Colby Rasmus has an interesting theory on why he didn't win a Gold Glove

Rasmus blamed perceptions and, perhaps jokingly, one of his former managers

Outfielder Colby Rasmus, who recently signed with the Rays, played for the Astros last season. While he hit far below his usual standards in 2016, he enjoyed probably his best season in the field. In recognition of those efforts, he was named a Gold Glove finalist.

In the end, Mookie Betts, Kevin Kiermaier and Brett Gardner all beat him to win the award. So why didn't Rasmus prevail? The hirsute fly-catcher has an interesting and multi-pronged theory. Here are the goods from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times:

"You know how the game is. In the show they don't necessarily like long hair and the redneck folks, that's just the way it goes. My good old friend Tony La Russa he has a lot of pull in the game, so you never know. I just try to play the game how I play it. I play hard. I play the game kind of (all) out, and rough, so I've hurt myself along the way. When it comes to (my) back, injuries, they set you back for awards like that."

Topkin's piece has more revealing quotes from Rasmus, so give it a read.

During his days with the Cardinals, the team that drafted him, Rasmus never quite saw eye-to-eye with La Russa, and eventually the former first-rounder was traded away. Much of it stemmed from Rasmus' highly involved father and La Russa's objections to same.

In any event, I'm not sure baseball is such a hostile environment for "redneck folks," but perception is a kind of reality.