Bob Melvin, Brian Snitker win Manager of the Year
The skippers of the Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics were awarded the Manager of the Year awards Tuesday.
Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves and Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics were named the 2018 Manager of the Year for the National League and American League, respectively, according to MLB.com.
Snitker, in his third season at the helm of the Braves, won by a slim margin, edging out Brewers manager Craig Counsell and Colorado Rockies skipper Bud Black for the honour. Joe Maddon of the Cubs and Mike Shildt of the Cardinals also received votes, albeit in very small numbers. This is Snitker’s first Manager of the Year award win.
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On the AL side of things, the recently extended Melvin, who led his team to an astounding 97-62 record, won his third award, edging out Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora and Rays manager Kevin Cash. Interestingly enough, three of the top five managers in the American League came from the AL East, with New York’s Aaron Boone rounding out the candidates.
On the surface, neither one of these seems surprising at all. Though Snitker is a newer manager in terms of experience, he nonetheless has been with the Braves organization for over 40 years, managing various minor league affiliates before joining the major league coaching staff as a third base coach in 2007.
Similarly, Melvin has been with Oakland since the 2011 season, racking up almost 650 wins in over 1200 games. He’s been lauded by his colleagues and players and evidently continued that storied excellence this season. Though his team was knocked out early in the playoffs, he still valiantly coached them to a fantastic record.
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Both of these managers, undoubtedly deserving of the Manager of the Year honour, will hope to carry this momentum into next season, when both will be gunning for another chance at a championship.