# Midwest League Manager of the Year Award

The Midwest League Manager of the Year Award is an annual award given to the best manager in Minor League Baseball's Midwest League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor League Baseball executives, and members of the media have previously voted as well. The award was created in the league's inaugural 1947 season. The circuit was known as the Illinois State League from 1947 to 1948 and as the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League from 1949 to 1955 before becoming the Midwest League in 1956. After the cancellation of the 2020 season, the league was known as the High-A Central in 2021 before reverting to the Midwest League name in 2022.
The only manager to win the award on three occasions is Mark Haley, who won in 2005, 2008, and 2013. Three others have each won twice: Bruce Fields, Gomer Hodge, and Buddy Kerr.
Seven managers from the and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have been selected for the Manager of the Year Award, more than any other team in the league, followed by the Cedar Rapids Kernels (6); the Kane County Cougars, Waterloo Indians, and West Michigan Whitecaps (5); the Quad Cities River Bandits and South Bend Cubs (4); the Burlington Bees, Danville Warriors, and Great Lakes Loons (3); the Clinton Giants, Kenosha Twins, Lansing Lugnuts, Michigan Battle Cats, Peoria Chiefs, and Wisconsin Rapids Twins (2); and the Belleville Stags, Beloit Sky Carp, Bowling Green Hot Rods, Decatur Commodores, Fort Wayne TinCaps, Lafayette Red Sox, Madison Muskies, Michigan City White Caps, Quincy Giants, Rockford Royals, Springfield Cardinals, and Wausau Timbers (1).
Six managers from the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball (MLB) organization have won the award, more than any other, followed by the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, and Oakland Athletics organizations (5); the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants organizations (4); the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals organizations (3); the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, and Toronto Blue Jays organizations (2); and the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays organizations (1). Two award winners played for teams that operated as cooperatives of several MLB organizations.

