Tony La Russa, voted American League Manager of the Year last week for the third time by the baseball writers, is The Associated Press Major League Manager of the Year, too.
La Russa, who led the Oakland Athletics to their fourth AL West title in five years, received 75 votes in nationwide balloting by AP member writers and broadcasters.Phil Garner of the Milwaukee Brewers and Jim Leyland of the Pittsburgh Pirates tied for second with 50 votes, followed by Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos with 40 votes.
John Oates of the Baltimore Orioles got five votes and Cito Gaston of the World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays got four. Bobby Cox of the National League champion Atlanta Braves and Art Howe of the Houston Astros received three votes each.
It was the second AP award for La Russa, named AL Manager of the Year by the news cooperative in 1983. The AP began selecting a Major League Manager of the Year the following season.
La Russa received a lot of credit for the A's success this season, juggling a shifting roster that saw 16 players disabled for a club-record 22 times.
"In the end, because it was so tough, it also was one of the most rewarding," La Russa said last week when he received the AL award. "No matter what the adversity, and it was piling on and on, this club just never gave in to it, and for that I'll never forget them."
Oakland took over first place in the AL West for good on Aug. 4 during an eight-game winning streak, then used a 10-game winning streak to extend the lead over Minnesota to 81/2 games by Sept. 18. The A's won the division by six games over the Twins.
La Russa's task next season will be to reshape a changed team. Thirteen A's have filed for free agency, and general manager Sandy Alderson has said he wants to reduce the team's $47.5 million payroll.
"I think it would be a mistake to jump the gun as to how much we're going to break up the club," La Russa said. "We're facing some pretty strong economic realities and there definitely will be some casualties. But our goal is still to field a competitive team. My hope is there will be more familiar faces than strange faces."