Will Venable, Pat Murphy Named Managers Of The Year

While the Sox have a lot of young talent in the lineup, Venable and his staff had to work around an overall lack of pitching depth. That’s especially true in the rotation, where Sean Burke and Anthony Kay were their only sources of consistency down the stretch. The Sox leaned heavily on openers and multi-inning relievers to compensate for the lack of starting pitching; no team got fewer innings out of their “starters” than Chicago’s 674 2/3 frames.

Venable is the sixth manager in Sox history to win the award. Tony La Russa (1983), Jeff Torborg (1990), Gene Lamont (1993), Jerry Manuel (2000) and Ozzie Guillén (2005) previously won the award. It was a tightly-contested race, as he narrowly beat out Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash by receiving 15 of 30 first-place votes. Cash placed first on 12 ballots, while Red Sox skipper Chad Tracy finished in third place with the remaining three first-place votes. Stephen Vogt, who won the award in each of the previous two years, finished in fourth place this season. Aaron Boone and Joe Espada were the others to receive at least one vote.

While Venable is a first-time honoree in his second season, Murphy makes history in the other league. He’s the first person to win Manager of the Year in three straight years. Voters have tended to award skippers of teams that had surprising success relative to preseason expectations, making it difficult to repeat with this award. (Venable was a much more traditional winner in that regard.)

Murphy’s Brewers charged to an MLB-best 103 wins, three clear of any other team. They got contributions from up and down the lineup and ran out one of the best run prevention groups in the league. Milwaukee won the NL Central by 14 games, easily the most convincing runaway division win in either league.

The BBWAA votes on all awards at the end of the regular season. Murphy would have won Manager of the Year regardless of what happened in October. Of course, the Brewers capped off their excellent regular season with a dominant playoff run. They combined to go 11-2 against the Padres, Dodgers and Rays en route to the first championship in team history. The Brewers were the best team in baseball from essentially May onward.

Murphy received 20 of 30 first-place votes. Atlanta’s Walt Weiss and Philadelphia’s Don Mattingly respectively placed second and third. Weiss received seven first-place votes, while Mattingly was at the top of one voter’s ballot. San Diego’s Craig Stammen actually received more first-place votes, appearing at the top of the ballot for two voters. Mattingly narrowly edged out Stammen for the third-place finish by receiving two more second-place votes, however. Dave Roberts, Craig Counsell and Don Kelly were the others to place on at least one ballot.

The 67-year-old Murphy remains the only manager in Brewers history to win the award. He’s the tenth manager since the award’s inception in 1983 to receive the honor for a third time. Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox, and Buck Showalter are the only four-time winners.

Respective images courtesy of Raymond Carlin III/Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images.