## Winners

Key :
| League | The team's final position in the league standings |
| Division | The team's final position in the divisional standings |
| Record | The team's wins and losses during the regular season |
| (#) | Number of wins by managers who won the award multiple times |
| ^ | Indicates multiple award winners in the same year |
| * | Indicates league champions |
Winners :
| Year | Winner | Team | Organization | League | Division | Record |
| 1947 | Walt DeFreitas | Belleville Stags* | St. Louis Browns | 1st | — | 75–37 |
| 1948 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1949 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1950 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1951 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1952 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1953 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1954 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1955 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1956 | Len Okrie | Lafayette Red Sox | Boston Red Sox | 2nd | — | 69–56 |
| 1957 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1958 | Buddy Kerr (1) | Michigan City White Caps | San Francisco Giants | 2nd | — | 69–55 |
| 1959 | Stubby Overmire | Decatur Commodores | Detroit Tigers | 3rd (tie) | — | 63–61 |
| 1960 | Matt Sczesny | Waterloo Hawks* | Boston Red Sox | 1st | — | 81–43 |
| 1961 | Buddy Kerr (2) | Quincy Giants* | San Francisco Giants | 4th | — | 67–59 |
| 1962 | Cal Ripken Sr. | Appleton Foxes | Baltimore Orioles | 7th | — | 61–63 |
| 1963 | Don Bacon | Clinton C-Sox* | Chicago White Sox | 1st | — | 83–41 |
| 1964 | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected | None selected |
| 1965 | Gus Niarhos | Burlington Bees* | Kansas City Athletics | 1st | — | 82–40 |
| 1966 | Al Ronning | Burlington Bees | Kansas City Athletics | 3rd | — | 77–48 |
| 1967 | Alex Cosmidis | Appleton Foxes* | Chicago White Sox | 1st | — | 71–46 |
| 1968 | Jack Krol | Cedar Rapids Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | 3rd | — | 63–53 |
| 1969 | Tom Saffell | Appleton Foxes* | Chicago White Sox | 1st | — | 84–41 |
| 1970 | Frank Calo | Danville Warriors | Co-op | 4th | — | 64–59 |
| 1971 | Joe Sparks | Appleton Foxes | Chicago White Sox | 1st | 1st | 79–44 |
| 1972 | Joe Nossek | Danville Warriors* | Milwaukee Brewers | 2nd | 1st | 73–52 |
| 1973 | Bernie Smith | Danville Warriors | Milwaukee Brewers | 3rd | 1st | 66–57 |
| 1974 | Johnny Goryl | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Minnesota Twins | 1st | 1st | 80–48 |
| 1975 | John Sullivan | Waterloo Royals* | Kansas City Royals | 1st | 1st | 93–35 |
| 1976 | Salty Parker | Cedar Rapids Giants | San Francisco Giants | 2nd | 1st | 78–53 |
| 1977 | Denis Menke | Burlington Bees* | Milwaukee Brewers | 5th | 4th | 71–68 |
| 1978^ | Gordon Lund | Appleton Foxes* | Chicago White Sox | 1st | 1st | 97–40 |
| 1978^ | Woody Smith | Waterloo Indians | Cleveland Indians | 2nd | 2nd | 91–46 |
| 1979 | Tom Robson | Wausau Timbers | Co-op | 4th | 2nd | 69–61 |
| 1980 | Rick Stelmaszek | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Minnesota Twins | 3rd | 3rd | 77–64 |
| 1981 | Gomer Hodge (1) | Waterloo Indians | Cleveland Indians | 2nd | 2nd | 81–55 |
| 1982 | George Enright | Quad Cities Cubs | Chicago Cubs | 4th | 1st | 79–60 |
| 1983 | Gomer Hodge (2) | Waterloo Indians | Cleveland Indians | 3rd (tie) | 1st (tie) | 76–64 |
| 1984 | Tom Gamboa | Beloit Brewers | Milwaukee Brewers | 2nd | 1st | 86–53 |
| 1985 | Duffy Dyer | Kenosha Twins* | Minnesota Twins | 4th | 1st | 76–60 |
| 1986 | Gaylen Pitts | Springfield Cardinals | St. Louis Cardinals | 1st | 1st | 87–53 |
| 1987 | Don Leppert | Kenosha Twins* | Minnesota Twins | 2nd | 1st | 82–58 |
| 1988 | Marc Bombard | Cedar Rapids Reds* | Cincinnati Reds | 1st | 1st | 87–53 |
| 1989 | Dave Miley | Cedar Rapids Reds | Cincinnati Reds | 2nd | 1st | 80–57 |
| 1990 | Don Long | Quad Cities Angels* | California Angels | 2nd | 2nd | 81–59 |
| 1991 | Gary Jones | Madison Muskies | Oakland Athletics | 1st | 1st | 77–61 |
| 1992 | Tom Poquette | Appleton Foxes | Kansas City Royals | 6th | 3rd | 70–62 |
| 1993 | Jack Mull | Clinton Giants | San Francisco Giants | 1st | 1st | 80–54 |
| 1994 | John Mizerock | Rockford Royals | Kansas City Royals | 1st | 1st | 89–50 |
| 1995 | DeMarlo Hale | Michigan Battle Cats | Boston Red Sox | 4th | 1st | 75–63 |
| 1996 | Roy Silver | Peoria Chiefs | St. Louis Cardinals | 1st | 1st | 79–57 |
| 1997 | Bruce Fields (1) | West Michigan Whitecaps | Detroit Tigers | 1st | 1st | 92–39 |
| 1998 | Billy Gardner Jr. | Michigan Battle Cats | Boston Red Sox | 2nd (tie) | 2nd (tie) | 79–61 |
| 1999 | Rick Renteria | Kane County Cougars | Florida Marlins | 1st | 1st | 78–59 |
| 2000 | Bruce Fields (2) | West Michigan Whitecaps | Detroit Tigers | 1st | 1st | 88–52 |
| 2001 | Russ Morman | Kane County Cougars* | Florida Marlins | 1st | 1st | 88–50 |
| 2002 | Todd Claus | Cedar Rapids Kernels | Anaheim Angels | 3rd | 2nd | 81–58 |
| 2003 | Webster Garrison | Kane County Cougars | Oakland Athletics | 1st | 1st | 80–59 |
| 2004 | Dave Joppie | Kane County Cougars | Oakland Athletics | 1st | 1st | 83–56 |
| 2005 | Mark Haley (1) | South Bend Silver Hawks* | Arizona Diamondbacks | 1st | 1st | 84–56 |
| 2006 | Matt Walbeck | West Michigan Whitecaps* | Detroit Tigers | 1st | 1st | 89–48 |
| 2007 | Tom Brookens | West Michigan Whitecaps* | Detroit Tigers | 1st | 1st | 83–57 |
| 2008 | Mark Haley (2) | South Bend Silver Hawks | Arizona Diamondbacks | 2nd | 2nd | 76–63 |
| 2009^ | Doug Dascenzo | Fort Wayne TinCaps* | San Diego Padres | 1st | 1st | 94–46 |
| 2009^ | Marty Pevey | Peoria Chiefs | Chicago Cubs | 2nd | 1st | 81–57 |
| 2010 | Juan Bustabad | Great Lakes Loons | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1st | 1st | 90–49 |
| 2011 | Mike Redmond | Lansing Lugnuts | Toronto Blue Jays | 3rd | 2nd | 77–60 |
| 2012 | John Tamargo | Lansing Lugnuts | Toronto Blue Jays | 1st | 1st | 82–55 |
| 2013 | Mark Haley (3) | South Bend Silver Hawks | Arizona Diamondbacks | 4th | 2nd | 81–58 |
| 2014 | Mark Johnson | Kane County Cougars* | Chicago Cubs | 1st | 1st | 91–49 |
| 2015 | Josh Bonifay | Quad Cities River Bandits | Houston Astros | 1st | 1st | 88–50 |
| 2016 | Jimmy Gonzalez | South Bend Cubs | Chicago Cubs | 2nd (tie) | 1st (tie) | 84–55 |
| 2017 | Mike Rabelo | West Michigan Whitecaps | Detroit Tigers | 1st | 1st | 91–45 |
| 2018 | Craig Albernaz | Bowling Green Hot Rods* | Tampa Bay Rays | 1st | 1st | 90–49 |
| 2019 | John Shoemaker | Great Lakes Loons | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1st | 1st | 81–55 |
| 2020 | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) | None selected (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic) |
| 2021 | Chris Widger | Quad Cities River Bandits* | Houston Astros | 1st | 1st | 77–41 |
| 2022 | Austin Chubb | Great Lakes Loons | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2nd | 2nd | 76–55 |
| 2023 | Brian Dinkelman | Cedar Rapids Kernels* | Minnesota Twins | 1st | 1st | 82–50 |
| 2024 | Victor Estevez | Wisconsin Timber Rattlers | Milwaukee Brewers | 1st | 2nd | 77–54 |

