to play those guys. Washington, too" -- referring to Davey Johnson of the Nationals winning NL Manager of the Year.

Melvin, 51, and Showalter, 56, were listed first or second on all 28 ballots cast by two writers in each AL city, resulting in the fourth-tightest AL Manager of the Year total in the award's history. Melvin received 16 first-place votes in scoring 116 points (based on the 5-3-1 tabulation system), while Showalter got 12 first-place votes and 16 for second place in totaling 108 points. They were the only managers named to every ballot.

Losing in a close race is foreign territory to Showalter, who masterfully used his bullpen to help the Orioles go 29-9 in one-run games. The O's were 25-14 in two-run games and 16-2 in extra-inningcontests, winning their final 16 extra-innings games in the regular season en route to a 93-69 record and a Wild Card berth. .

"I think the manager can influence the record in a number of games, but it's the close games that I think really distinguish Buck," said Dan Duquette, executive vice president of baseball operations. "Buck has a history of helping teams turn around and it's his leadership that helped turn the Orioles around.

"Our fans became re-engaged with the team because we had a good team, but we were also able to win the close games which I think really got the attention of our fans. That's when they really got behind the team. They could see that our team could execute in close games. Games that we