No complaints with either choice.

Gotta agree with 1: seems pretty fair to me.

I didn't realize Kirk Gibson was a MLB manager til about August.

I didn't realize Kirk Gibson was a MLB manager til about August.

"I don't believe what I just read!!!!"

I'm upset that there is little to be upset about this award season.

I'm upset that there is little to be upset about this award season.

Agreed. Where's the fun in that?

I'm upset that there is little to be upset about this award season.

If you can't find something to be upset about, you're not trying hard enough.

"A second place vote for Jose Valverde? He should have his ballot taken away! And his children. And possibly his wife. And... is that a... how does a guy on that salary get a car like that? Okay, take that away too, and give it to me. Actually, his wife seems sort of unpleasant. Let's let him keep that."

It's kind of odd that a near-unanimous choice wouldn't be listed on every ballot. I wonder who that lone writer was.

I think the MVP ballots have the potential for hilarity and outrage. There is going to be genuine disagreement depending on where you fall on the whole contending team thing and of course the pitcher vs position player thing is an AL issue.

I think the MVP ballots have the potential for hilarity and outrage. There is going to be genuine disagreement depending on where you fall on the whole contending team thing and of course the pitcher vs position player thing is an AL issue.

And how you grade defense.

It's kind of odd that a near-unanimous choice wouldn't be listed on every ballot. I wonder who that lone writer was.


On a 3-person ballot where you're judging something pretty subjective (managerial achievement), it doesn't surprise me that much.

"The one BBWAA voter who left Maddon off the ballot was Chris Assenheimer, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in Clev. chapter. His ballot: Leyland, Girardi, Acta." - SP Times

As near as I can tell, Joe Maddon this year and Mike Scioscia in 2009 are the only men to win Manger of the Year despite leading their team to a worse record than they'd posted the year before.

It is possible I've missed a couple, but it looks like these are the only two.

It is possible I've missed a couple, but it looks like these are the only two.

Assuming it didn't have to be his team the year before, Joe Giradi did with the 2006 Marlins (one game worse than 2005 under McKeon). And he's probably the only MoY who led his team to a worse record than the year before and was subsequently fired before the next season began.

I think the MVP ballots have the potential for hilarity and outrage. There is going to be genuine disagreement depending on where you fall on the whole contending team thing and of course the pitcher vs position player thing is an AL issue.

I think the AL MVP is the most difficult to predict in a long time.

"The one BBWAA voter who left Maddon off the ballot was Chris Assenheimer, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in Clev. chapter. His ballot: Leyland, Girardi, Acta." - SP Times

Hardy-har-har. At least you could come up with a more plausible name.

"The one BBWAA voter who left Maddon off the ballot was Chris Assenheimer, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in Clev. chapter. His ballot: Leyland, Girardi, Acta."

When did he fill out the form? July 19?

If Gibby can win, say, a half-dozen championships as a manager, maybe we'll finally get a (playing) member of the '84 Tigers into the HOF.

Speaking of which, I met Howard Johnson last week when he stopped by the radio studio. Nice guy.

When did he fill out the form? July 19?

If he had, Francona would have been first.

I'm upset that there is little to be upset about this award season.

no love for the manager not named maddon who took a team 10 1/2 back in august and got into the playoffs?

oh, and btw his team WON THE F-ING WORLD SERIES.

sheesh.

i know there's a lot of TLR hate here on btf, but hey he's retired you don't have to put up with him anymore. he did a helluva job this year.

oh, to heck with it. stupid awards.

oh, and btw his team WON THE F-ING WORLD SERIES.

I'd have to figure it's like the other awards and they vote before that.

TLR took a vastly more talented team (than Gibson had) that included the best player in the game and SEVERAL stud hitters, and helped put them in a 10.5 game hole through undisciplined and inconsistent play and decision making, before they finally got their #### together and pulled it out at the end.

see what I did there.....

see what I did there.....

yes, you got yourself into the BBWAA. congrats.

TLR struggled with a subpar performance from some pitchers he was depending on, endured a serious injury that took his best player -- the best player in the game -- out of commission for weeks, dealt with a problem player and his interfering entourage and the ensuing fallout, worked with his GM to turn that player into a corps of servicable relievers through trades, got his best guy back, flipped the switch and rode the rocket to the moon.

i can do what you did too ...

the DA makes a good point. if they could vote after the WS, i'm sure tony would have got a lot more consideration, but of course it makes a good deal of sense to vote before the WS, or the award would almost never go to someone who did a good job with subpar personnel.

I'm upset that there is little to be upset about this award season.

Would Halladay over Kershaw tomorrow give us one of those fun old-fashioned 500 post threads of yore? How about anybody over Bautista?

How about anybody over Bautista?

I think Bautista should win.
I hope Bautista wins.
I'd be unhappy if he doesn't win.
But I'm not going to be outraged.
He was the easy choice for the first half of the season, but he "slumped" in the second half:
.257/.419/.477 and 12 home runs

At that point, some other candidates (Verlander, Ellsbury) started to really make a name for themselves.
Both of them make very good cases as MVP, and depending on how you rate pitching/position, it's not unthinkable for them to win.

To close the book on this, tampabay.com has this interesting little blurb

Chris Assenheimer, the Elyria (Ohio) Chronicle-Telegram who left Joe Maddon off his BBWAA AL Manager of the Year ballot, offered an excuse and an apology on his Facebook page tonight:

"Been taking heat for leaving Joe Maddon off my MOY ballot. In my defense, cast the vote before the end of the regular season, thinking there was no way Red Sox would complete epic collapse and the Rays would wind up in third place. Obviously should have waited until the end of the season. Sorry, Joe. But, hey, you still won."

So his defense of himself was that he couldn't be bothered to collect all the evidence?