The Baseball Writers Association of America voted on Tuesday for the American League and National League Mangers of the Year, and Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians and Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers were the winners.
Both managers helped their teams exceed expectations in 2024. Vogt led the Guardians to a division title in the hotly contested AL Central while pushing all the right buttons to help them advance to the ALCS, where they ultimately lost to the New York Yankees. Murphy led the Brewers to their second straight NL Central title thanks to a 93-win season. At 65 years old, he was technically considered a "rookie" manager, having never officially been a manager at the MLB level outside of a stint as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015. He was head coach at Notre Dame from 1988 to 1994 and then later at Arizona State from 1995 to 2009, so he did have plenty of experience that he banked on this past season to help the Brewers. Ultimately, Murphy's Brewers lost to the New York Mets in the NL wild-card round.
These are two managers who have taken two completely different paths to win these awards.
Vogt was a player only two seasons ago, having last suited up for the Athletics, and he's the fifth-youngest manager to win the award in MLB history.
History for Stephen Vogt. pic.twitter.com/ZD22hAfHvI
— MLB (@MLB) November 20, 2024
Meanwhile, Murphy is the first skipper to win Manager of the Year for the Brewers, which means now every team has had a Manager of the Year.
With Pat Murphy’s Manager of the Year win with the @Brewers, managers from all 30 teams have won the award. pic.twitter.com/ZjFVRLPOvJ
— MLB (@MLB) November 20, 2024
As MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince notes:
"Vogt and Murphy are now the 13th and 14th winners of Manager of the Year in their first full seasons in the role, and they are the second pair of winners who were both in their first full-time managing jobs after Rocco Baldelli and Shildt in 2019."
Also in the running in the AL were Matt Quatraro of the Kansas City Royals and A.J. Hinch of the Detroit Tigers. The AL Central was truly loaded this season.
In the NL, Mike Shildt of the Padres, Carlos Mendoza of the Mets and Rob Thomson of the Philadelphia Phillies also received first-place votes.
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