A few words about the poll results

1) Blog participation played a huge roll in the results. Some blogs have high participation and thus gave me a wider pool of answers and a more accurate look into how the fans feel. Some blogs have low participation and severely limited the results, and for one blog gave me no answers at all. I also rounded these poll numbers to the nearest tenth. All Numbers are of 2 oclock 6/27/2012

2) I suspect some tomfoolery happened in the AL west where they sabotaged the angels results and thus probably caused some revenge voting. The angels blog got way more votes than anyone else despite participation not reflecting that amount of users and the comments did not match the results. But I have to go with what I have.

A big thank you to all the commentators and blogs that participated in this SBN wide poll. It was great getting to know each of your blogs and I hope to come back soon. All right onto the results:

Tier 1: Joe Maddon is a God among men

Joe Maddon- Rays

Poll Score: 4.8

There is only one occupant in the top tier and that man is Ray's Manager Joe Maddon. Not only is he beloved by his own fanbase but a common theme on other team's polls was "well I wouldn't trade him for anyone but Maddon". When even your rivals love you as a manager you are doing something right. According to DRaysbay.com those somethings include excellent understanding of stats, innovating new defensive tactics such as the shift, and being a great players manager. The only thing they could fault him was that sometimes he gets caught up with being too cutting edge and will try things that don't make sense. But all and all he stands alone as the best manager in the game.

Tier 2: Winning is everything and also Winning is 4.1

Manny Acta - Indians

Poll Score: 4.1

People on the Indian's blog Let's Go Tribe really like Acta. I mean the man wears a fedora that alone is worth a 4. But beyond good taste in hats the blog also said that Acta excels at player relationships and in game decision making. He may questionable lineups from time to time but its not so bad that they hate him for it. Also he has guided the Indians to a winning record which for some reason fans seem to appreciate.

Davey Johnson - Nationals

Poll Score: 4.1

Awww. Doesn't he look happy? I would too if I had that rotation. The National's blog Federal Baseball finds that Johnson is the perfect man for the job at this moment for the reason that he seems to do great with managing young phenoms to greatness. Yeah that could be useful on a team with 2 of the 3 most exciting young players in baseball. He also excels as not "being that punk Riggleman" . His weakness is that he needs to show more emotion during the game. Not quite angry Bobby Cox level of emotion but something more than sleepy Felipe Alou would be nice.

Buck Showalter?

Yes Buck Showalter- Orioles

Poll Score: 4.1

Thats Buck Showalter. In a list about top managers and he isn't near the middle or bottom. I know right? But apparently while all of us out here on the left side of the map were showing our famous West Coast bias Showalter has quietly become a great manager. Camden Chat appreciates that the O's are having a great season and Showalter has a lot to do with that. He is good with the bullpen but maybe needs to loosen up. Like seriously look at that scowl. Someone get this man a puppy or a picture of Davey Johnson.

Tier 3: Like the children of Lake Wobegon

Bob Melvin - A's

Poll Score 3.9

The A's are forced through economic conditions entirely caused by the Giant's ownership to trade their good players for young players. This is not a team you would want Bruce Bochy managing or someone else with a veteran fetish. You need someone who is good with young players and is a good presence in the club house. Good thing according to the fine folks at A's Nation he is both of those things. He could use some work on knowing when to bunt and when not too but no one is perfect. And in addition to not being perfect he is also not Bob Geren which may be his greatest strength.

Jim Leyland- Tigers

Poll Score 3.9

I am not going to get snarky with Leyland. Leyland scares me. He is a serious old time baseball man who knows his stuff. He may not know what a computer or a what a Hannah Montana is but damn does he know his baseball. The fans over at Bless you Boys agree that he is a great leader and really knows his baseball. His only weakness is that sometimes he is too old school such as with lefty right match ups.

Kirk Gibson - Dbacks

Poll Score: 3.8

Good: Clubhouse presence and Intangibles

Bad: Will leave pitchers in for too long trying to get him that pitche a W

The Ugly: ↑

Clint Hurdle - Pirates

Poll Score: 3.7

Sort of like a light version of the theme of the last tier. The Pirates have been flirting with .500 for two years now. That will make a team that hasn't had one of those in a while. Buc's Dugout says that he is a great communicator and that he is decent with the bullpen. His flaws are kind of hilarious. Apparently he loves the bunt. And I don't mean that he likes the bunt. HE LOVES THE BUNT <3 !!!. And while that can be useful with a runner on first with less than two outs and a pitcher at the plate there is a time and a place people. He also is sort of crappy at knowing when to steal but that's probably because he is trying to tell the runner to bunt.

Terry Collins - Mets

Poll Score: 3.6

According to Amazin' Avenue Terry Collins does something I didn't know that a Manager could do. When he makes mistakes he owns them. As in he makes mistakes and acknowledges that they were yes his fault and he will try to do better next time all while not throwing his own players under the bus. But luckily he doesn't have to do that very often because he is a damn fine manager.

Tier 3.5

Ron Washington - Rangers

Poll Score 3.5

You know how the Pirates haven't had a winning season in 19 years? Well the Rangers had Bobby Valentine as a Manager for 7 years. That's basically the same thing. And so while its been 10 years since Bobby V has set foot in a Rangers uniform the memory still lingers in what I call the Bobby V effect. We saw this earlier with the Mets. So in comparison Ron Washington isn't that bad. But even without BV's stank all over the place Washington has a lot of strengths and by a lot I mean that he is a great players manager. Lonestar ball says sis players love him and play hard for him. That would be great if that's all that went into managing. Unfortunately they're not just cheerleaders (thank god could you imagine them in those outfits?) but also in charge of making in game decisions. This is where he struggles. Both bullpen and lineup management are not his forte but he has gotten his team to two straight world series doing what he does so who knows?

Joe Girardi - Yankes

Poll Score: 3.5

You hear a lot about how certain players and coaches can't handle the New York media. And even I will admit that yeah the New York media is really scary and some even open sideways like a book. But Pinstripe Alley says that for Girardi the NY media is not a problem. If anything they are afraid of him. That's a big plus when you're managerial decisions often revolve around what all star should I bring in next? But he is a good manager. They say he knows his way around a 'pen and manages pitchers well. But he also has a devotion to playing match ups that borderlines on insane. I just wouldn't ask him about it.

John Farrell - Blue Jays

Poll Score: 3.5

John Farrell is the reason I did this poll. Someone could have pointed a gun at my head and asked me to tell them one thing about Farrell, his looks or mannerism or anything, and I would be a dead man. Now I could tell them that according to Blue Jays Banter he "earns from his mistakes and is good with the players and with the media. His flaws include "falling in love with small sample size" , "making too much of small sample size" and "wanting to bang small sample size". And so now I know about John Farrell and you do to. Hooray!

Tier 4: There needs to be less teams

Mike Matheny - Cardinals

Poll Score 3.2

This is Mike Matheny's first year as a manager having never managed before anywhere. He is ahead of a lot of people. For shame rest of baseball. He is a former catcher so his skills are what you would expect from a former catcher. Viva el Birdos says he is good with pitchers. He isn't great with line ups yet but he is following the champion of line up'ing so he will learn. Also I like Mike Matheny. I like Mike. That sounds pretty good. Someone should trade mark that or something.

Bruce Bochy - The 2010 World Series Champion Giants USA USA USA!!!

poll score 3.1

He was tied with Ron Gardenhire but Ron Gardenhire didn't just win the world series so eff him. Yeah he has his problems. He hates rookies with their bluray discs, ipads, and space ice cream. He will cling to veterans until Sabean is forced to trade or cut a player for the good. And Sabean hates doing things for the good. But he like Matheny is a former catcher so he does do well with pitchers and WON THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE HISTORY OF THE SF GIANTS WOOO!!!

Ron Gardenhire - Twins

Poll Score: 3.1

The position of Santa Clause is like the Dread Pirate Roberts from Princess Bride. When one needs to retire they just a get a new one. Well this former Santa Clause decided to become the perfect manager for the twins. That is not to say he is a perfect manager by any means. I mean hell he is under Ron Washington but he is the perfect manager for the Twins. He matches their organizational philosophy lock step. I always viewed him as being an amazing manager because of what he did with the twins while they thought they were going to be contracted. But according to Twinkie Town he does have some issues. Mostly he holds grudges against his players and will refuse to play them until their gm gets rid of them. Like the anti Bochy in that way. But even still players seem to like him and the team responds well to him.

Tier 5: these people all scored a 3

Ron Roenicke

Bud Black

Robin Ventura

Don Mattingly

Charlie Manuel

via sportsmuseonline.com





As the title said all these people scored a 3. That means they are the average. Some of them are new to managing. Some are not. They are the definition of mediocrity. The comments from their blogs confirmed that they all have about the same amount of pros as cons. I fell asleep 3 times while typing their section. Moving on

Tier 6: The Bottom of the Barrel

Dusty Baker - Reds

Poll Score 2.9

.

Dusty is the players manager. When I think of a players manager I think of Dusty. I don't even know what that term means. I tried looking it up but when I looked at the words all I saw was Dusty smiling and chewing on a tooth pick. But in addition to chewing on toothpicks he also chews on the sinew of all of his bullpen pitchers.

Eric Wedge- Mariners

Poll Score 2.8

The biggest positive I took from the handsome and charming people of LL is that he makes good use of spring training and is a good clubhouse guy ( I feel like I wrote clubhouse guy a million times). His flaws are that he leaves his starters for too long and he has Smoak as a first baseman.

Brad Mills - Astros

poll score: 2.7

People of crawfish boxes really seemed to hate this guy and even said the stuff he didn't suck at he only did averagely. I'm not sure why he is a manager.

Dale Sveum - Cubs

Poll Score: 2.4

The cubs have a special player in Starlin Castro who is one of the best and most exciting young players in baseball but is a bit of a headcase and Sveum seems to handle him quite well. Other than that it is too early to evaluate him and cubs fans want to wait a few years before they make a decision. Because waiting a few years have never hurt the cubs before.

Fredi Gonzalez - Braves

Poll Score : 2.1

via i.imgur.com

Mike Scoscia

A comment from Halo's Heaven that sums him up perfectly: We all hate him. But only slightly less than we all love him.

Ned Yost - Royals

Poll Score: 1.8

Jim Tracy- Rockies

Poll Score: 1.6

I'm pretty sure these are both the same person. Some of the positive comments from their threads include "well he has good hair" and "good guy". Yup.

Bobby Valentine - Red Sox

via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Poll Score 2.0

He scored higher than Tracy or Yost but I refuse to put him higher than them. The man is scum. The only people who hate him more than the fans are the players.

Not Enough Data: Ozzie Guillen

The people of Fishstripes, the miami marlins blog, had as much interest in participating in my poll as they did in going to games last year.

And that is everyone folks. Its been a lot of a fun and a big thank you to all the blogs and commentators for participating.