Showalter finishes third in AL Manager of the Year voting

Buck Showalter failed to win his fourth Manager of the Year Award, with the 2016 American League honor going to the Indians' Terry Francona.

Showalter finished in third place with 44 votes. Francona received 128 and runner up Jeff Banister of the Rangers received 64.

Showalter garnered two first-place votes, compared to 22 for Francona and four for Banister. The Red Sox's John Farrell, who finished fourth, also had two first-place votes and 28 total.

The Yankees' Joe Girardi (five votes) was fifth and the Mariners' Scott Servais (one) was sixth.

Showalter received nine second-place votes and seven third-place votes.

The 10-year pattern remains intact for Showalter, who won the award in 1994 with the Yankees, 2004 with the Rangers and 2014 with the Orioles.

The Orioles were a popular pick to finish in last place this season, but they won 89 games and earned the second wild card spot. Meanwhile, the Indians won the American League pennant.

Ballots were submitted by the Baseball Writers' Association of America before the playoffs.

Appearing live on MLB Network before the ballots were revealed, Showalter said he simply tries to "stay out of the way" and trusts his players.

"You make them feel responsible for the well-being of the club and the organization," he said.

Showalter believes the award normally goes to the club that surprises everyone over the course of the season.

"Our players don't look at it as a surprise," he said. "You surround yourself with good people and you trust them and you delegate the want-to to them and you try to get out of the way. These are the best players in the world and you better keep in mind there's a fine line between winning and losing and they can survive without you real easily."

Asked again whether, if given the chance, he would have done anything differently in the wild card game related to not using closer Zach Britton, Showalter replied, "Oh, yeah, I regret it. We don't play with a net. Looking back on it, I just feel bad he's had to answer the question.

"This is a guy who I think should win the Cy Young and should be in the top three voting for MVP. He's a 10- or 12-game difference-maker on a club. Zach was perfect. He had the greatest year in the history of the major leagues for a reliever and not to get him in the game, there was a decision to make in the sixth inning, the seventh inning, the eighth inning, ninth inning, the 10th inning. If I had known how it was going to turn out I certainly would have done it differently. You need to get someone like him in the game and there's no bad place to get him into the game.

"You look back on it and if you knew how things were going to turn out, you'd obviously have done it differently, but it didn't and you have to wear it. I realize I've got a great seat to watch one of the great years I've ever seen by a guy and he should be recognized."

The Manager of the Year Award has existed since 1983. Frank Robinson won it with the Orioles in 1989, the "Why Not?" season, and Davey Johnson won it in 1997 after the club went wire-to-wire in the American League East.

Showalter was denied the award in 2012 despite leading the Orioles to their first winning season and playoff berth since 1997. The Athletics' Bob Melvin won it.

In one of the most puzzling slights, Showalter failed to win the NL award in 1999 after the expansion Diamondbacks improved from 65-97 to 100-62 in their second year of existence. Jack McKeon placed first in the voting after the Reds went 96-67 and finished second in the Central Division.

Showalter ended up fourth behind McKeon, the Braves' Bobby Cox and the Astros' Larry Dierker.

The Orioles don't have a finalist for the last two BBWAA Awards - Cy Young and Most Valuable Player.