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Cardinals manager Mike Shildt named National League Manager of the Year

He got the Cardinals back in the playoffs in his first full season as manager. Now, he's collecting some hardware for his club's impressive year.

ST. LOUIS — In his first full season at the helm of the Cardinals, Mike Shildt reclaimed the NL Central and got his club back into the postseason for the first time since 2015. Now, he's getting some recognition.

On Tuesday, the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him the National League Manager of the Year.

Shildt beat out Brewers manager Craig Counsell and Braves manager Brian Snitker for the award.

Shildt is the third Cardinals manager to win the award, following Whitey Herzog (1985) and Tony La Russa (2002).

Shildt is the first manager who never played in the Major or Minor Leagues to be named Manager of the Year.

Under Shildt's watch the Cardinals captured their first NL Central title since 2015, and were among the best teams in baseball in defense and on the basepaths.

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The Cardinals won 91 regular season games in 2019, two more than the Brewers and seven more than the Cubs.

In the franchise's first postseason since 2015, the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves in five games in the NLDS, and were swept by the eventual World Series champion Washington National in the NLCS.

Since taking over near midseason in 2018 for Mike Matheny, Shildt has a .571 winning percentage. In 2018, Shildt finished fourth in manager of the year voting, despite only actually being the Cardinals' skipper for 69 games.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was named the AL Manager of the Year.

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