Nov. 17--Joe Maddon was named National League Manager of the Year Tuesday as a reward for overseeing a young Cubs team that won 97 games and advanced to the NL Championship Series.
But Kris Bryant, who won the NL Rookie of the Year award on Monday, said Maddon's contributions run deeper than just helping the Cubs equal their 2008 win total and eliminating NL Central foes Pittsburgh and St. Louis in the NL playoffs.
"Just from the very first day of spring training, encouraging us to be ourselves and (telling us to) don't change the way you play, and him just being a laid-back manager," Bryant said Monday night during a conference call. "It's easy to talk to him and just having a lot of young guys on the team, that just breeds success.
"He brought the best out of me, and a lot of our success was just having him lead the way and keeping us calm and confident, and at the same time, having a lot fun."
Terry Collins, who led the New York Mets to the World Series, finished third in the voting. Mike Matheny, who directed St. Louis to 100 wins and their third consecutive NL Central title, was second.
The voting was conducted before the start of the playoffs, with two voters from each of the 15 NL cities participating.
