On Tuesday night the MLB announced the winners of the 2014 Manager of the Year award decided by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. A longtime veteran manager and a rookie manager took home this year's honors.
Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles won Manager of the Year for the American League. Showalter led the Orioles to their first AL East division title since 1997 with a 96-66 record, which was only second behind the MLB-best Los Angeles Angels. Baltimore fell to the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS, but Showalter did an exceptional job coping with a number of injuries as well as the lack of an ace in the starting rotation.
Having received 25 of the 30 first-place votes, Showalter took home his third career Manager of the Year award, with the previous coming in 1994 and 2004. He beat out finalists Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels and Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals and also became the first Orioles manager to win the award since Davey Johnson in 1997. The 58-year-old Showalter has a career managerial record of 1,259-1,161 in 16 MLB seasons.
The National League Manager of the Year award went to a rookie skipper. Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams recorded an NL-best 96-66 record in his first season with the team. He received 18 of the 30 first-place votes to become the fourth rookie manager in history to win the award, beating out San Francisco Giants skipper Bruce Bochy and Pittsburgh Pirates boss Clint Hurdle.
Prior to joining the Nationals, Williams was the third base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2011-2013 and played 17 MLB seasons with the Giants, D-Backs and Indians. He batted .268 with 378 home runs and 1,218 RBIs before he retired in 2003. He won a World Series with Arizona in 2001. Although the Nationals fell to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants in the NLDS, the team has a bright future ahead of them and Williams appears to be the right guy for the job.
Check out MLB.com for the complete list of Managers of the Year.
