Prior to the 2019 MLB season, I picked the Minnesota Twins and the St. Louis Cardinals to face off in the World Series. While this did not come to pass both teams won their respective divisions. For this Rocco Baldelli and Mike Shildt were named AL and NL Manager of the Year, respectively.
Baldelli, 38, is the youngest manager to be bestowed with the honor. The former Tampa Bay Ray was named the Twins manager after the team fired Paul Molitor following the 2018 season. Under Baldelli's stewardship the Twins slugged a MLB record 307 HRs en route to 101 wins and the team's first AL Central title since 2010. While the Twins were swept by the New York Yankees, Baldelli narrowly edged Yankees skipper Aaron Boone for the honor.
For his part, Shildt guided St. Louis to its first post-season appearance since 2015. Shildt took over the Cardinals in the middle of the 2018 season after the dismissal of Mike Matheny (who has since been named manager of the Kansas City Royals). Shildt had fewer first place votes than Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell, but had more second place votes. The 51-year old skipper is the first Manager of the Year winner to have never played professional baseball. There have only been a few big league managers without professional experience as a player. Most of the time this doesn't go over well, but Shildt has had 15 years worth of experience in the Cardinals organization and has found a way to bridge that gap. This is a remarkable achievement.
Tomorrow evening will be set aside to honor pitchers as we learn the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners.
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