Don Mattingly, Kevin Cash win Manager of the Year awards

Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash won the AL Manager of the Year award on Tuesday night, and Miami’s Don Mattingly took home the NL honor.

Long regarded as one of baseball’s bright young minds, Cash guided Tampa Bay to an AL-best 40-20 record during the pandemic-shortened season.

Voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America concluded before the beginning of the playoffs. Rick Renteria, who was let go by the White Sox after the team made the postseason for the first time since 2008, finished second, followed by Toronto’s Charlie Montoyo.

Mattingly guided the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003 despite dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak that paused their season and ravaged the roster.

LA RUSSA USES ‘I’MA HALL OF FAMER’ DEFENSE >> Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa flashed a ring at a police officer arresting him for driving under the influence and said “I’m a Hall of Famer baseball person” while being placed into the back of a cruiser, according to an incident report obtained by ESPN.

La Russa, 76, was charged in late October with DUI by the Maricopa County (Arizona) Attorney’s Office after blood and breath tests taken the night of his February arrest showed his blood alcohol concentration over the legal limit of .08.

The White Sox said they were aware of La Russa’s pending charges, which were filed one day before the team officially hired him on Oct. 29. It is the second drunken-driving arrest for La Russa, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI in Florida in 2007.

College basketball

STANFORD WOMEN RANKED SECOND IN PRESEASON BASKETBALL POLL >> The Stanford women’s basketball team enters the season with high expectations, as the Cardinal check in at No. 2 in the country in the Associated Press Top-25 preseason poll.

The ranking is Stanford’s highest to start the year since 2009.

The Cardinal is behind Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks, who earned the first preseason No. 1 ranking in school history.