Terry Francona wins Manager of the Year after leading surprising Indians to playoffs

Terry Francona, who guided the Cleveland Indians to their first postseason berth in six years, was named American League Manager of the Year in balloting by the BBWAA that was announced on MLB Network.

Francona, 54, was listed first on 16 of the 30 ballots submitted by two writers representing each league city, second on 10 and third on two to score 112 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system. It marked the first time in his 13-season managerial career that Francona received first-place votes in AL Manager of the Year balloting despite having taken the Boston Red Sox to World Series championships in 2004 and ’07. Francona never finished higher than fourth place in Manager of the Year voting previously, which he did three times.

In his first year as manager of the Red Sox, John Farrell also won a World Series title. He placed second in the voting with 96 points, based on 12 first-place votes, 10 seconds and six thirds. The other two first-place votes went to the 2012 winner, the Oakland Athletics’ Bob Melvin, who finished in third place. In all, nine managers gained mention. Balloting is conducted prior to the start of postseason play.

Francona directed an Indians club that has lost 94 games in 2012 to a 92-70 finish in 2013. The Indians ended the regular season on a 10-game winning streak to qualify as a wild-card team. They lost the wild-card playoff game to Tampa Bay. Francona became the second Tribe manager to win the award. The other was Eric Wedge in 2007, the previous year Cleveland reached postseason play.

The voting (5-3-1 scoring system):

2013 AL Manager of the Year

Manager, Club1st2nd3rdPoints
Terry Francona, Indians16102112
John Farrell, Red Sox1210696
Bob Melvin, Athletics251136
Joe Girardi, Yankees2511
Joe Maddon, Rays239
Jim Leyland, Tigers13
Buck Showalter, Orioles11
Ron Washington, Rangers11
Ned Yost, Royals11

Below is a breakdown of the 30 individual ballots, submitted by two writers representing each city in the American League. Note that in some cases (*), when a city does not have enough eligible voters, a writer from another city will represent that chapter. For more information on the voting, see our Voting FAQ.

NameAffiliationChapter1st2nd3rd
Pat StoetzerCarroll County TimesBAL FarrellFrancona Melvin
Jim HennemanHonoraryBALFarrellFranconaMelvin
Brian MacPhersonProvidence JournalBOS FarrellFrancona Girardi
Sean McAdamComcast Sports New England.comBOSFarrellFranconaGirardi
Christina KahrlESPN.comCHIFrancona Melvin Maddon
Meghan Montemurro Northwest Herald (Ill.)CHIFarrellMelvinFrancona
Terry PlutoCleveland Plain DealerCLEFrancona Farrell Yost
Sheldon OckerAkron Beacon JournalCLEFranconaGirardiFarrell
Matthew B. Mowery Oakland (Mich.) PressDETFranconaFarrellGirardi
James SchmehlMLive Media GroupDETFarrellMelvinFrancona
Jesus OrtizHouston ChronicleHOUFranconaFarrellMaddon
Bill MaddenNew York Daily NewsHOU*FarrellFranconaGirardi
Tod E. Palmer Kansas City StarKCFarrellFranconaMelvin
Rustin Dodd Kansas City StarKCFrancona Farrell Melvin
Brian GoldenAntelope Valley PressLAFrancona Maddon Farrell
Jill PainterLos Angeles Daily NewsLAFranconaFarrellMaddon
Tom PowersSt. Paul Pioneer PressMINFranconaFarrellMelvin
Patrick ReusseMinneapolis Star TribuneMINFranconaMelvinFarrell
Andy McCulloughNewark Star LedgerNYFranconaGirardiFarrell
George KingNew York PostNYFarrellLeylandMelvin
Scott OstlerSan Francisco ChronicleOAK MelvinFrancona Farrell
Daniel BrownSan Jose Mercury NewsOAKFrancona Farrell Melvin
Asuka Iinuma BrownJiji PressSEA Melvin Maddon Showalter
Geoff BakerSeattle TimesSEAFranconaFarrellMelvin
Joe SmithTampa Bay TimesTB FarrellFrancona Melvin
Martin FennellyTampa TribuneTBFarrellFranconaMelvin
Todd WillsESPN DallasTEX FarrellFrancona Washington
Tim CowlishawDallas Morning NewsTEXFrancona Melvin Farrell
Mike RutseyToronto SunTORFranconaFarrellGirardi
Tom MaloneyThe Globe and MailTORFranconaFarrellMelvin