Bobby Cox

This year in baseball is truly a race for October meant for the history books.

Just about every division in baseball is up for grabs and the contending teams are overflowing with young and veteran talent.

However, a championship-caliber team does not solely depend on it's talent.

It also depends on how you use and coach that talent.

This slideshow will rank all of the managers at the helm of teams in the middle of the pennant race.

The Atlanta Braves should think twice before they make a move that will weaken their chances at winning a second World Series title.

While nothing has happened yet, the stars are certainly aligned for Mr. May, Troy Glaus, to replace All-Star Omar Infante in the lineup at third base, which would bump Martin Prado back to second base.

The 2010 MLB season has really been great. With 17 out of 30 teams at or above .500, I have to admit that a form of parity does exist as I am seeing that form on the field.

And the surprises have been what have made this a great season.

The San Diego Padres, with a payroll ripped apart by the divorce of their owners, have been at the top of the National League all season. The Padres were even buyers at the trade deadline as they brought in the bat of Ryan Ludwick to help their lone superstar hitter in Adrian Gonzalez.

Some take the hard-hand, run-suicides-until-you-puke approach. Some give the motivational “Go get ‘em” speech. Some throw you in the fire and force you to fight. 

With the news breaking on Thursday that Chipper Jones was done for the 2010 season and, potentially, his career with a torn ACL, the Braves found themselves without some sense of certainty at the hot corner for the first time in nearly sixteen years.

Mark Twain once said: "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away.  He must have time to modify his shape."

The 2010 MLB offseason definitely will be known as one of the busiest in terms of managerial moves and firings. Some the of the games best might call it quits and it will certainly be the end of an era in baseball. 

We've already had a pair of managers who seem very much safe in the Royals' Ned Yost and Orioles' Buck Showalter.

Come Opening Day 2011, we will have seen a 60 percent of the managers from the 2010 Opening Day, an amazing and shocking drop from 40 percent. 

Two of the best managers in this era of baseball will be retiring at the end of this 2010 season—the Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox and the Chicago Cubs Lou Piniella.

Both managers were great beginning their careers around the same time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Piniella with the New York Yankees and Cox with the Atlanta Braves.

With the second half of the Major league baseball season under way, here are some predictions as to what could end up happening when the regular season is all said and done. There will also be two bold predictions at the end, those of which would shock the sports world, and could happen if events fall a certain way.

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The unofficial halfway point of the 2010 baseball season was culminated by the National League's 3-1 win of the All-Star game on Tuesday night. In addition to the game acting as a celebration of baseball itself, the All-Star break often serves as an opportune time to reflect on a team's position in the standings and what it can realistically achieve going forward. 

Which teams will be buyers or sellers at the July 31st trade deadline?

What prospects will be called up that can make a difference for their respective team?

At the end of the season, legend Bobby Cox will finally retire and hand the Braves over to another manager. The Braves would love to send him off with another World Series Title.

Last night in the All-Star game, Braves catcher Brian McCann could have helped them in a very crucial way.

As we all know, the game decides home field advantage in the World Series, and that’s what it is: an advantage.