Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award

This article is about the award presented by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. For the award presented by The Sporting News, see Sporting News Manager of the Year Award.

Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award
Lou Piniella won the 2008 National League Manager of the Year Award, and won twice in the American League.
Sport	Baseball
League	Major League Baseball
Awarded for	Best manager of American League and National League
Country	United States, Canada
Presented by	Baseball Writers' Association of America
History
First award	1983
Most recent	Don Mattingly (NL) Kevin Cash (AL)

In Major League Baseball, the Manager of the Year Award is an honor given annually since 1983 to two outstanding managers, one each in the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner is voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Each submits a vote for first, second, and third place among the managers of each league.^[a] The manager with the highest score in each league wins the award.^[1]

Several managers have won the award in a season when they led their team to 100 or more wins. Lou Piniella won 116 games with the Seattle Mariners in 2001,^[2] the most by a winning manager, and Joe Torre won 114 with the New York Yankees in 1998.^[3] Sparky Anderson and Tony La Russa finished with identical 104–58 records in 1984 and 1988, respectively.^[4][5] Three National League managers, including Dusty Baker, Whitey Herzog, and Larry Dierker, have exceeded the century mark as well. Baker's San Francisco Giants won 103 games in 1993;^[6] Dierker's 1998 Houston Astros won 102 and Herzog led the Cardinals to 101 wins in the award's third season.^[7][8]

In 1991, Bobby Cox became the first manager to win the award in both leagues, winning with the Atlanta Braves and having previously won with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1985.^[9] La Russa, Piniella, Jim Leyland, Bob Melvin, Davey Johnson, and Joe Maddon have since won the award in both leagues.^[2][4][10] Cox and La Russa have won the most awards, with four.^[4][9] Baker, Leyland, Piniella, Showalter, Maddon and Melvin ^[11] have won three times.^[2][6][10] In 2005, Cox became the first manager to win the award in consecutive years.^[9] Kevin Cash and Don Mattingly are the most recent winners.

Because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike cut the season short and cancelled the post-season, the BBWAA writers effectively created a de facto mythical national championship (similar to college football) by naming managers of the unofficial league champions (lead the leagues in winning percentage) (Buck Showalter and Felipe Alou) as Managers of the Year.^[12][13] Two franchises, the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers, have not had a manager win the award.

Only six managers have won the award while leading a team that finished outside the top two spots in its division. Ted Williams was the first, after leading the "expansion" Washington Senators to a third-place finish (and, at 86-76, their only winning season) in the American League East, in 1969. Buck Rodgers won the award in 1987 with the third-place Expos.^[14] Tony Peña and Showalter won the award with third-place teams in back-to-back years: Peña with the Royals in 2003, and Showalter with the Rangers in 2004.^[15][16] Joe Girardi is the only manager to win the award with a fourth-place team (2006 Florida Marlins);^[17] he is also the only manager to win the award after fielding a team with a losing record.

Key

	Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same year
(#)	Number of wins by managers who have won the award multiple times
Year	Each year links to that particular Major League Baseball season
Bold	The manager's team won the World Series in the same season

Winners

American League

Kevin Cash (2020 AL Manager of the Year)

Don Mattingly (2020 NL Manager of the Year)

