Francona finishes 2nd in Manager of the Year voting behind Twins’ Molitor

Indians manager Terry Francona finished second place in American League Manager of the Year voting. Minnesota’s Paul Molitor took home the top prize, while Houston’s A.J. Hinch finished in third place.

Molitor received 18 first-place votes, while Francona received 11 and Hinch received one. A full breakdown of the voting can be viewed on the BBWAA website.

Under Francona, the Indians won a second consecutive American League Central Division title. In the process, the team also accumulated 102 wins, making it the first time a Francona-led team has eclipsed the century win mark. But more than anything, the 2017 season will be remembered for the Indians’ 22-game win streak from Aug. 24-Sept. 14, the longest win streak in American League history.

The 2017 season was also Francona’s 13th consecutive managerial winning season, the longest by any active manager. In his five years as Tribe skipper, Francona has accumulated a 454-354 record.

Francona won AL Manager of the Year in 2016. Since the award’s inception in 1983, however, the same manager has never won the award in back-to-back years.

Molitor led a Twins team that surpassed expectations. After a 59-win 2016 season, Molitor’s team went on to win 85 games in 2017 and make the postseason, falling to the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game. Their 26-game improvement was the best in the league during the 2017 season.

As a result, the Twins became the first team to make the postseason after losing 100 games in the previous year.

Molitor becomes just the second Hall of Fame player to win Manager of the Year, joining Frank Robinson.

In the National League, Torey Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks was named Manager of the Year in his first season as a big league manager.

Arizona finished with a 93-69 record, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2011.