Manuel finishes second in Manager of the Year voting

-Courtesy of the BBWAA

Bob Melvin, who guided the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 90-victory season and first place in the National League West, was elected NL Manager of the Year in balloting by the BBWAA.

Melvin was named first on 19 of 32 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city, second on seven and third on three to score 119 points, based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system. Charlie Manuel of the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies finished second with 76 points, based on seven first-place votes, 11 seconds and eight thirds.

The Colorado Rockies’ Clint Hurdle, whose club won a wild-card berth in a single-game playoff against the San Diego Padres and eventually reached the franchise’s first World Series, received four first-place votes and finished third overall with 58 points.

The other two first-place votes went to the Chicago Cubs’ Lou Piniella, who placed fourth overall. Piniella, who won the NL Central title in his first season in Chicago, was a two-time Manager of the Year in the American League, with Seattle in 1995 and 2001.

Melvin, 46, who also managed the Mariners in 2003 and ’04, was in his third season with Arizona, which rebounded from a 76-86 record in 2006 to a 90-72 mark this year in capturing the franchise’s fourth division title. He is the first D-Backs manager to win the award. Buck Showalter, Arizona’s first manager, won twice in the American League, with the New York Yankees in 1994 and the Texas Rangers in 2004.