Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson was named the National League's 2011 Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writer's Association of America. Gibson is the 2nd Diamondbacks manager given this honor. In 2007, Bob Melvin was named NL Manager of the Year. In addition, he is the fourth MVP to be named Manager of the Year. Gibson was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1988 while he was a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gibson received 60 more points than the runner-up, manager Ron Roenicke of Milwaukee. Gibson's name appeared on all 32 ballots, with 28 first place votes and 4 second place votes.  Roenicke received 3 first place votes, 25 second place votes and 3 third place votes for a total of 92 points. The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came in third, with 24 points.

2011 marked Gibson's first full season as the Diamondbacks' manager, and he led the team to 94 wins this season. The Diamondbacks were the 2011 National League West champions. They lost the division title to the Milwaukee Brewers, three games to two.

Gibson was named interim manager of the Diamondbacks on July 1, 2010 when former manager A. J. Hinch was dismissed, and was given a two-year contract at the end of the 2010 season. Gibson was given a three-year extension at the end of the 2011 season.

The Diamondbacks had losing seasons in 2009 and 2010. The 29 game improvement from 2010 to 2011 was the third best improvement in major league baseball since 1998.

Gibson was named the National League Manager of the Year by Sporting News in October.