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Oakland Athletics skipper Bob Melvin was named American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday after guiding the team with the lowest Opening Day payroll in baseball to a 97-65 record and its first playoff berth in four years.
Melvin, 57, received 18 first-place votes, 19 seconds and one third for 121 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting announced Tuesday. He is the eighth manager to win three or more times and is one shy of the record shared by Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa. Melvin won with Oakland in 2012 and took the NL honor with Arizona in 2007.
The A’s, who started the season with a $68.6 million payroll, won 22 more games this season than last. It was the third time a team managed by Melvin improved by 20 wins from the previous season. Oakland’s 97 wins were the most by any A’s team since 2002.
The A’s went 63-29 from June 16 through the rest of the season for the fourth-best record in baseball. Oakland also went a majors-best 31-14 in one-run games and had 10 walk-off victories.
| Manager/Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Melvin/A’s | 18 | 10 | 1 | 121 |
| Alex Cora/Red Sox | 7 | 11 | 11 | 79 |
| Kevin Cash/Rays | 5 | 6 | 14 | 57 |
| A.J. Hinch/Astros | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Aaron Boone/Yanks | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
The A’s reached the postseason for the first time since 2014 following last-place finishes in the AL West the previous three years. They trailed the Seattle Mariners by 11 games in the wild-card race on June 15 before a strong second half — not to mention all the comeback wins and walk-offs — pushed them into the playoffs, in which they lost to the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game.
Boston’s Alex Cora was second with seven firsts and 79 points, followed by Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash with five firsts and 57 points.
Three of the past four AL Managers of the Year (Paul Molitor, Buck Showalter, Jeff Bannister) were fired this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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