Dusty Just Misses on Manager of the Year

Dusty Baker is one of the most controversial managers in the game. Many (and probably most) know him for pitching Mark Prior and Kerry Wood so much and so often in Chicago. This may have led to their subsequent arm injuries. He's known for sticking with the veteran players over the younger players. Others know him as the man that brought the San Francisco Giants back to prominence, taking them within just outs of a World Series title. In Cincinnati, he and Walt Jocketty turned around what was a sputtering franchise.

Baker has won 3 Manager of the Year Awards, all with the San Francisco Giants (1993, 1997, and 2000). Subsequently, it means he is one of the better managers in the game. A so-called players' manager, his guys love playing for him, and the passion he has for the game is translated into their play. We saw that in Cincinnati this year. Today, he just missed out on winning his fourth Manager of the Year Award. Bud Black of the San Diego Padres won it with 104 votes. Dusty had 103.

Make no mistake, both of them deserved it. Dusty brought the Reds back from a lost decade, and turned them into a relevant contender again. The St. Louis Cardinals were expected to run away with the division, and instead the Reds beat them by five. Truly, the lead by the end of the year was never that close.

Dusty broke the stereotypes everyone had of him this year. He stuck with Drew Stubbs and Jay Bruce all year long. He entrusted rookies like Mike Leake and Travis Wood to help anchor his rotation. He knew when Aaron Harang was finished, and didn't push to keep him in the rotation because he was a veteran. Yes, he was guilty of keeping Francisco Cordero in too long at times. But don't look at this blindly. Remember, he pulled Cordero in a tight situation in Chicago, and gave the ball to Nick Masset, who slammed the door and got the save. Dusty was willing to role the dice there. He wasn't the same guy he had been in San Fran and Chicago.

Baker adapted to his team, and they responded with a 91 win season.

But Bud Black needed to win this award today. The Padres won 90 games when most didn't think they'd win 70. Their payroll was under $40 million. Beyond Adrian Gonzalez and closer Heath Bell, I would have been hard pressed to name more than five other players on their roster come last spring. And they led the division for most of the year, before collapsing in September. Yet they still had a shot come the final day of the season.

Dusty Baker was not short changed here. The voters could have chosen either him or Black and gotten it right. They chose Bud Black, and he deserved it.