Baltimore’s Buck Showalter and Washington’s Matt Williams were respectively named AL and NL Manager of the Year for 2014.
Showalter, a three time winner, received 25 of 30 first-place votes and 132 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He won the award previously with the New York Yankees in 1994 and Texas Rangers in 2004. Buck guided the Orioles to a 96-66 record this season and their first AL East title since 1997.
Los Angeles Angels skipper Mike Scioscia finished second with four first place votes and 61 points. Kansas City’s Ned Yost came in third with 41 points.
Williams, in his second year as a MLB manager, guided the Nationals to an NL-best 96 wins. He got 18 first place votes and 109 points. Pittsburgh’s Clint Hurdle finished second with eight first-place votes and 80 points, and Bruce Bochy of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants was third with three firsts and 30 points.
Surprisingly, Mets manager Terry Collins received one third place vote, and it wasn’t from either of the New York voters, but Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago.
I asked Jesse why he voted for Collins over Mike Redmond or Bruce Bochy. He quickly replied back:
“To mix it up a little. Most of the year, Marlins had more talent and NY still finished ahead and Bochy slide mid-season almost cost them. I mean you could always vote for the playoff teams, I looked for someone that should not have won that many…”
