Game's youth movement apparent in my picks for Midseason Awards

The train wreck of Bobby Valentine and the 2012 season are long gone. Changing the culture is one thing, but changing it and winning instantly are the stuff

Tom Verducci|

The train wreck of Bobby Valentine and the 2012 season are long gone. Changing the culture is one thing, but changing it and winning instantly are the stuff of Manager of the Year Awards. Farrell has negotiated an injury to his best starting pitcher (Clay Buchholz) and having to change his closer four times. His team plays hard for him and only once has lost as many as three games in a row.

Published Jul 2, 2013

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.

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