2008 SBN Baseball Awards: Manager of the Year

This week, we'll be posting the results for each of Major League Baseball's regular season awards, as voted upon by the SB Nation baseball bloggers.  Today's announcement is for the 2008 Manager of the Year balloting.

Each SB Nation blog was given two ballots to fill out, voting for the awards in the particular league their team belongs to.  Those with only one primary writer, such as this one, were allowed to invite another team-specific blogger to submit the other ballot.  Voting with me for the American League awards was Mike McClary from The Daily Fungo.

Here are the 2008 SBN Baseball Award winners for American League Manager of the Year:

Just so you know, I'm not the guy who gave my first-place vote to Ozzie Guillen.  I'm a bit baffled that this wasn't a unanimous choice.  Joe Maddon took his team from last place to first, competing against the Red Sox and Yankees.  The Rays never did cave in and settle for the Wild Card, as many expected them to.

My ballot followed the final results, with Maddon getting the first-place vote, Ron Gardenhire second, and Mike Scioscia third.  I tend to think Scioscia is the best manager in baseball, but maybe I should give it up for Gardenhire.  Not only does he get the most out of seemingly lesser talent, but he also had to deal with an overhauled roster this season, and had them one win away from the playoffs.

Here is the National League ballot:

You can see how each of the SB Nation baseball bloggers voted at their respective sites, as we'll all be sharing our ballots.  The remaining SBN Baseball Awards will be announced in succession throughout the week.  Rookie of the Year winners will be posted tomorrow, with Cy Young winners to follow on Wednesday, and we'll conclude with the winners of the Most Valuable Player awards on Thursday.