Published
Milwaukee Brewers’ Pat Murphy named MLB National League Manager of the Year. The American League award went to Stephen Vogt, who led the team to the championship series against the New York Yankees.
Vogt, 40, is the first Young Circuit manager to go from player to Manager of the Year in just two years. The previous quarterback who had achieved it the fastest was Joe Girardi, from 2003 to 2006, when he won the NL trophy with the Florida Marlins.
“I got a lot more excited when one of our guys hit a home run than when I did it myself, or when I had a big play or a strikeout,” Vogt said. “I think that’s the beauty of this profession and this job: it’s not about you. It’s about your players and their successes”.
Murphy, 65, led the Brewers to the NL Central title with a 93-69 record and is the franchise’s first manager to win the award since it began in 1983. In the playoffs, Milwaukee fell to the New York Mets in a wild card series.
Murphy followed an unlikely career path to major league success, serving as a longtime college coach at Notre Dame and Arizona State before turning to the pros in 2010. He worked in the Padres’ minor league system until 2015, when he was hired as Milwaukee’s bench coach.
“I just didn’t want to let the Brewers down,” Murphy said. “From the owners, the front office, the players and the coaching staff. I didn’t want to disappoint them. I wanted to be prepared. “I wanted to do something to improve a little.”
Murphy beat Mike Shildt of San Diego and Venezuelan Carlos Mendoza of New York. He received 27 of 30 first-place votes in the Baseball Writers’ Association of North America (BBWAA) voting. Schildt, Mendoza and Rob Thomson of Philadelphia each received one vote.
Vogt, 40, beat Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s AJ Hinch, both AL Central rivals. He is the first Young Circuit manager to win the award in his debut season since Rocco Baldelli did so in 2019 with Minnesota. Vogt received 27 of the 30 first-place votes. Quatraro got two and Hinch one.
