It's Hardware Time, Part 4: Manager Of The Year

American League

I don't think there 's be any question the AL Manager of the Year, regardless of how the Yankees fare in the playoffs, should be Joe Torre. A little over four months ago, New York was 21-29, 14.5 games back of Boston in the East, 9 games back of Detroit for the Wild Card, and people were calling for Torre's job. All they did was go 73-39 in their last 112 games, finishing just 2 back of Red Sox in the East, and finishing with a comfortable 6 game cushion for the Wild Card.

Torre didn't panic. He didn't convert Mariano Rivera into a starter, didn't bench Bobby Abreu, and didn't have any on-field, or locker-room explosions. A consummate class act, Torre has weathered the criticism, the expectations, and the pressure with grace seldom seen.

Eric Wedge also had a wonderful year at the helm for Cleveland, improving the team by 18 games from last season. But comparing the pressure of managing in Cleveland to the pressure of managing in New York is like saying it's just as hard to sink an 8-foot putt on the 18th hole at your local country club as it is to do it in the final round of the British Open.

Congrats Joe.

National League

This is tough, considering there are so many qualified managers for this honor. But with all due respect to Clint Hurdle in Colorado and Charlie Manuel in Philadelphia, I'm going to go with Lou Piniella for much the same reason as I went with Joe Torre. Piniella overcame a dreadful start and tremendous adversity, all in the face of enormous expectations.

From the moment he was introduced as the new manager of the Cubs, the team and its loyal-to-a-fault fans were hoping, praying, and dare I say, expecting to win. Let's not forget the $300 million the club spent in the offseason acquiring Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Mark DeRosa, Cliff Floyd, and re-signing Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez.

Early on, things were not all champagne and caviar on the south side of the windy city. Far from it. In fact, on June 2, the Cubbies were a dismal 22-31, ahead of only Cincinnati in the Central. Much like Torre and the Yankees, Sweet Lou finished the season strong, going 63-46 in the team's final 109 games, proving that during the time he spent in Tampa Bay he really was a victim of his circumstances. They put the whole Carlos Zambrano/Michael Barrett thing behind them. They dealt with not having Mark Prior and Kerry Wood for most of the season (again), they lost Soriano for a month down the stretch, Ramirez for parts of June and August, and only had Floyd for 100 games.

I know Phillies and Rockies fans will cry foul at this, especially considering what remarkable comeback stories both teams staged so late in the season. The Phillies went 23-11 from August 26 on, and as everyone on the planet knows, overcame a 7-game deficit with 17 games to go. All Colorado did was win 14 of their last 15 including a 1-game playoff where they beat baseball's all-time saves leader in the 13th inning.

But the fact is, Manuel and Hurdle weren't under the gun the way Piniella was going into the season, and they weren't under the gun the way he was all season long. All three managers delivered this season, but none of them more than Piniella.