WAY TO GO BUCK!!!

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ESPN.com news services

NEW YORK -- Bobby Cox was voted NL Manager of the Year on Wednesday for leading the rebuilt Atlanta Braves to a record 13th straight division title, and Buck Showalter won the AL honor after his Texas Rangers went from also-ran to contender.

Cox received 22 first-place votes and 10 seconds for 140 points to win easily. Tony La Russa of St. Louis, who has won four manager of the year awards, was second with 62 points, and Jim Tracy of Los Angeles was third with 52.

It was the third award for Cox, who won in the AL with Toronto in 1985 and in the NL with the Braves in 1991, the first year of Atlanta's record run. Cox has won at least 95 games in eight of the last nine seasons and passed the 2,000 career victory plateau this year -- a mark that only eight other managers have reached.

Showalter kept Texas in the chase for a playoff berth until the final week of the season after four straight last-place finishes. He received 14 first-place votes, nine seconds and four thirds for 101 points, finishing ahead of Minnesota's Ron Gardenhire, who got 11 firsts, 11 seconds and three thirds for 91 points.

Showalter also won the award in 1994 with the New York Yankees. Gardenhire, who managed the Twins to their third straight AL Central title, finished second in the voting for the second straight season.

Atlanta was expected to finish no better than third in the NL East after slashing its payroll and losing pitcher Greg Maddux and sluggers Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla. But the Braves went 96-66 and finished 10 games ahead of second-place Philadelphia before losing 3-2 to Houston in the first round of the playoffs.

Despite trading AL MVP Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees, Texas went 89-73 -- its most wins since 1999 -- and finished third in the AL West behind Anaheim and Oakland, just three games out of first.