New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Anaheim's Mike Scioscia was named American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Wednesday.
Scioscia received 17 first-place votes, 10 seconds and one third for 116 points from the panel of voters.
Art Howe, who left the Athletics after the season to become manager of the New York Mets, finished second in the voting, followed by Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire and the Yankees' Joe Torre.
The year started out like a nightmare for Scioscia, as the Angels were 6-14, the worst start in franchise history. However, they went a major league-best 93-49 after the rough start and eventually won the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
After a 75-87 finish in the 2001 season, the Angels, under the leadership of Scioscia, finished 2002 with a 99-63 record to earn a spot in the postseason as the AL Wild Card team. Anaheim then shocked the Yankees in four games, 3-1, in the AL Division Series and knocked off the Twins in five games in the AL Championship Series.
In the World Series, Anaheim came back from a 3-2 deficit to beat Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in seven games to capture the championship.
The 43-year old Scioscia, who was in his third season as manager of the Angels, is a former catcher of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played 1,441 games in his 13 years with the Dodgers.
Scioscia was a lifetime .259 hitter and had 68 homers and 446 RBI. He was also a two-time All-Star.
Howe guided the A's to a 103-59 record, as Oakland captured its second American League division championship in three seasons, outdistancing Anaheim by four games in the standings.
Gardenhire, who was in his first season as the head man on the Minnesota bench, led the Twins to their first playoff berth since 1991. Minnesota finished 94-67, winning the AL Central by 13 1/2 games over the Chicago White Sox.
Torre was in his seventh season as manager of the New York Yankees. He led his team to its fifth straight American League East title and sixth in seven years.
