Girardi got this vote
I was one of the 28 voters for this year's American League Manager of the Year award, which was given to Los Angeles' Mike Scioscia today. The Baseball Writers Association of America requests we keep our votes secret until the winner is announced and now I can let the cat out of the bag: I had Joe Girardi first, Scioscia second and Ron Gardenhire third.
There is certainly a lot of anti-Girardi sentiment along the lines of he's supposed to win big with all that talent. But 103 wins are 103 wins, folks. And A-Rod was gone for 38 games. And the Yankees were struggling along until June but Girardi didn't panic. He mixed in the Brett Gardners of the world and allowed the clubhouse to change with the more light-hearted personalities of Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett.
Girardi also relaxed his personality as well. Uptight like he was in Florida wasn't going to work in New York. It didn't work well in 2008. His personal evolution was certainly a key factor in the Yankees' run.
Scioscia did a great job in Anaheim, particularly in the wake of Nick Adenhart's death. And he's had an amazing run the last eight years. No problem whatsoever with him winning the award. Gardenhire kept the Twins together until they could finally overtake the Tigers. Another great job with a small-market team that might become even more dangerous with all the revenue from a new ballpark starting next year.
---Mike Harrington
