Was really expecting Buerhle to win it. Not necessarily because I think he's a better fielder (its a wash really) but just because of the name recognition and the 4 in a row.

And to think people thought AA didn't improve the infield defesne...

I'm just waiting for Dickey's Cy Young next year.

Rakuten Golden Eagles - any affiliation with rakuten.com (aka buy.com)?

Yes, Rakuten owns that team. All of the teams in NPB are owned by companies and the company names are part of the team name. One famous example is Nippon Ham, who own the Fighters, not the Ham Fighters. Yomiuri Giants are basically the Yankees of Japan, so hope Rakuten wins instead.

Cool. How directly is Rakuten (the owner) involved with the running of the team? Steinbrenner level, less than that, or more than that?

Huh. Dickey was the only AL player to win a Gold Glove who doesn't play for the Royals, Orioles or Red Sox. Maybe we can teach R.A. to play second base on his off days? I bet he can hit as well as Izturis...

In all seriousness though, I can kind of see why Dickey won this award instead of Buehrle. Both are phenomenal defenders, but Dickey looks WAY more nonchalant fielding a ball out there. On a hard groundball hit to either of them, there's Buehrle setting himself up in perfect fielding position, glove and chest square to the ground. Dickey meanwhile just stabs at the ball with his glove, like an ice-hockey goaltender catching a slapshot going top-shelf.

Adam Jones was a poor Gold Glove choice.  Rasmus and Ellsbury were both better this year, and have been for years.