Year	Manager	Team	Division	Finish	Record
1983	Tony La Russa (1)†	Chicago White Sox	West	1st	99–63
1984	Sparky Anderson (1)†	Detroit Tigers	East	1st	104–58
1985	Bobby Cox (1)†	Toronto Blue Jays	East	1st	99–62
1986	John McNamara	Boston Red Sox	East	1st	95–66
1987	Sparky Anderson (2)†	Detroit Tigers	East	1st	98–64
1988	Tony La Russa (2)†	Oakland Athletics	West	1st	104–58
1989	Frank Robinson†	Baltimore Orioles	East	2nd	87–75
1990	Jeff Torborg	Chicago White Sox	West	2nd	94–68
1991	Tom Kelly	Minnesota Twins	West	1st	95–67
1992	Tony La Russa (3)†	Oakland Athletics	West	1st	96–66
1993	Gene Lamont	Chicago White Sox	West	1st	94–68
1994[b]	Buck Showalter (1)	New York Yankees	East	1st	70–43
1995	Lou Piniella (1)	Seattle Mariners	West	1st	79–66
1996^[c]	Johnny Oates	Texas Rangers	West	1st	90–72
1996^[c]	Joe Torre†	New York Yankees	East	1st	92–70
1997	Davey Johnson (1)	Baltimore Orioles	East	1st	98–64
1998	Joe Torre (2)†	New York Yankees	East	1st	114–48
1999	Jimy Williams	Boston Red Sox	East	2nd	94–68
2000	Jerry Manuel	Chicago White Sox	Central	1st	95–67
2001	Lou Piniella (2)	Seattle Mariners	West	1st	116–46
2002	Mike Scioscia	Anaheim Angels	West	2nd	99–63
2003	Tony Peña	Kansas City Royals	Central	3rd	83–79
2004	Buck Showalter (2)	Texas Rangers	West	3rd	89–73
2005	Ozzie Guillén	Chicago White Sox	Central	1st	99–63
2006	Jim Leyland (3)	Detroit Tigers	Central	2nd	95–67
2007	Eric Wedge	Cleveland Indians	Central	1st	96–66
2008	Joe Maddon (1)	Tampa Bay Rays	East	1st	97–65
2009	Mike Scioscia (2)	Los Angeles Angels	West	1st	97–65
2010	Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	Central	1st	94–68
2011	Joe Maddon (2)	Tampa Bay Rays	East	2nd	91–71
2012	Bob Melvin (2)	Oakland Athletics	West	1st	94–68
2013	Terry Francona	Cleveland Indians	Central	2nd	92–70
2014	Buck Showalter (3)	Baltimore Orioles	East	1st	96–66
2015	Jeff Banister	Texas Rangers	West	1st	88–74
2016	Terry Francona (2)	Cleveland Indians	Central	1st	94–67
2017	Paul Molitor	Minnesota Twins	Central	2nd	85–77
2018	Bob Melvin (3)	Oakland Athletics	West	2nd	97–65
2019	Rocco Baldelli	Minnesota Twins	Central	1st	101–61
2020	Kevin Cash	Tampa Bay Rays	East	1st	40–20

