NEW YORK — Jim Tracy was out of baseball when Clint Hurdle called last October to talk to him about joining Hurdle's staff in Colorado. Tracy was focused on his duties as bench coach for the Rockies when he came to spring training.

Now, he's the NL Manager of the Year — and has a new contract, too.

Talk about a nice season.

Tracy won the NL award Wednesday while Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels was selected AL Manager of the Year for the second time.

Tracy, the former Pirates manager, became the second manager to win the award after taking over during the season, joining Jack McKeon for Florida in 2003. Less than an hour after the honor was announced, the Rockies said Tracy had been rewarded with a three-year deal.

"What we're talking about this afternoon, it's probably as flattering an experience as I've come to realize during the course of my professional career in athletics," Tracy said.

The Rockies fired Hurdle in late May and handed the job to Tracy, who led the team to the NL wild card. Scioscia kept the Angels going after the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, and they won their fifth AL West title in six years.

"Those things really weren't about us. That was about the Adenhart family," Scioscia said. "As we supported that family, we got a little measure of peace and I think it helped us to get through the season and just play baseball."

Lou Piniella of the Cubs and Joe Maddon of the Rays were honored last year.

Scioscia managed the Angels to their third consecutive division title during one of his most difficult seasons in the dugout. Los Angeles has earned six postseason berths in the last eight years under Scioscia, who was a catcher for the Dodgers for 13 seasons and retired in 1994.

The Angels used 14 starting pitchers and played without sluggers Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero for long stretches due to injuries. The team's biggest challenge was moving past the sorrow it felt when Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April.

"There wasn't one defining moment," Scioscia said. "I think as the season started to evolve guys found that sense of purpose to play baseball again and they played it at a very, very high level."