CLEVELAND — There is truly no one better in baseball.
Guardians skipper Terry Francona was named American League Manager of the Year Tuesday night in recognition of his efforts during the 2022 season. It's the third time the 63-year-old has earned the honor, making him the ninth man to do that in the history of the game.
Heading into this year, most expected the Guards to be a fringe contender, at best, with some even pegging them for a potential last-place finish. However, "Tito" guided baseball's youngest team to the top of the standings, winning 92 games and the AL Central championship before making it past the wild-card round of the playoffs and falling in a tight division series with the New York Yankees.
Since Francona took over as skipper in 2013, he has guided Cleveland to the AL's second-best winning percentage at .557, notching six postseason appearances, four AL Central titles, and a league pennant. He was previously named Manager of the Year for the Indians in both 2013 and '16, and his 845 wins are the most by any skipper in franchise history.
Prior to his arrival in Cleveland, Francona managed both the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, winning two World Series championships with the latter (though never Manager of the Year). He is considered a virtual lock for the Baseball Hall of Fame one day, and also spent time with Cleveland as a player in 1988. He followed in the footsteps of his father, the "original Tito," who was an All-Star for the Tribe in 1961.
This time around, Francona beat out fellow finalists Brandon Hyde of the Baltimore Orioles and Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners, grabbing 17 of 30 possible first-place votes among baseball writers. This is the fourth such award for a Cleveland manager, with Eric Wedge being the first in 2007 prior to Tito's trifecta.
Francona's Manager of the Year win caps off a busy awards season for the Guardians. Several members of the organization were nominated for various accolades, and when the victors were announced, Shane Bieber, Andrés Giménez, Steven Kwan, and Myles Straw all received Gold Gloves at their respective positions; third baseman José Ramírez won his fourth Silver Slugger; and club President Chris Antonetti was named Executive of the Year by both Major League Baseball and Sporting News.