When it comes the honors earned in his final season, former St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa will just have to live with his 2011 World Series ring. On Wednesday, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced voting results for the 2011 American League and National League Manager of the Year awards, and La Russa finished third in National League voting. 

Joe Maddon of the Tampa Bay Rays was named the AL Manager of the Year, as he racked up 26 of 28 possible first-place votes for his team's amazing late season push to overcome the Boston Red Sox and make the AL playoffs as the wildcard.

 

In the National League, Arizona Diamondbacks Manager Kirk Gibson won the award, earning 28 first-place votes. Under Gibson, the NL West Division champion Diamondbacks finished with a 94-68 regular-season record, which represented a 29-game improvement from 2010 and the third-best record in franchise history. 

As for former St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa, he received only one first-place vote and came nowhere close to earning the top honor. Although the Cardinals were the eventual 2011 World Series Champions, they did fight through multiple injuries and fell as far back as 10 1/2 games back in the NL Wild Card race before finally rallying for an historic run. For a regular-season award to go to a manager whose team made it into the postseason on the final day of regular-season play may have been a bit too much to ask anyways. For Cardinals fans and Tony La Russa, that 2011 World Series Championship will just have to do.

BBWAA 2011 NATIONAL LEAGUE MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTING RESULTS

Manager, Club                                             1^st       2^nd        3^rd       Total Points

Kirk Gibson, Arizona Diamondbacks          28          4          0             152

Ron Roenicke, Milwaukee Brewers                    3         25          2               92

Tony La Russa, St. Louis Cardinals                   1          2         13               24

Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies                  0          1          7               10

Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta Braves                         0          0          4                4

Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants                   0          0          2                2

Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates                         0          0          2                2

Terry Collins, New York Mets                          0          0          1                1

Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers               0          0          1                1

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