As a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, "Dear Mr. Fantasy" is honoured to be able to participate in the BBBA Year End Awards. The Awards are comprised of the following:

Connie Mack Award (Top Manager)
Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)
Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever)
Walter Johnson Award (Top Pitcher)
Stan Musial Award (Top Player)

Each award has nominees and a winner in both the American League and National League. Over the next two weeks, I will be posting my selections for each award.

Today, we begin with the Connie Mack Award.

Connie Mack Award (Top Manager): American League: Joe Maddon (TB) **WINNER** Ron Washington (TEX) Joe Girardi (NYY) Note: Joe Madden took it down to the wire but he managed to pull out the wild card in baseball’s toughest division. National League: Kirk Gibson (ARI) **WINNER** Ron Roenicke (MIL) Bruce Bochy (SF) Note: This is Gibson’s prize and it’s not close. He took the Diamondbacks from 97 losses in 2010 to the NL West crown in 2011 with essentially the same roster. Next up.... Willie Mays Award (Top Rookie)