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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Neyer: Bob Melvin wins American League’s Manager of the Year Award

My tiebreaker is that I already know that Buck is actually a good manager and Melvin is just a guy…

Buck Showalter’s Orioles were supposed to finish third or fourth. Bob Melvin’s Athletics were supposed to finish third or fourth…

According to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Bob Melvin’s work was slightly more impressive; he is this year’s American League Manager of the Year. The voting was close, with Melvin taking 16 first-place votes, compared to 12 for Showalter…

if forced to choose, I choose Melvin because the A’s outscored their opponents by 99 runs during the season, the Orioles by only seven runs. Most years, Showalter would have been the obvious answer. But most years don’t see a team make up 14 games in the standings in three months.

The District Attorney Posted: November 13, 2012 at 08:07 PM | 22 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: athletics, awards, bob melvin, buck showalter, managers, orioles, rob neyer

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1. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: November 13, 2012 at 08:18 PM (#4301892)

And Davey wins in the NL.

2. Danny Posted: November 13, 2012 at 08:22 PM (#4301896)

A guy who won a lot because his OK team played really well versus a guy who won a lot because his OK team was clutchy. I don't really know enough about how Showalter actually managed--but Melvin handled the platoons very well, and every decision he made over the last 4 months seemed to work out better than expected.

Ballots by division:

AL West*: 6 Melvin, 1 Showalter
AL Central: 7 Melvin, 3 Showalter
AL East*: 3 Melvin, 8 Showalter

*Jack Curry voted for Seattle, who apparently didn't have enough eligible voters.

3. Infinite Joost (Voxter)

Posted: November 13, 2012 at 08:27 PM (#4301904)

I'm not totally sure I believe that Showalter is any less just a guy than Melvin. He's just louder.

That said, I think he deserves the award for coining the phrase "weird wuss".

4. Koot Posted: November 13, 2012 at 08:46 PM (#4301922)

I thought Bobby V had this one locked up. =c(

5. Justin T is expanding the aperture of awareness Posted: November 13, 2012 at 09:18 PM (#4301963)

Weird wuss was courtesy of Davey Johnson.

6. Austin Posted: November 13, 2012 at 09:19 PM (#4301967)

I was pretty surprised that Melvin won. He was my preferred choice, but people spent so much time talking about Showalter that I thought it was almost a given that he would win. Not that it matters much!

7. BourbonSamurai, vassal of the Harpsburg Empire Posted: November 13, 2012 at 09:25 PM (#4301973)

Congrats to Bob! I am very surprised Showalter didn't win though.

8. Infinite Joost (Voxter)

Posted: November 13, 2012 at 09:40 PM (#4301986)

Weird wuss was courtesy of Davey Johnson.

Then #### it, I'm not sad about this at all.

9. LargeBill Posted: November 13, 2012 at 10:08 PM (#4302003)

I was fine with either Buck or Melvin winner. Preferred Buck, but no real complaint.

10. Fred Lynn Nolan Ryan Sweeney Agonistes Posted: November 13, 2012 at 10:17 PM (#4302010)

Melvin handled the platoons very well, and every decision he made over the last 4 months seemed to work out better than expected.

Exactly right.
The players seem to LOOOOOOOVE him, but it's hard to tell how much of that is just absolutely everything going right for four months.

11. Gamingboy Posted: November 13, 2012 at 10:22 PM (#4302016)

Buck Showalter should have won, but this is hardly a grand robbery. More a minor pick-pocketing.

12. Chris Fluit Posted: November 13, 2012 at 10:29 PM (#4302021)

Buck Showalter should have won, but this is hardly a grand robbery.

I agree with both statements yet I can't help but feel that the vote came down to one win. If Baltimore was 94-68 and Oakland 93-69, the votes are probably reversed.

13. charityslave is thinking about baseball Posted: November 13, 2012 at 11:14 PM (#4302071)

I have no problem with this, but I would have liked to see Giradi get more votes. Sure, he had a lot of premium talent, but he had to deal with a lot of pitching drama (and general NY drama). The managers for the front runners never get any love.

14. DKDC Posted: November 13, 2012 at 11:37 PM (#4302093)

Good for Melvin. I expected Buck to win because he's the bigger name and EAST COAST BIAS!

Who knows how responsible either guy was for their teams overperformance, but they both juggled their roster well and are tactically competent which is about all a fan can ask for from a manager.

15. ShoeGrit Posted: November 14, 2012 at 07:55 AM (#4302197)

Melvin generally much better liked by press.

16. SoSH U at work Posted: November 14, 2012 at 11:14 AM (#4302275)

Melvin generally much better liked by press.

Yeah, I wondered if that played a role in the vote. Do I vote for the easy-going manager of overachieving club A, or the skipper of overacheiving club b who has a tendency to come across as if he invented baseball?

17. The Chronicles of Reddick Posted: November 14, 2012 at 12:17 PM (#4302359)

You couldn't have gone wrong with either manager but I am glad that Melvin won and I hope that the A's are able to build on the success from 2012.

18. Esoteric throws a 'hard slider' Posted: November 14, 2012 at 12:21 PM (#4302367)

Yeah, I wondered if that played a role in the vote. Do I vote for the easy-going manager of overachieving club A, or the skipper of overacheiving club b who has a tendency to come across as if he invented baseball?

But that hasn't been the way Showalter's been carrying himself during these recent years with the Orioles. I've read a number of profiles of him and interviews over the last season or so...he's really mellowed out quite a lot from the old Yankees/Rangers/D-Backs years.

19. SoSH U at work Posted: November 14, 2012 at 12:41 PM (#4302400)

But that hasn't been the way Showalter's been carrying himself during these recent years with the Orioles. I've read a number of profiles of him and interviews over the last season or so...he's really mellowed out quite a lot from the old Yankees/Rangers/D-Backs years.

As a fan of an O's division rival, I'm going to disagree there. He may have been a little less Buckish this year as his team was competitive and in the race all season, but there were plenty of times where he let the insufferable ####### out in the previous two. And I wouldn't be surprised if the media guys get little doses of it all season long.

20. DKDC Posted: November 14, 2012 at 02:43 PM (#4302558)

#19, it didn't seem that way to me. I watched a lot of his news conferences and reporters seemed to be eating out of his hand as best as I could see.

It was an especially stark difference when you compared him to division rivals "MEMEME" Valentine, Blinky Mcprotrudingvein Girardi, Joe the Showman Madden, and whoever the Blue jays manager was.

21. Danny Posted: November 14, 2012 at 03:01 PM (#4302580)

As a fan of an O's division rival, I'm going to disagree there. He may have been a little less Buckish this year as his team was competitive and in the race all season, but there were plenty of times where he let the insufferable ####### out in the previous two. And I wouldn't be surprised if the media guys get little doses of it all season long.

Yet the writers who covered him more often were much more likely to vote for him.

22. SoSH U at work Posted: November 14, 2012 at 03:40 PM (#4302627)

Yet the writers who covered him more often were much more likely to vote for him.

That's a good point. It was just speculation. I have no idea how the writers feel about Buck. I know how I do, and I know that at least through the 2011 season, Showalter hadn't exactly entered his mellow phase.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Neyer: Bob Melvin wins American League’s Manager of the Year Award

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