Maybe Major League Baseball should wait until after a season is completed to accept Manager of the Year voting.
Brian Snitker, the skipper of the World Series champion Braves, finished fourth for the National League award, which was won by the Giants’ Gabe Kapler Tuesday night.
Two writers from each city with a team vote for the award, and ballots are submitted before the postseason begins.
Kapler guided San Francisco to a franchise-best 107 victories in his second season.
Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers was second and Mike Shildt of the St. Louis Cardinals was third in the voting from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Kapler managed two seasons in Philadelphia before being fired. The Giants hired him after Bruce Bochy’s retirement. The Giants beat out the Dodgers by a game for the division crown, although they lost to Los Angeles in the Division Series.
Counsell finished second after leading the Brewers to the NL Central title. Milwaukee lost to Snitker’s Braves 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs. Shildt was third — a month after he was fired over what Cardinals president John Mozeliak described as philosophical differences.
Snitker led the Braves to an 88-73 record and the East title in the regular season. Then the Braves dispatched the Brewers, Dodgers and Astros to win their first World Series title in 26 years.
Dave Roberts of the Dodgers came in fifth in the voting.
Kapler received 28 of the 30 first-place votes, with Counsell and Shildt getting one apiece. Snitker got none, but he’s the only manager that got to hoist the World Series trophy.
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
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