Brandon Hyde’s journey from the depths of a Baltimore rebuild to AL Manager of the Year required quite a bit of fortitude.
When asked what quality was most important to that rise, he was candid.
Recommended Videos
“I want to say patience, but I think I was guilty a lot of nights of not being patient,” Hyde said. “I think consistent around the players. I think I hid a lot of things from them — in a good way.”
Hyde was voted American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night after guiding the Orioles to an AL-best 101 victories just two years after a 110-loss season. Miami’s Skip Schumaker won the National League award in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Hyde led Baltimore through some very lean years before the Orioles improved to 83-79 in 2022 and he finished second in voting to Cleveland manager Terry Francona.
“I had confidence that we were going to turn this thing around, but you struggle to see when,” Hyde said. “Last year, there came a point where you saw the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Baltimore was more than ready to take the next step this season thanks to a sparkling core of young talent. Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson was a unanimous AL Rookie of the Year on Monday night.
“Watching Gunnar win that last night, that was an amazing feeling. So happy for him and his family,” Hyde said. “I’m fortunate to be around a great, great group of guys.”
Hyde received 27 of 30 first-place votes, with Bruce Bochy of Texas getting the other three. Two-time winner Kevin Cash of Tampa Bay finished third. Bochy and the wild-card Rangers swept AL East champion Baltimore in the Division Series on their way to winning the World Series.
Schumaker led Miami to an 84-78 record — including 33-14 in one-run games — in his first season at the helm.
“A lot of this season just didn’t make sense, and I think that’s why our staff would kind of look at each other and go, ‘Here we go again. You know it’s going to happen — down three in the eighth and you know what’s going to happen. It’s bound to happen,’” Schumaker said. “I would rather win by 10 than one, than to come from behind. There’s no doubt about that. But I think it wouldn’t have made it as special as it was this year.”
The Marlins lost to Philadelphia in the Wild Card Series.
Voting by the BBWAA occurred before the start of the postseason. Schumaker defeated Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell — who left to manage the Chicago Cubs last week — and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker in a tight race.
Schumaker received eight first-place votes, three more than runner-up Counsell. Snitker also got eight but had far fewer second- and third-place votes than Schumaker.
The Brewers remain the only current franchise that has never had a Manager of the Year. Counsell finished second for the fourth time in six years.
The Marlins have had four managers win the award — Schumaker, Don Mattingly in 2020, Joe Girardi in 2006 and Jack McKeon in 2003.
Schumaker is the ninth person to win Manager of the Year in his first full season as a big league skipper, joining Hal Lanier, Dusty Baker, Girardi, Matt Williams, Jeff Banister, Dave Roberts, Torey Lovullo and Rocco Baldelli.
“I didn’t expect to manage,” said Schumaker, who played for the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds from 2005-15. “I dreamt of playing in the major leagues one day, and then I fell in love with coaching and then I got this opportunity.”
Hyde is the ninth Manager of the Year who didn’t play in the majors, joining Buck Showalter, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, McKeon, Jim Frey, John McNamara, Snitker and Mike Shildt.
Prior to joining the Orioles, Hyde was a bench coach for the Chicago Cubs under Maddon, and it was Maddon who announced the winners Tuesday night on MLB Network.
Hyde became the fourth Baltimore manager to win, following Showalter in 2014, Davey Johnson in 1997 and Frank Robinson in 1989.
___
AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames contributed to this report.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb