Mike Scioscia was named the AL Manager of the Year for 2009 while Jim Tracy of the Rockies won the award in the NL. Scioscia led the Angels through a long season filled with injuries, struggles and tragedy.

All baseball fans remember the loss of Nick Adenhart after his first start of the 2009 season. Nick started for the Angels on April 8 and threw six shutout innings against the Athletics in what would be his last trip to the mound. He was killed by a drunk driver later that night. That loss led to months of mourning that still continues within the Angels family.

On the field the Angels struggled and after a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team was 29-29 and Scioscia vowed change if things didn’t turn around. The halos responded and finished the season with 97 wins.

Many valuable players missed time this season. Lackey, Santana, Escobar, Saunders, Guerrero and Hunter all missed considerable time and young players had to step up to get this team to the playoffs.

No they didn’t win the World Series. No they didn’t even make it passed the Yankees. What they did do is overcome multiple obstacles during the regular season and then sweep their arch rival Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs.

Scioscia has led the team to the playoffs five of the last six years and six times since 2002, the year he and his club erased years of misery. Scioscia won his second Manager of the Year title, but he could easily also be known as the Manager of the Decade.

-JT Onyett