Angels’ Scioscia wins AL Manager of the Year; Wakamatsu gets two first-place votes (including mine)

Published 11:39 am Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Hardly a surprise to learn just a few minutes ago that the Angels’ Mike Scioscia was named the American League Manager of the Year in a vote by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Scioscia led a talent-laden team to another AL West title, but beyond that the voters took into full consideration what the Angels did to pull themselves together after the shocking death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed in a traffic accident in April.

It certainly impressed me, which is why I considered Scioscia second in the manager of the year race.

I had one of the Seattle BBWAA chapter’s two votes for manager of the year, and my first choice was the Mariners’ Don Wakamatsu. After Scioscia, I had the Twins’ Ron Gardenhire third.

Scioscia (15 first-place votes) finished with 106 points, ahead of Gardenhire (6 first-place, 72 points) and the Yankees’ Joe Girardi (4 and 34). Wakamatsu, who got two-first-place votes, tied for fourth with the Rangers’ Ron Washington with 19 points. Washington got one first-place vote, and the AL West impressively had three managers among the top five. The Tigers’ Jim Leyland got one third-place vote and finished sixth.

I’ve written here and in my weekly columns in the newspaper that the job Wakamatsu did in one season with the Mariners was phenomenal. First, there was the 24-victory improvement from last season with a roster that changed constantly as non-performing players were moved out and replaced by young prospects who, despite their talent, need considerable grooming.

There also was the amazing transformation in the collective and individual attitudes of the team from last year. At spring training, he and his coaches got to know every player on a personal level, learning how they best could handle them during the highs and lows of the season. He is a caring and approachable manager, but don’t let that mean he doesn’t rule with a firm hand. Wakamatsu wasn’t afraid to call out a player when he saw something wrong, even to the point that he used the media to challenge Felix Hernandez to get his stuff together after a lackadaisical start in May.

Players, as a whole, believed in what Wakamatsu was selling and, as a result, they learned to believe in themselves. Players like Franklin Gutierrez, Russell Branyan and David Aardsma played the best baseball of their careers, and in large part it was because of the “belief system” (as Wak likes to call it) that they built in themselves during the season.

Here’s a closer look at Wakamatsu in a story I wrote in today’s newspaper. He has some pretty interesting stuff to say about how he will approach things from the first day of spring training next year.