The Baseball Writers' Association of America announced on Wednesday that Arizona Diamondbacks Manager Kirk Gibson has been named the 2011 National League Manager of the Year, joining Bob Melvin as the only skippers in team history to receive this prestigious honor.
Gibson, 54, took first place on 28 ballots and second on the other four from the 32 submitted by two writers in each NL city. He was the only manager in either the NL or AL to be named to every ballot as well. Gibson won the 1988 NL Most Valuable Player award while playing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and becomes the fourth former MVP to win Manager of the Year honors, along with current D-backs' hitting coach Don Baylor who won AL MVP in 1979 with the Angles, and NL Manager of the year with the Rockies in 1995.
The Diamondbacks finished with a 94-68 regular-season record, a 29 game turnaround from 2010 and their third best mark in franchise history. Gibson lead the way to a fifth NL West Division championship for Arizona, though they lost their NL Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers in five games. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Gibson is the first manager to take his team to the playoffs in his first full season as Manager after the team finished last in the division the previous season.
BBWAA 2011 NATIONAL LEAGUE MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTING RESULTS
Manager, Club 1st 2nd 3rd Total Points
Kirk Gibson, Arizona Diamondbacks 28 4 0 152
Ron Roenicke, Milwaukee Brewers 3 25 2 92
Tony La Russa, St. Louis Cardinals 1 2 13 24
Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies 0 1 7 10
Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves 0 0 4 4
Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants 0 0 2 2
Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates 0 0 2 2
Terry Collins, New York Mets 0 0 1 1
Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 0 1 1
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