BDD ‘09 Awards — NL Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy

Posted by Brian Joseph on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 10:07 pm

After a rough 18-28 start, the Colorado Rockies took drastic measures and fired manager Clint Hurdle less than two years after he took the Rockies to the World Series. Some disagreed with the move blaming the players and not the manager for the club’s woes. Whether or not Hurdle or his players were at fault for their awful start, most including the BDD writers credit interim manager Jim Tracy for their incredible turnaround.

11 of the 15 BDD writers cast first place votes for Tracy who was 74-42 as the replacement skipper of the Rockies and earned the club a National League Wild Card berth. Tracy’s Rockies were the second best team in baseball after May 27th — the last day Hurdle managed the team — trailing only the Yankees. In addition to the 11 first place votes, Tracy earned the four second place votes of the rest of the BDD team.

Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel and San Francisco’s Bruce Bochy tied for second in the voting. Manuel earned a vote from eight BDD writers including one first place vote for leading his Phillies back to the postseason in an effort to defend their 2008 World Series crown. Bochy also appeared on eight ballots for managing the Giants to their first winning season since 2004.

Out of the Top 3, Tony LaRussa of the Cardinals received a first place vote and earned an appearance on six ballots for managing St. Louis to their first postseason appearance in three years and their ninth playoff berth and eighth division title in LaRussa’s tenure as manager of the Cardinals. Los Angeles’ Joe Torre also received a first place vote and appeared on three ballots finishing fifth in the NL Manager of the Year voting as his Dodgers captured their second consecutive NL West title and helped Torre to his 14th consecutive postseason appearance. Florida’s Fredi Gonzalez finished sixth managing the Marlins to a three win improvement over 2008 and outperforming many people’s expectations. Rounding out the voting, Atlanta’s Bobby Cox finished seventh for helming the Braves to a 14 win improvement over their 2008 season.

Here’s what the BDD team had to say:

Bill Baer
For Bill’s comments check out his earlier post on BDD regarding his Manager of the Year ballot for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Brian Joseph
“Sure, Jim Tracy did amazing things with the Colorado Rockies and that’s why he received my second place vote but Charlie Manuel deserves a ton of credit for what he did with a Phillies team that never seemed to get all of the pieces to fall in place at the same time yet still managed to win 90-plus.”

Jeff Lubbers
“Given that baseball managers have less of an impact on the game than perhaps any other professional sport, one of their most important functions is handling team adversity. (I voted for) Joe Torre (who) handled adversity with the steroid controversy surrounding Manny Ramirez.”

Rob McQuown
“Rockies may have been favored NL team if not for the Cliff Lee acquisition… Tracy had the team firing on all cylinders heading into playoffs.”

Eric Polsky
“This one is too easy. Prior to Tracy’s appointment as the Rockies’ manager in May, the Rockies were mired among the worst teams in baseball, and ever since they’ve been among the best. How’s Clint Hurdle feeling right now?”

Zach Sanders
“Tracy turned around a Rockies team that performed well beyond expectations.”

Michael Street
“Although both Bochy and Gonzalez did a lot with a little, talent-wise, Tracy’s turnaround of a team headed for the cellar was exceptional and shows the difference a manager can make in team chemistry.”

Doug Thorburn
“Can I give Dave Duncan the assist?”

Isaac Thorn
“Very difficult to look elsewhere for this award… Tracy’s stewardship of the Rockies brought them from non-contention to a playoff berth.”

David Wade
“Same as Gardenhire in the AL, it’s a one horse race — Tracy.”

Bo Wulf
“The young Marlins outperformed everyone’s expectations finishing with a surprising 87 wins.”