Major League Baseball's two managers of the year came a long way in a short time.
Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians went from playing for the Oakland Athletics two years ago to being named American League Manager of the Year.
Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers went from being the team's longtime bench coach to a first-year skipper named National League Manager of the Year.
Both were honored on Tuesday for their successful transitions.
Vogt edged out fellow AL Central managers A.J. Hinch of the Detroit Tigers and Matt Quatraro of the Kansas City Royals. At 39 years and 334 days old on the final day of the regular season, Vogt becomes the fourth-youngest manager of the year winner.
The AL Manager of the Year Award winner is Stephen Vogt of the @CleGuardians! pic.twitter.com/sqqNxhulgx
— MLB (@MLB) November 19, 2024
Vogt, who played for six teams over his 10-year playing career, is the fastest in MLB history to have gone from player to manager of the year winner, topping Joe Girardi, who retired as a player in 2003 and won the award in 2006 as manager of the Marlins, per MLB.com.
Vogt guided a young Guardians team to a 92-69 record and AL Central title. They advanced to the American League Championship Series, where they lost in five games to the New York Yankees.
He becomes the third manager in Guardians history to win the award, joining Terry Francona (three times) and Eric Wedge.
He received 27 first-place votes for a total of 142 total points. That topped runner-up Quatraro (73 points), who in his second year as manager guided the Royals to a 30-win improvement.
Murphy, a 65-year-old in his rookie season as manager after eight seasons as the Brewers' bench coach, also guided his team to the postseason.
The Brewers finished 93-69, and were a few outs away from winning the wild card round and advancing to the NLDS before Devin Williams blew a 2-0 ninth inning lead against the New York Mets in the decisive Game 3.
Murphy - who replaced Craig Counsell, the franchise' all-time winningest manager after he departed for the Chicago Cubs -- topped fellow first-year skippers Carlos Mendoza of the Mets and Mike Shildt of the San Diego Padres.
He became the first to win the award for the Brewers. They had been the only MLB team yet to produce a manager of the year winner, having had seven runner-up finishers.
Murphy received 27 first-place votes, finishing with 144 total points. Shildt was runner-up with 70 points.
The NL Manager of the Year Award winner is Pat Murphy of the @Brewers! pic.twitter.com/zjfSlNt0cJ
— MLB (@MLB) November 19, 2024
The awards were voted on by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America based on regular-season success. The Cy Young award winners will be announced on Wednesday, followed by the Most Valuable Player award winners on Thursday.
