Day Two of the Major League Baseball awards as chosen by the Baseball Writers Association of America wrapped up on Tuesday as the cavalcade of writers voted on the Manager of the Year Award for both leagues. This year’s nominees didn’t exactly make the process easy as many great storylines followed the paths of the six men up for nomination in their respective league. But the one thing to remember is that this award is only contingent upon the regular season, not what their teams accomplished in the postseason.
In the American League Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics was looking to retain the title after winning it in 2012 as he and the boys in green and gold shocked the baseball world by not only finishing over .500, but also winning the AL Western Division title. Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians held a worthy nomination after locking up a Wild Card spot and leading The Tribe to their first postseason since 2007 when they lost the American League Championship Series to the Francona-led Boston Red Sox who went on to win the World Series. Finally, John Farrell, the first-year skipper and former 2007 pitching coach for the Red Sox who helped the team overcome one its worse seasons in franchise history in 2012 by taking the AL Eastern Division crown en route to their third World Series title in 10 years.
In the National League Clint Hurdle did what six other Pittsburgh Pirates managers could do before him, finish the season with at least a .500 record AND make the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
Even though his Pirates did it as the top seeded Wild Card, they still made for one of the best baseball stories of the year.
Freddi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves was a no-brainer as he and his club finished the season with a commanding lead in the NL East, proving that he may in fact be the right choice as the successor of Bobby Cox.
Lastly, Don Mattingly had a rough go of things in the early part of the year, but the addition of Yasiel Puig and a healthy Hanley Ramirez turned the fortune around for him and the Los Angeles Dodgers as they coasted to a NL Western Division title and their rightful spot in the postseason.
Prior to the vote I personally had Hurdle taking the prize for the NL, which ultimately came true. Mattingly has still yet to prove that he’s the real deal as a manager, but this season certainly proved that he has what it takes to hang. Gonzalez was definitely a worthy candidate next to Hurdle, but what took place in Pittsburgh this year was way too hard to pass up. Hurdle had previously been nominated for Manager of the Year back in 2007 while he was at the helm of the NL champion Colorado Rockies, but ultimately lost out to Bob Melvin when he was the skipper of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Back then the Diamondbacks had won the division while the Rockies took the Wild Card spot.
In fact, the final season results had bit of controversial twist behind them as the Diamondbacks won the division with a half-a-game lead over the Rockies as they played one less game. In 2013, Hurdle got his comeuppance. As I mentioned above, it took six managers (including Jim Leyland) and 20 years for the Pirates to post a record above .500 and make the postseason. Not only did they do that, they had competed hard with the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central crown, but fell three games short of that particular achievement with a 94-68 record. While the Braves did finish with a slightly better record than the Pirates, you just can’t overlook a great story.
I honestly though Farrell had the AL Manager of the Year Award locked up. The Red Sox finished dead last in the AL East with a 69-93 record in 2012 and were pretty much picked to finish in a similar spot by the majority of the critics. Farrell didn’t do so hot as the skipper with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011 and 2012, so what was going to be the difference? Well, sometimes when you return a key piece to something that had worked out in the past you’ll get the same results as in the past.
Farrell not only turned the Red Sox’s fortune around, he did it by adding 28 more wins and an AL East Division title to boot. Pretty hard not vote for that, right?
Apparently it was easier than most would think as Indians’ skipper Terry Francona took home the hardware. It took me a bit to really wrap my head around it and all I could come up with is that he basically did what Farrell did, but with a team that was destined to succeed for many more years to come.
The Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948, and even though they’ve come close quite a few times in the last 20 years, the BBWAA apparently had a soft spot for Tito and The Tribe.
Also, this is Francona’s first Manager of the Year Award. I know you probably think I’m lying to you, but unfortunately I’m not. The irony of 2007 struck Francona in the same manner as Hurdle, but in a way more ironic way. Remember earlier when I said that Francona and the Red Sox knocked the Indians out in the ALCS in 2007? Well, the AL Manager of the Year winner that season was Indians manager Eric Wedge. Even when the Red Sox won their first World Series title in 86 years in 2004 Francona didn’t win the award, Buck Showalter of the Texas Rangers took it home that season. I’m not trying to say that Francona didn’t deserve it this year; after all, he did take an Indians team that won only 68 games in 2012 and turned them into a 92-games winner with a Wild Card spot in 2013.
It should also be noted that those 92 wins were one win shy of tying the Detroit Tigers for the NL Central crown and a one-game playoff. Tito coached one hell of a season, but in all honesty, a lot of his win feels like a make-up for the fact that he accomplished so much with the Red Sox and never won a Manager of the Year Award. It’s a little bit of a conspiracy theory, but there’s a lot of truth to it as well. Nonetheless, all three candidates in the AL were truly deserving, so in some weird way the right manager took home the prize. Take that last bit any way you want.