The Cleveland Indians Terry Francona and Pittsburgh Pirates Clint Hurdle were honored as the top managers in baseball by the BBWAA. Francona led the Indians to a 24 game improvement , the largest improvement in franchise history and earned the No. 1 wild-card spot in the American League.
The Indians went 21-6 in September and ended the season on a 10-game winning streak. Francona had heart years in Boston as the Red Sox manage winning two World Series championships from 2004 through 2011, but was never voted Manager of the Year.
Francona edged John Farrell of the World Series champion Boston Red Sox for the American League honor 112 points to 96 in a close vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
National League Manager of the Year
Clint Hurdle guided the Pirates to their first winning season since 1992. They finished 94-68, third-best in the NL. It also was the first Manager of the Year honor for the 56-year-old Hurdle. His highest finish had been third in 2007, when he led the Colorado Rockies to the World Series.
Hurdle guided the Pirates to their first winning season since 1992. They finished third-best in the NL.
They lost in five games to the St Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series.
Los Angeles skipper Don Mattingly finished second and Freddi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves fin sighed third.
“I said it’s the greatest coaching opportunity in all of sports — the opportunity to be part of a select group of men and women that re-bond a city with a ballclub,” Hurdle said. “Three years almost to the day that I said it, it’s starting to happen.
