'Woonsocket Rocket' Rocco Baldelli Named AL Manager of the Year

'Woonsocket Rocket' Rocco Baldelli Named AL Manager of the Year

Major League Baseball has announced that Woonsocket native Rocco Baldelli is the American League Manager of the Year.

Baldelli was a star multi-sport athlete at Bishop Hendricken before playing professional baseball primarily for the Tampa Bay Rays.

“All Baldelli did in his first season as a Major League manager was improve his club’s win total by 23 games, become the seventh rookie skipper to top 100 victories and guide the Twins to their first American League Central title since 2010. The former player brought a host of changes to the organization, focusing on new rest and recovery routines for his players and introducing new analytical thinking to the team’s day-to-day strategy,” said MLB in the announcement.

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"Under Baldelli, the Twins’ pitching staff recorded the AL’s fifth-best ERA and its lineup transformed into a powerhouse as it knocked an MLB-record 307 home runs. In terms of regular-season success, it’s hard to imagine a better debut from a freshman manager," said MLB.

Baldelli is the fourth Twins manager to claim this award, following Tom Kelly (1991), Ron Gardenhire (2010) and Paul Molitor (’17).

He was born in Woonsocket. His pro career was cut short by a rare metabolic/muscular disorder that caused frequent soft tissue injuries, fatigue, and other ailments.