Our MLB Monday miniseries gets a little breather today as we have only 2 awards (!) to analyze in light of the historical fact the 1994 MLB postseason was canceled. It’s been 30 years since this happened, and the only thing we can think of that surpasses this was the NHL decision to cancel its entire 2004-2005 season. Labor strife in this nation is real, of course, and it left us with a big hole in a heart. Thanks, Bud Selig …

1994 AL MOTY: Buck Showalter, New York (original, confirmed)

This was the first season where the leagues were split into 3 divisions: the New York Yankees won the AL East by 6.5 games over Baltimore; the Chicago White Sox topped the AL Central by 1 game over Cleveland; and the Texas Rangers scratched out a 1-game edge over the Oakland Athletics despite a losing record. But the best managerial effort of any team in contention came from Kansas City Royals Manager Hal McRae.

The Royals finished 4 games behind the White Sox thanks to McRae (plus-3 PPP), but Yankees Manager Buck Showalter (plus-2 PPP) won the MOTY vote. New York posted 70 victories to earn the best record in the junior circuit, and finishing first is better than finishing in third like Kansas City did. Neither manager faced tough competition from the other managers in their respective divisions, either, so what do we do?

McRae was barely better than Showalter, but we should be rewarding the skipper won who a division here, in the absence of a significant PPP edge. Therefore, we will confirm Showalter’s vote win, but we wouldn’t fuss if people felt McRae deserved this more. It’s the nature of what we do here to sometimes be sketchy.

1994 NL MOTY: Felipe Alou, Montréal (original, confirmed)

The Montréal Expos won the NL East by 6 games over the Atlanta Braves; the Cincinnati Reds finished a half game above the Houston Astros in the NL Central; and the Los Angeles Dodgers ended up 3.5 games atop the NL West, over the San Francisco Giants. Expos Manager Felipe Alou (plus-4 PPP), who won our nod last season, won the official vote this time for NL MOTY. We confirm this vote, readily, and here’s why.

Alou posted the best PPP mark of any manager on a team with a winning record; the fact the Expos also finished with the best record in baseball and the first-place slot in their division is icing on the cake. However, we do want to point out that Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Jim Leyland posted a plus-7 PPP mark on a team with a losing record. That was impressive considering his team’s depleted roster via free agency.