Manny Acta Finishes Fourth in AL Manager of the Year Vote

Cleveland’s streak of being shut out of this year’s BBWAA awards ended Wednesday as Indians manager Manny Acta finished fourth in the official AL Manager of the Year voting.

Ten of the 28 voters named Acta as one of the best three managers in the league for 2011. No one put him as No. 1, but he received three second-place votes and seven third-place votes, for a total of 16 points.

This was the second time Acta got support for the award. He tied for fifth place in the voting for his work with the Washington Nationals in 2007.

Rays manager Joe Maddon was named AL Manager of the Year, having received 26 of 28 first-place votes. He was followed by Tigers manager Jim Leyland and Rangers skipper Ron Washington, each of whom received one first-place vote. After Acta came Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Angels skipper Mike Scioscia.

Acta had been discussed as a candidate for Manager of the Year since the Indians got off to a hot start and leading the Tribe to a surprising near-.500 finish. His sabermetric-influenced (or at least, logically based) philosophy makes him a far better strategist than more old-school managers like Leyland and Washington.

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks’ Kirk Gibson was named Manager of the Year in the National League (28 first-place votes), followed by Brewers manager Ron Roenicke (3) and Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa (1). The Phillies’ Charlie Manuel, the Braves’ Fredi Gonzalez, the Giants’ Bruce Bochy, the Pirates’ Clint Hurdle, the Mets’ Terry Collins, and the Dodgers’ Don Mattingly rounded out the voting.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed, Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!