Baseball Notes: Gardenhire, Black honored

Bud Black hung on to win this race. Ron Gardenhire became a first-time manager of the year, too, after so many near misses.

A month after his San Diego Padres were knocked out of the playoff chase on the final day, Black nudged Cincinnati's Dusty Baker by one point for the NL award Wednesday.

"I guess this vote was sort of like our season, it came down to the wire," Black said on a conference call.

Gardenhire was the clear choice in the American League, earning the honor after five times as the runner-up. He led Minnesota to its sixth AL Central title in nine seasons.

Black was selected after guiding San Diego to a 15-game turnaround despite the second-lowest payroll in the majors. The Padres finished 90-72 and led the NL West until a late, 10-game slump and then a loss to San Francisco on the last day eliminated them.

Black drew 16 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America and got 104 points. Baker had 13 first-place votes and 103 points.

Bruce Bochy of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, Atlanta's retiring Bobby Cox, and the Phillies' Charlie Manuel got the other first-place votes.

"This was a great year in the NL," said Black, who was on a golf course near San Diego when he got the word. "I guess this vote could've gone either way. I feel fortunate that I won. All these guys are so deserving."

Expert: Leyritz not drunk. A defense expert said former major-league ballplayer Jim Leyritz was not drunk when he was involved in a Florida car crash that killed a 30-year-old woman.

Toxicologist Stefan Rose testified that Leyritz had a blood-alcohol level under Florida's 0.08 percent limit when the 2007 crash happened. Rose said Leyritz's alcohol level rose to 0.14 percent hours after the crash because he had a vodka shot minutes earlier.

Prosecution experts earlier estimated that Leyritz had a 0.19 percent blood-alcohol level when the crash happened.

Leyritz is accused of DUI manslaughter in the crash that killed Fredia Ann Veitch. Jurors could start deliberating as early as Thursday.

Leyritz played for the New York Yankees and other teams over 11 seasons.

Steinbrenner for Hall? George Steinbrenner's family is rooting hard for the late New York Yankees owner to get elected to the Hall of Fame.

Steinbrenner, former manager Billy Martin, and one-time players' union head Marvin Miller also are on the 12-man Veterans Committee ballot. Results will be announced Dec. 6 during the winter meetings.

"It would be a big deal ... it just would," Hank Steinbrenner, the Boss' oldest son and a Yankees co-chairman, told the Associated Press.

"There's very few owners in the history of baseball that changed baseball as much as he did. He did a lot, but the biggest thing of all was really the fact he brought back the Yankees and that's so critical to baseball," he said.

Steinbrenner owned the Yankees from 1973 until his death in July. The team won seven World Series championships, 11 AL pennants, and 16 AL East titles during his reign.