Jim Tracy Wins NL Manager Of The Year, Inks Three-Year Extension

Yes, I am fully aware that this was yesterday’s news, but it’s hard to write when you leave your laptop in your office and your home computer catches a virus.

Yesterday was a tough day for The Ghost of Moonlight Graham. I was home sick, my computer crashed, and the UMass Basketball team lost their home opener dropping them to 0-2 on the season.

It’s hard to win when you don’t have a point guard who can facilitate an offense and you have to settle for jump shots the entire game.

While I didn’t have a great day yesterday, there was one guy who did–Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy. Not only did Tracy win the National League Manager of the Year award, but he also inked a three-year extension with the Rockies.

Tracy received 29 out of 32 first-place votes to become just the second manager to ever win the award while taking over a team mid-season. Jack McKeon accomplished the same feat with the Florida Marlins in 2003.

Tony LaRussa received two first-place votes and Joe Torre received the other first-place vote.

I wouldn’t shock me that the one guy who voted for Torre was some idiot out of L.A. who knows nothing about baseball, but somehow has a vote. I thought Bruce Bochy or Fredi Gonzalez deserved more credit than Torre.

Now, I will have to fully admit, I was dead wrong about Tracy. A. I didn’t think Clint Hurdle should have been fired and B. I didn’t think Tracy was the right man to turn the ship around.

I went on record saying Vinny Castilla should have gotten the job.

But Tracy proved me and a lot of other people wrong. The Rockies went 74-42 under Tracy’s stewardship and clinched a Wild Card birth for their second postseason appearance in the last three years.

Tracy put Ian Stewart at third, Clint Barmes at second, stabilized the bullpen, Troy Tulowitzki returned to his 2007 form, and the rest was history for Tracy and the Rockies.

The loads of young talent, the Rockies should be contenders for years to come and the guy leading them will be Tracy. As I mentioned earlier, Tracy received a three-year extension from the Rockies.

No terms of the deal have been disclosed, but industry sources say Tracy will earn over $1 million annually.

Not bad for a guy who was run out of Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Tracy becomes the second Rockies’ manager to win the Manager of the Year award. Don Baylor won the award in 1995.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg