Congratulations to Ron Gardenhire! No longer the bridesmaid, the ninth time’s the charm!

The Twins’ skipper earned 108 votes as the AL Manager of the Year Award, while the sentimental favorite Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers finished second with 81 votes.

As the longest tenured manager in the AL Central, Gardenhire finally gets to add his name along side past winners Ozzie Guillen and Jim Leyland as the top manager in the American League. 

Since taking over for Tom Kelly in 2002, his 803 victories are the fourth most among active managers in the all of baseball. 

Perhaps the Baseball Writers Association of American finally forgot that the award is for the manager that did the best job during the regular season?

With today’s announcement, here are 10 reasons why Gardenhire deserves the honor.

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