A late-season charge to the wild-card berth by Tampa Bay helped Joe Maddon sweep past Jim Leyland and Ron Washington in voting for the American League Manager of the Year.
Maddon received 26 of 28 first-place vote, and Leyland and Washington received one first-place vote apiece after leading Detroit and the Rangers to division titles. Washington guided the Rangers to a nearly wire-to-wire run atop the AL West, and they finally put away the Angels late to win by 10 games.
The Rangers' 96-66 record was the best in franchise history.
"Both Joe and Jim had great years," Washington said. "It's an end-of-the-year type of thing, and Joe certainly kept his team focused. You have to give him credit."
Ballots were due on the final day of the regular season. The Rangers eliminated the Rays for a second straight year in the AL Division Series.
-- Jeff Wilson
This is a total rip off to Wash. It also took a fold job by the Sox for Maddon's team to even make the play offs. Wash should be the AL manager of the year.
Posted by: merritt | November 17, 2011 at 08:24 AM