In 1997, Davey Johnson was named the AL Manager of the Year with the Baltimore Orioles. The same day he resigned over disagreements with owner Peter Angelos.

The night after Bryce Harper was named the National League Rookie of the Year and fifteen years later, it’s a different.

This time Davey Johnson was named the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America and wasn’t fired. Johnson also became one of the few managers to win the award in both leagues.  He received 23 out of 32 first-place votes, scoring 131 total votes and beating Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy.

Johnson came out of managerial retirement to manage the Nationals in 2011 after Jim Riggleman abruptly resigned. In 2012 he led the Nationals to their first winning season as well as their first trip to the playoffs. Johnson more than aptly managed the young rookies such as Bryce Harper and Tyler Moore, while juggling injuries on the roster (including but not limited to injuries to the starting third baseman, right fielder, and shortstop). He instilled confidence in those slumping, gave opportunities to succeed and led with expectations of being better. Johnson even told the Nationals they could fire him if the team didn’t make the playoffs.

Davey Johnson’s leadership was not lost on his team. Of his manager, outfielder Jayson Werth said, “When Davey took over the middle of the season and kid of did things his own way, and went about business the way Davey goes about business, you could start to sense and see the ship was turning around.”

Next season will be Johnson’s last managing before he transitions to being a consultant.

UPDATE (11/10/12, noon): Johnson’s return is now official: the Nationals baseball media relations department (@NationalsPR) has tweeted that Davey Johnson will return to the role of field manager for 2013. It will be his last season as manager. In 2014 Johnson will shift to being a consultant to GM Mike Rizzo.

As reported by the Washington Post yesterday, the Nationals and manager Davey Johnson are getting close to closing a contract for the 2013 season. Johnson initially planned on retiring, but cited “unfinished business” from 2012 as his reason for returning.

Nothing has been formally announced yet, however both sides agreed that the 2013 season will be Johnson’s last season managing. In 2014 Johnson will become a special adviser to General Manager Mike Rizzo. Afterwards, Mike Rizzo has said he would like Johnson successor to come from within the Nationals organization.

Johnson became manager in June 2011 after Jim Riggleman resigned. He’ll turn 70 in January, becoming the oldest manager in baseball.

Davey Johnson led the Nationals to their first ever National League East title as well as managing the team’s veterans to rookies in a way that built the successful season. He’s currently a finalist for the NL Manager of the Year by the BWAA.

In other news, first baseman Adam LaRoche declined the Nationals offer of one-year and $13.3 million on Friday per the MLB Players Association and the Washington Post.

LaRoche won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger with the Nationals this season. The team is still able to sign him, however if he doesn’t and signs with another team, the Nationals will receive a compensatory draft pick.

Today also marks one year since Wilson Ramos was held after being kidnapped in Venezuela. The catcher was taken from his family home on November 9, 2011 and became the first Major League Baseball player to be kidnapped. Ramos was held for 51 hours and rescued in a gun fight in the mountains of Venezuela.

Ramos is now rehabbing from his two knee surgeries from his injury on May 12 in which he torn his meniscus and damaged enough to need another surgery to repair another torn ligament. He stayed in Washington over the off season to be able to visit his physical therapist and work out.

Since his kidnapping Ramos has not been back to Venezuela, but he plans to return to spend time with his family once he’s finished with rehab. He says he still loves his country as well. Understandably, Ramos said it’s hard to forget about his ordeal. The promising catcher of the future says even though it will always be a part of his life, he doesn’t want the event to define him.

That’s a clown question, bro.

For the rookie phenom in the MLB Final Vote, today is the last day for fans to make a push to get him to the All-Star Game in Kansas City.

Harper is currently hitting .280 and slugging .478 with 8 home runs and 23 RBIs in 59 MLB games.

Today, it was announced that votes will also count towards Harper if fans who tweet the hashtag #BryceIn12. Fans are also able to vote at MLB.com/vote or by texting N3 to 89269.

The Nationals have had players in the final vote in the past, however none of them have won the contests.

Voting ends at 4 ET today. Get out and rock the vote for Harper and tweet #BryceIn12. You know you want to.

(Oh, and if you need added incentive to vote for Harper, check out his cool, personalized car (not truck). I guess you could say even his car has some Natitude?