NEW YORK—Joe Maddon had a good reason for interrupting his honeymoon.

About an hour after he landed in Rome, the newly married Maddon easily won the American League Manager of the Year award Wednesday for guiding Tampa Bay from baseball’s basement to the World Series in one astonishing season.

Lou Piniella took the NL honor after leading the Chicago Cubs to the league’s best record.

Maddon, who succeeded Piniella as Tampa Bay manager in 2006, was a runaway winner in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He received all but one of the 28 ...

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