Cleveland’s Terry Francona, Pittsburgh’s Clint Hurdle named top baseball managers

The Indians manager edged Boston's John Farrell for the American League award while the Pirates' Hurdle won it in the National League.

Terry Francona never won Manager of the Year despite two World Series title runs in Boston, but took the accolade this season for his work in Cleveland. Nick Wass / AP
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NEW YORK // Two World Series and eight successful seasons in Boston brought Terry Francona exactly zero first-place votes in Major League Baseball manager of the year balloting.

It took him one year with the surprising Cleveland Indians to bag the prize.

Francona and Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates won the manager awards on Tuesday after guiding their small-budget teams to charming turnarounds.

In a close vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America panel, Francona edged old friend John Farrell of the World Series champion Red Sox 112 points to 96 for the American League honor.

“I have a feeling he wouldn’t trade what they did for this any day of the week,” Francona said on a conference call from Tucson, Arizona.

Hurdle was a runaway winner in the National League, selected first on 25 of 30 ballots after taking the Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992.

“It is so rewarding for me to see what’s happened, the synergy in the city,” Hurdle said in Pittsburgh. “To be a small part of a group that’s able to bring joy at so many different levels – that’s what’s rewarding to me in life.”

It was the first Manager of the Year award for Francona even though – in an interesting twist – he steered the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. During his initial season with the Indians, he directed them to a 24-win improvement and a late surge that produced their first playoff berth in six years.