Milwaukee Brewers bench boss Pat Murphy was named the National League Manager of the Year, and Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable earned the award in the American League, it was announced on Tuesday.
The announcement was made by Major League Baseball in a special on MLB Network.
This is the third consecutive Manager of the Year award for the 67-year-old Murphy, who led the Brewers to an MLB-best 103-59 record, allowing the team to clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Brewers leveraged that advantage to a historic run in the postseason, losing just two games on their way to the franchise’s first-ever World Series title.
Milwaukee finished with the second-best offence in the league in the regular season, averaging 5.14 runs per game. They finished with the best batting average in the league as a team (.258) and the third-best on-base plus slugging percentage (.744).
The Brewers were just as good on the pitching and defence side as well, allowing 3.81 runs per game (fourth-best), and Milwaukee pitchers struck out the second-most opposing batters in the league (1,544).
All this with a roster assembled for just over $146 million - the 19th-highest payroll in the league.
Venable earned the honour after leading the White Sox to an 84-78 record and an unexpected postseason appearance. The White Sox became the first team in MLB history to qualify for the postseason immediately following three consecutive seasons of at least 100 losses.
The White Sox continued to be the story of the season into the playoffs after they swept the Houston Astros in the wild-card round before taking the Cleveland Guardians to five games in the ALDS.
Chicago’s ascent was due in large part to the many encouraging performances by rookies and breakout seasons by young players - first baseman Munetaka Murakami and Canadian outfielder Tristan Peters were both All-Stars in their rookie campaigns, and third baseman Miguel Vargas finished with 33 home runs and is expected to receive MVP votes in the best season of his young career.
Venable is the sixth manager to win the award in White Sox history, and first since Ozzie Guillen led the team to a World Series title in 2005.