2. Terry Francona: Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians came within a game of breaking their own World Series curse last year. They could have used that disappointment as an excuse this season, and for the first few months, that looked to be the case.
After the games on August 1, the Indians were languishing with a 57-48 record, just two games up in the AL Central. They certainly did not look like the team that pushed the Cubs to the brink last year, leading us all to wonder what had gone wrong. And yet, Terry Francona stayed the course, confident that his team would turn their season around.
They did exactly that. Cleveland closed out the season on a 45-15 run, including an amazing 21 game winning streak to set a modern MLB record. The Indians finished the year with a 102-60 record, taking the top seed in the AL, just two months after there were questions as to whether or not they would return to the postseason.
Perhaps this is the year that curse ends. Francona had come within a game of ending the Indians misery last season, and he did end the Curse of the Bambino in Boston. A title with Cleveland would likely be the capstone to a Hall of Fame career. Not bad for a manager who was run out of Boston for Bobby Valentine.
It took some time for the Cleveland Indians to find their stride. Once they did, they never looked back.