National League

Year	Manager	Team	Division	Finish	Record
1983	Tommy Lasorda (1)†	Los Angeles Dodgers	West	1st	91–71
1984	Jim Frey (1)	Chicago Cubs	East	1st	96–65
1985	Whitey Herzog†	St. Louis Cardinals	East	1st	101–61
1986	Hal Lanier	Houston Astros	West	1st	96–66
1987	Buck Rodgers	Montréal Expos	East	3rd	91–71
1988	Tommy Lasorda (2)†	Los Angeles Dodgers	West	1st	94–67
1989	Don Zimmer	Chicago Cubs	East	1st	93–69
1990	Jim Leyland (1)	Pittsburgh Pirates	East	1st	95–67
1991	Bobby Cox (2)†	Atlanta Braves	West	1st	94–68
1992	Jim Leyland (2)	Pittsburgh Pirates	East	1st	96–66
1993	Dusty Baker (1)	San Francisco Giants	West	2nd	103–59
1994[b]	Felipe Alou	Montréal Expos	East	1st	74–40
1995	Don Baylor	Colorado Rockies	West	2nd	77–67
1996	Bruce Bochy	San Diego Padres	West	1st	91–71
1997	Dusty Baker (2)	San Francisco Giants	West	1st	90–72
1998	Larry Dierker	Houston Astros	Central	1st	102–60
1999	Jack McKeon (1)	Cincinnati Reds	Central	2nd	96–67
2000	Dusty Baker (3)	San Francisco Giants	West	1st	97–65
2001	Larry Bowa	Philadelphia Phillies	East	2nd	86–76
2002	Tony La Russa (4)†	St. Louis Cardinals	Central	1st	97–65
2003	Jack McKeon (2)	Florida Marlins	East	2nd	75–49
2004	Bobby Cox (3)†	Atlanta Braves	East	1st	96–66
2005	Bobby Cox (4)†	Atlanta Braves	East	1st	90–72
2006	Joe Girardi	Florida Marlins	East	4th	78–84
2007	Bob Melvin (1)	Arizona Diamondbacks	West	1st	90–72
2008	Lou Piniella (3)	Chicago Cubs	Central	1st	97–64
2009	Jim Tracy	Colorado Rockies	West	2nd	92–70
2010	Bud Black	San Diego Padres	West	2nd	90–72
2011	Kirk Gibson	Arizona Diamondbacks	West	1st	94–68
2012	Davey Johnson (2)	Washington Nationals	East	1st	98–64
2013	Clint Hurdle	Pittsburgh Pirates	Central	2nd	94–68
2014	Matt Williams	Washington Nationals	East	1st	96–66
2015	Joe Maddon (3)	Chicago Cubs	Central	3rd	97–65
2016	Dave Roberts	Los Angeles Dodgers	West	1st	91–71
2017	Torey Lovullo	Arizona Diamondbacks	West	2nd	93–69
2018	Brian Snitker	Atlanta Braves	East	1st	90–72
2019	Mike Shildt	St. Louis Cardinals	Central	1st	91–71
2020	Don Mattingly	Miami Marlins	East	2nd	31–29

Notes

• a The formula used to calculate the final scores is Score = 5F + 3S + T, where F is the number of first-place votes, S is second -place votes, and T is third-place votes.^[18][19]
• b The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike ended the season on August 11, as well as cancelling the entire postseason, with writers effectively turning the vote into a de facto mythical national championship, similar to college football. ^[20]
• c Johnny Oates and Joe Torre tied for the lead among voters in the American League in 1996.^[21]

See also

• "Esurance MLB Awards" Best Manager (in MLB)
• Baseball America Manager of the Year
• Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball Awards Manager of the Year
• Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award
• Associated Press Manager of the Year (discontinued in 2001)
• Honor Rolls of Baseball #Managers
• MLB All-Time Manager (1997; BBWAA)
• Sporting News Manager of the Decade (2009)
• Sports Illustrated MLB Manager of the Decade (2009)
• Major League Baseball all-time managerial wins
• Best Coach/Manager ESPY Award (all sports)

References

General

• "Manager of the Year Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
• "MLB Awards (Manager of the Year Award Winners)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved May 25, 2009.

Inline citations

1. Castrovince, Anthony; Beck, Jason (November 14, 2007). "Wedge named AL's top manager". Major League Baseball. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
2. "Lou Piniella Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
3. "Joe Torre Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
4. "Tony La Russa Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
5. "Sparky Anderson Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
6. "Dusty Baker Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
7. "Larry Dierker Managerial Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
8. "Whitey Herzog Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
9. "Bobby Cox Managerial Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
10. "Jim Leyland Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
11. "MLB Awards 2018". BaseballBliss.com. BaseballBliss. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
12. "Buck Showalter Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
13. "Felipe Alou Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
14. "1987 Montreal Expos Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
15. "2003 Kansas City Royals Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
16. "2004 Texas Rangers Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
17. "2006 Florida Marlins Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
18. "2008 NL Manager of the Year Voting". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 12, 2008. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
19. Spira, Greg (October 28, 2004). "Internet Baseball Awards". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
20. Bryant, Howard (2005). Juicing the Game. Penguin Group. p. 53. ISBN 0-670-03445-2.
21. "MLB Awards (Manager of the Year Award Winners)". Major League Baseball. Retrieved May 25, 2009.