voted the Most Valuable Player, the first American to receive the honor since 1964, hitting .324/.434 (2nd in the league)/.712 (leading the league) with 65 walks (2nd), 37 home runs (leading the league) and 94 RBIs (5th). A year later, Manuel shocked Japanese baseball by leaving for a week to attend his son's high school graduation in Virginia. His contract allowed it, but team officials were incredulous that Manuel would leave the team two games out of first place with three weeks to play in the first half of the season. Manuel returned to lead the team to the second-half championship and the pennant. He finished the season hitting .325 (5th in the league)/.400/.673 (leading the league), with 88 runs (4th), 48 home runs (leading the league), and 129 RBIs (leading the league). It was the best season for an American player in Japan to that point. Manuel won no awards that season. In 1981, he returned to the Yakult Swallows after being released by Kintetsu over contract negotiations. Manuel finished his successful run in Japan with a .303 career average, 189 home runs, and 491 RBIs. He was considered one of the best imported baseball players to Japan in those days, along with brothers Leron and Leon Lee and Randy Bass. During his time in Japan, Manuel learned to speak Japanese. The language skill and experience in Japan were useful back in the U.S. for managing players such as So Taguchi and Tadahito Iguchi. Managing career Minor league manager Ultimately, injuries, including his beaning in Japan, cut Manuel's playing days short. He returned to the United States to work as a scout for the Minnesota Twins organization before turning to coaching. As a minor league manager for nine years in the Twins' (–) and Cleveland Indians' (–) farm systems, Manuel compiled a 610–588 (.509) record, winning the Pacific Coast League and International League championships in his final two seasons (–93). He was named Manager of the Year three times (, 1992, ) and managed the IL All-Star team in 1993. Cleveland Indians coach and manager Manuel returned to the Majors in 1988 as the Indians' hitting coach (–, –), where under his tutelage, the Tribe led the American League in runs three times (1994–, 1999) and set a franchise record in 1999 with 1,009 runs, becoming the first team to score 1,000 runs since the 1950 Boston Red Sox.