Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Don Mattingly of the Miami Marlins were each named the American League and National League Manager of the Year on Tuesday.
Mattingly, a former Yankees great and Dodgers skipper, became the fifth person to ever win both an MVP title and Manager of the Year award (which began in 1983). Kirk Gibson, Joe Torre, Don Baylor and Frank Robinson are the others.
Mattingly, 59, guided the Marlins to their first postseason berth since 2003 and also first winning season in his fifth year as the team’s manager.
It was a tumultuous year for the organization, which battled a COVID outbreak three games into the shortened season, which forced them to make a flurry of moves – 174 to be precise, using 61 players total – more than any other season in team history.
Still, Mattingly guided the team to a 31-29 record to clinch a wild-card spot and defeated the Chicago Cubs in a best-of-three first-round playoff matchup.
In the AL, the 42-year-old Cash won the award in his sixth season as manager.
While he will most be remembered for taking out Blake Snell early in Game 6 of the World Series, the award was voted on prior to the postseason, and Cash certainly has the resume to back it up.
The Rays manager guided the franchise to an American League-best 40-20 record and their first American League East division title and AL pennant since 2008.
The analytically driven Cash did so by toppling the heavily favored New York Yankees, going 8-2 in the regular season against them and beating them in five games in the ALDS.
He received 22 first place votes, finishing ahead of White Sox manager Rick Renteria and Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo, respectively.
In the NL, Mattingly received 20 first-place votes while Padres’ Jayce Tingler finished second in the voting and David Ross of the Cubs finished third.
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