Gardenhire, Black win MLB Manager Awards

Rod Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins and Bud Black of the San Diego Padres have been named Major League Baseball's Managers of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

It is the first award for each.

Gardenhire wins the award after finishing runner-up five different times.  Gardenhire led the Twins to the American League Central Championship despite missing slugger Justin Morneau for most of the season's second half with a concussion.  The Twins also worked the entire season without closer Joe Nathan.  Gardenhire got 16 out of 28 first place votes to easily outdistance Texas' Ron Washington and Tampa Bay's Joe Madden.

The voting was much closer in the National League where Black nipped Cincinnati's Dusty Baker by a single point.  Black had the surprising Padres in contention til the final day of the regular season despite being picked last before the season started.  The Padres had a fifteen game turnaround from last season.  Black got 15 first place votes.  Baker, who led the Reds to the Central Divison title and their first postseason appearance in fifteen years, had 13 first place

votes.

San Francisco's Bruce Bochy, who led the Giants to their first ever World Series Championship in San Francisco, finished third in the voting