PHILADELPHIA -- Almost nobody could’ve imagined that Don Mattingly would’ve been the Phillies’ interim manager in late April.
But the team began the season 9-19, convincing president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to make a change. So on April 28, he dismissed Rob Thomson and replaced him with Mattingly. The Yankees legend guided the Phillies to a 79-55 (.590) finish, despite working with an offense, bullpen and defense that ranked among the bottom-third in baseball. The Phillies had the fourth-best record in baseball from April 28 through the end of the regular season.
Mattingly finished third in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote for the NL Manager of the Year Award, which was announced on Tuesday night on MLB Network. He received one first-place vote, along with three second-place votes and 11 third-place votes to finish with 25 points.
Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy (124 points) won the award for a third consecutive year, and it should be noted all votes came before the postseason, meaning he earned the award by guiding the Brewers to a 103-win regular season. He is the first manager in BBWAA history to win this award three years in a row.
Atlanta’s Walt Weiss (86 points) finished second.