Manuel second in MoY voting

by dajafi on Nov 12, 2008 2:10 PM EST

Lou Piniella won NL Manager of the Year honors today with 103 total points, including 15 first place votes. Charlie got 8 first-place votes, 67 overall. Fredi Gonzalez, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa rounded out the top five.

The Cubs had the best record in the NL this season, and Lou did a nice job running his pitching staff--particularly the role swap of Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood, both of whom had great years. But he also had a ginormous payroll to work with and a team that was favored from when spring training began. I would have voted for Charlie, even before he pushed every right button in October.

Guess we'll have to content ourselves with that world championship, which is a pretty good tradeoff.

Speaking of which, the adorable Tampa Bay genius Joe Maddon won in the AL with 27 of 28 first-place votes. WS-related pique at Joe aside, that's pretty much an inarguable choice; he did a masterful job.

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Dale Sveum got a 3rd place vote for managing 12 regular season games and four playoff games.

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by WholeCamels on Nov 12, 2008 2:40 PM EST reply actions

That was my favorite vote. Wasn’t his record in those games 8-8? WOOHOO!!!!1

by dajafi on Nov 12, 2008 3:44 PM EST up reply actions

Cholly should have won it

This is why everyone knocks sportswriters. They get easy things like this wrong because Pinella and the Cubs were a sexier pick. Charlie should have won it. I’m looking at you Jay Mariotti.

by Chris Haines on Nov 12, 2008 2:59 PM EST reply actions

If the voting took the postseason into account, I’m certain Charlie would have won. Piniella is a defensible pick; they did finish with the best record in the league, after all.

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by WholeCamels on Nov 12, 2008 3:59 PM EST up reply actions

I might have voted against Maddon based solely on the sheer lameness of the “9=8” slogan.

by taco pal on Nov 12, 2008 3:32 PM EST reply actions

Especially because of its incredibly flawed logic. First, each league has only four playoff spots, so 9=4 would be more appropriate. Parse that out even further, and the Rays are only eligible for one of two playoff spots (AL East Champs or Wild Card), so you get 9=2.

Lame-o.

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by WholeCamels on Nov 12, 2008 3:59 PM EST up reply actions

Heh. To take your point one step further, there’s also the fact that the Rays play in the AL so they actually start ten players per game including the DH, which brings us to 10=2.

by taco pal on Nov 12, 2008 4:28 PM EST up reply actions

What is 9=8?

By the sounds of it, I’m glad I missed this little nugget. But, I’m curious….

by David S. Cohen on Nov 12, 2008 5:21 PM EST up reply actions

I started poking around after WC reminded me of it, and that I’d never grasped what it meant before.

Supposedly it’s “nine players, playing hard for nine innings, can make us one of the eight playoff teams.” But I think really it’s about trying to make Joe Maddon look all cool and smart and stuff.

by dajafi on Nov 12, 2008 5:37 PM EST up reply actions