Kirk Gibson, Joe Maddon are named NL, AL managers of the year

As a member of the Dodgers, Kirk Gibson was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1988. More than two decades later the league is honoring him again — as manager of one of the Dodgers' NL West rivals.

Gibson was voted the NL Manager of the Year in his first full year as skipper of the Arizona Diamondbacks, which won 94 games and the division title after consecutive last-place finishes.

In voting conducted before the playoffs, Gibson received 28 of 32 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, while runner-up Ron Roenicke of the Milwaukee Brewers got three and Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals one.

Gibson joins Frank Robinson, Don Baylor and Joe Torre as the only former MVPs to be named manager of the year.

Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon won the American League honor for the second time in the last four seasons. After leading the Rays to 91 wins and a playoff berth, Maddon got 26 of 28 first-place votes, while Jim Leyland of the Detroit Tigers and Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers got one each.

The Rays lost such players as Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Matt Garza and Rafael Soriano, but still managed to overtake the Boston Red Sox for the American League's wild-card berth on the final day of the season after trailing by nine games in September.

The NL’s Cy Young Award winner will be announced Thursday.

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-- Chuck Schilken

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

Top photo: Kirk Gibson. Credit: Eric Risberg / Associated Press

Bottom photo: Joe Maddon. Credit: Patrick Semansky / Associated Press