Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 14, 2007
Managing Awards

Eric Wedge and Bob Melvin won Manager of the Year for the AL and NL respectively. Congratulations to both deserving candidates who led their teams to the best records in their leagues (the Indians were tied with the Red Sox).

Melvin, of course, led a team that greatly outperformed their predicted won-lost record, a team that posted the best record in the NL despite scoring less runs than their opponents. Making the right moves in close games was critical to the Diamondbacks success.

What I don't understand in the AL voting is the poor finish of Terry Francona. Mike Scioscia and Joe Torre blew him away:

Wedge received 19 of the 28 first-place ballots and got 116 points, finishing ahead of the Angels' Mike Scioscia (62 points). Joe Torre, fired by the Yankees, was next with 61 and Terry Francona of the World Series champion Red Sox got 13.

However, looking at the season in hindsight, the Red Sox fall from their big lead was managed very well. Francona never panicked. He used the huge cushion created early in the year to allow his players to rest and overcome injuries. He did an excellent job of setting his team up to win the World Series.

Of course, a big part of this award is expectation. Wedge out performed his, while Francona were met. Terry, however, deserves more recognition for a job well done.


Posted by David Pinto at 02:36 PM | Awards | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I agree with you David, Tito does deserve more recognition. I think that you hit the nail on the head that those voting thought he should succeed with the talent that the Red Sox have. However, he still had to do it! And as you mentioned, he kept his cool throughout everything. At no time did he panic or make drastic moves. He managed the team as well as could be managed and now of course we have another World Championship to show for it. As a Sox fan there were times when I was pulling my hair out wondering what hs was thinking...bringing in Gagne...leaving in Curt for one inning too many etc. But in the end it proved once again that is why he is the manager and I am a fan. He nailed it this season.

Posted by: emains at November 14, 2007 03:28 PM

Talk about expectations ... who expected the Rox to win the NL (by sweeping Melvin's team BTW)?!?! But Hurdle gets third place? I know the votes go in before the postseason (and before the play-in game) but c'mon! Vegas had the Rox at winning 67 games. They blew it away due in large part to Hurdle!

Posted by: Jared at November 14, 2007 03:37 PM

I didn't think that the Manager of the Year Award would reach the absurdity of the other awards but I guess I was wrong. Wedge isn't a horrible pick but I don't see how anyone could think that Torre belongs on the list. The Yankees season was a disappointment overall, but I guess you could say that they finished well but that doesn't change the end result of the season.

I wonder if a bunch of people voted for the NL manager before the season ended. That would explain why Melvin finished ahead of Hurdle. Of course, maybe they just watched Hurdle manage, anyone who did that would know that the idea of Hurdle being Manager of the Year is laughable.

Posted by: Tom at November 14, 2007 03:50 PM

All these Manager/Coach of the Year awards have morphed into "Manager/Coach Whose Team Surpassed Expectations." Any manager whose team is consistently great, will almost never win the award. Look at how often Phil Jackson or Bill Belichick have won their league's coaching honor -- once each.

If the same reasoning were followed for player awards, guys like A-Rod, Bonds, and Pujols would never win MVP. The award would instead go to the surprise player or comeback player of the year.

I think it's unfair to coaches/managers who keep their teams performing at a consistently high level. On the other hand, I doubt that Francona is too worried about it; I'm sure he wouldn't trade his World Series rings for a boatload of MOTYs.

Posted by: jvwalt at November 14, 2007 05:11 PM

Torre finished second with 4 mortal lock 1st round HOFers, another 3-4 borderline HOFers, another former MVP and 3-4 more perennial all-stars - how did he do it?

Posted by: Bandit at November 15, 2007 12:44 PM
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