Guardians' Terry Francona Wins American League Manager Of The Year

Originally posted on Cleveland Guardians on SI
By Tommy Wild | Last updated 11/15/22

Terry Francona was more than a manager this year. He was a leader of the Guardians' ball club.

The role that Tito played led him to be the 2022 American League Manager of the Year. This is the third time that he has won the award since he took over as Cleveland's skipper. Tito also won it back in 2013 and 2016.

His three Manager of the Year awards also set an MLB record. He's tied with Dusty Baker and Bobby Cox for most Manager of the Year awards given to a manager of the same club.

As for the other finalists, Baltimore's Brandon Hyde finished with nine first-place votes and finished in second place and Seattle Mariners' Scott Servais finished in third with only one first-place vote.

Francona had 17 votes for first, nine votes for second place, and zero votes for third. It wasn't a runaway, but he did win convincingly.

The reason Tito won the award is how he was able to handle this young ball club. The Guardians were the youngest team and baseball and had an average age that was younger than some Triple-A teams.

Despite the age, Cleveland won their division in a runaway, beat the Tampa Bat Rays in the ALWS, and took the New York Yankees to game five of the ALDS. It takes a special talent and leader to work with a group of young players and be successful at the same time.

The Guardians finished 92-70 record and first in the American League Central.

It was truly a memorable year for the Guardians. Even when everyone seemed to count Cleveland out. Tito was able to make this Guardians team believe in themselves and the results showed in the end.

Now it's time to go out next year and be a World Series-winning manager!

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This article first appeared on Cleveland Guardians on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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