Tracy, Tolle seeking hardware as finalists for BBWAA Awards
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BOSTON -- Fresh off three of their players (Caleb Durbin, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu) being selected as Gold Glove Award winners at their respective positions, the Red Sox are in the running for more hardware.
Chad Tracy has been named as one of three finalists for the American League Manager of the Year Award. Kevin Cash (Rays) and Will Venable (White Sox) are the other finalists. The winner will be announced on Nov. 10 (7 p.m. ET, MLB Network).
In addition, lefty Payton Tolle, who captured the imagination of Red Sox Nation with his pitching and his personality this past season, is a finalist for AL Rookie of the Year. Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle and Guardians lefty Parker Messick are the other finalists. The winner will be revealed on Nov. 9 (7 p.m. ET, MLB Network).
Tracy was promoted from his position as Triple-A Worcester manager on April 25 to become interim manager of the Red Sox.
With the team off to a 10-17 start under longtime manager Alex Cora, Tracy helped guide the club to a remarkable in-season turnaround, leading the team to a 77-58 record the rest of the way.
That included a torrid summer stretch that saw the Red Sox go from 14 games under .500 on June 24 to a 32-5 stretch that started the next day. In the midst of that run, the Red Sox pulled off a 15-game winning streak to tie the team’s all-time record set by the 1946 pennant winners and a subsequent nine-game winning streak shortly thereafter.
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From July 3-Aug. 7, the Sox went 27-3, marking the best 30-game stretch in club history. Tracy’s interim tag was lifted on Sept. 22, at which point he received a three-year extension and a club option for the ‘30 season.
During Boston’s impressive in-season turnaround, Tracy was credited for his even-keeled demeanor and ability to relate to the team’s young core of players, many of whom he had managed in the Minors.
Included in that cast was Tolle, who came to camp trying to win a spot in the rotation but instead started the season at Triple-A.
However, it wasn’t long before Tolle was needed. He was called up on April 23 to make a start against the Yankees at Fenway Park and dominated, striking out 11 over six innings in which he gave up three hits and one run.
He stayed in the rotation for the rest of the season, in fact becoming one of the team’s front-line pitchers.
In 26 starts, Tolle logged 148 2/3 innings, posting a 3.03 ERA to go with 171 strikeouts compared to just 40 walks. In all but four of those starts, Tolle allowed three earned runs or fewer.
During the process, Tolle turned into one of the game’s biggest characters. He was often seen giving his teammates demonstrative hugs.
On one occasion, Tolle took it a step further, hugging Seattle’s Dominic Canzone as he was in the process of tagging him out on the first-base line.
“It just kind of happened,” said Tolle. “I was right there in front of him, and I was like, ‘Bring it in for the big one.’”
Then there was that September afternoon when Tolle decided to do a push-up between pitches after he fell down.
“Yeah, that's the first time and that’ll be the last time,” said Tolle. “That's as many [push-ups] as I’m getting out.”
Though the Red Sox had an abbreviated postseason run, getting swept out of the Wild Card round by the Yankees, Tolle’s personality resurfaced again during the World Series, when he took the role of MLB correspondent by storm.