## Wins by team

Active Midwest League teams appear in bold.
| Team | Award(s) | Year(s) |
| Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Appleton Foxes) | 7 | 1962, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1978, 1992, 2024 |
| Cedar Rapids Kernels (Cedar Rapids Cardinals/Giants/Reds) | 6 | 1968, 1976, 1988, 1989, 2002, 2023 |
| Kane County Cougars | 5 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014 |
| Waterloo Indians (Waterloo Hawks/Royals) | 5 | 1960, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1983 |
| West Michigan Whitecaps | 5 | 1997, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2017 |
| Quad Cities River Bandits (Quad Cities Cubs/Angels) | 4 | 1982, 1990, 2015, 2021 |
| South Bend Cubs (South Bend Silver Hawks) | 4 | 2005, 2008, 2013, 2016 |
| Burlington Bees | 3 | 1965, 1966, 1977 |
| Danville Warriors | 3 | 1970, 1972, 1973 |
| Great Lakes Loons | 3 | 2010, 2019, 2022 |
| Clinton Giants (Clinton C-Sox) | 2 | 1963, 1993 |
| Kenosha Twins | 2 | 1985, 1987 |
| Lansing Lugnuts | 2 | 2011, 2012 |
| Michigan Battle Cats | 2 | 1995, 1998 |
| Peoria Chiefs | 2 | 1996, 2009 |
| Wisconsin Rapids Twins | 2 | 1974, 1980 |
| Belleville Stags | 1 | 1947 |
| Beloit Sky Carp (Beloit Brewers) | 1 | 1984 |
| Bowling Green Hot Rods | 1 | 2018 |
| Decatur Commodores | 1 | 1959 |
| Fort Wayne TinCaps | 1 | 2009 |
| Lafayette Red Sox | 1 | 1956 |
| Madison Muskies | 1 | 1991 |
| Michigan City White Caps | 1 | 1958 |
| Quincy Giants | 1 | 1961 |
| Rockford Royals | 1 | 1994 |
| Springfield Cardinals | 1 | 1986 |
| Wausau Timbers | 1 | 1979 |

## Wins by organization

Active Midwest League–Major League Baseball affiliations appear in bold.
| Organization | Award(s) | Year(s) |
| Detroit Tigers | 6 | 1959, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2017 |
| Chicago White Sox | 5 | 1963, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1978 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 5 | 1972, 1973, 1977, 1984, 2024 |
| Minnesota Twins | 5 | 1974, 1980, 1985, 1987, 2023 |
| Oakland Athletics (Kansas City Athletics) | 5 | 1965, 1966, 1991, 2003, 2004 |
| Boston Red Sox | 4 | 1956, 1960, 1995, 1998 |
| Chicago Cubs | 4 | 1982, 2009, 2014, 2016 |
| San Francisco Giants | 4 | 1958, 1961 1976, 1993 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 3 | 2005, 2008, 2013 |
| Cleveland Guardians (Cleveland Indians) | 3 | 1978, 1981, 1983 |
| Kansas City Royals | 3 | 1975, 1992, 1994 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | 2010, 2019, 2022 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | 1968, 1986, 1996 |
| Baltimore Orioles (St. Louis Browns) | 2 | 1947, 1962 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 2 | 1988, 1989 |
| Los Angeles Angels (California/Anaheim Angels) | 2 | 1990, 2002 |
| Houston Astros | 2 | 2015, 2021 |
| Miami Marlins (Florida Marlins) | 2 | 1999, 2001 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 2 | 2011, 2012 |
| San Diego Padres | 1 | 2009 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 1 | 2018 |