Terry Francona of the Cleveland Guardians was named 2022 American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night, while Buck Showalter of the New York Mets earned Manager of the Year honors in the National League.
Francona won the award for the third time (2013, 2016), all with Cleveland — joining Dusty Baker and Bobby Cox as the only managers to win the award three times with the same club.
Meanwhile, Showalter became the first man to win Manager of the Year four times with four different teams (New York Yankees in 1994, Texas Rangers in 2004, Baltimore Orioles in 2014). He joined Cox and Tony La Russa as the only four-time winners of the award in history.
Francona received 17 of the 30 available first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and finished with 112 total points. The Baltimore Orioles’ Brandon Hyde finished second with 79 points (nine first-place votes).
Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners was third with 43 points and one first-place ballot, while Baker of the Houston Astros received more first-place ballots (three) but took fourth at 31 points.
“When you start hearing people talk about you personally, it makes you a little uneasy,” Francona said about the recognition on MLB Network. “But for the things it allows me to brag about in our organization, that part makes me really happy, whether it’s the players, the coaches, all the way to the clubbies, the trainers, the medical people. That’s the part that’s fun because we get to live it out every day.”
Francona guided the Guardians to a 92-70 record and the AL Central division title one year after they finished under .500 at 80-82.
Working with the youngest team in MLB, Francona’s Guardians won 24 of their final 30 games to blow past the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins and win the division.
“For younger guys … that are still trying to find their footing in our league, that’s pretty amazing that they were able to always put our team first,” Francona said. “And for that I had, and I still will have, a tremendous amount of respect for that group.”
In a very tight NL race, Showalter received eight of the 30 first-place votes from the BBWAA panel. His 10 second-place ballots and seven third-place picks helped him total 77 points and beat Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who also got eight first-place votes and finished with 57 points.
The Atlanta Braves’ Brian Snitker (55 points, seven first-place votes), the St. Louis Cardinals’ Oliver Marmol (44, five first-place votes) and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Rob Thomson (36, two first-place votes) rounded out the top five.
Showalter took over a Mets team that finished 77-85 last season and guided them to a 101-61 record, coming a tiebreaker away from winning the NL East. New York made its first playoff trip since 2016.
“You learn from (mistakes), you try to treat people the way you’d like to be treated and also try to share some things to help them get to where they want to go,” Showalter said. “I didn’t start coaching or managing with the idea I was gonna be a major league manager. You just take each job, you work the heck out of it and see if somebody thinks you can do something else. Every situation’s different and I was very fortunate to be asked by some really good people to join them (at the Mets) and I’m honored that we’re here today.”
–Field Level Media
