bowl and he walks up to Aaron Boulding (former Xbox, now Special Projects editor at IGN) and starts talking to him like they're old friends. Pudge was like, "Man I haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" And Aaron is like "Great?" thinking we set this up somehow. Anyway the two keep talking, then Pudge says he has to go but that he'd give Aaron a call later. Aaron's phone never rang, but I'm sure whoever Pudge mistook Aaron for was pretty confused when he answered his phone and Pudge asked him about the party.

1B: Darin Erstad, Anaheim

Funny Story #2: I'm at a party the night before the MLB All-Star game this year and I see Vladimir Guerrero walk in. I heard he's a big video game player so I walk over to him to see what's up. Anyway, I give him a pound, he pounds back and smiles, listening to me yap away about games, IGN, and when we can setup an interview. He just kept nodding his head, then he calls over some dude and asks him a question in Spanish. I was talking to Vlad for like five minutes, obviously doing all the talking, and he didn't understand a damn word I said. His buddy translated and it turns out Vlad does love video games. Don't expect an interview anytime soon, though, as my Spanish isn't so muy bueno, and it never was.

I know this story has nothing to do with Darin Erstad, but I never met him, so there. Anyway, Erstad wins the Gold after making the transfer from the outfield (where he was also Golden), becoming one of the best at both picking the ball out of the dirt as well as chasing foul balls down the right field line.