What might’ve been!
On Tuesday Indians skipper Terry Francona was named American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. It’s Tito’s second such honor, the first having come in 2013. Francona joins Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre, Lou Piniella, Mike Scioscia, and Joe Maddon as two-time winners. Buck Showalter and Tony La Russa have won the award a record three times.
Francona received 22 first-place votes in this year’s contest, which is tallied before the start of the postseason. The Astros’ Jeff Banister received four such votes, Showalter had two as did Sox manager John Farrell.
Terry Francona
flickr photo shared by apardavila under a Creative Commons ( BY ) license
The Boston chapter’s two voting members, the Globe’s Peter Abraham and the Herald’s Michael Silverman, each cast first-place votes for Francona.
Here are more news and notes for Red Sox fans:
- Another man with a deep connection back to Boston is a Manager of the Year. First-year skipper Dave Roberts of the Dodgers was named the top field boss in the National League. Roberts, who received 16 first-place votes, is the sixth manager to be so honored in his first year on the job. The Cubs’ Joe Maddon came in 2nd place with eight first-place votes, followed by the Nationals’ Dusty Baker.
- The Athetics have re-signed pitcher Felix Doubront for 2017. The 29-year-old, who was originally signed by the Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 2005, missed the 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Doubront appeared in 11 games with Oakland in 2015 going 2-2 with a 5.81 ERA over 52.2 IP.
- “It would be like the Bulls trading Michael Jordan in his prime,” said one unnamed General Manager of the idea that the Angels might move Mike Trout to the Yankees, adding that “the only thing that team has going right now is Mike Trout.” The comments came in response to thoughts allegedly voiced by a major league scout to New York radio station WFAN.
- Increasingly, it seems Carlos Beltran as a replacement for David Ortiz is the likely choice of Red Sox baseball president Dave Dombrowki. Beltran is being courted by the Yankees, Astros, and Blue Jays, too.
- We’re in the middle of Awards season, so it’s fitting to recall that today marks the unanimous selection of Hall of Famer and Red Sox great Pedro Martinez for the 1999 AL Cy Young Award. Two years earlier, Pedro won the NL Cy Young, becoming just the third pitcher to do so in both leagues. Tonight, Boston’s Rick Porcello sees if he is to capture his first such honor. Cubs ace and one-time Red Sox Jon Lester, also looking for his first Cy Young, is vying for the award in the senior circuit.