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As we near the start of 2010 MLB Playoffs the first round matchups offer us plenty of excitement across the board.

Young teams with much to prove enter their first real October test. Teams that have fallen short in the past look for a shot at redemption and the defending champs look to protect their crown.

No matter who you're rooting for, playoff baseball is undeniably magical. Another playoffs full of these magical moments surely awaits past the divisional round. 

This of course begs the question, which second round matchups do we most want to see?

As of Monday morning, he is out as the Pirates manager. Russell was the third full-time manager since 2001, not counting Pete Mackanin's stint as interim manager after the departure of Lloyd McClendon.

So, after the Gene Lamonts, the McClendons and the Jim Tracys, who is suitable to manage this team and, dare I say it, turn this mess around?

Here are my op five candidates that I feel the Pirates should look at to fill the position.

The Indians' disappointing summer is finally over, finishing with a 69-93 record, but still beating out the Kansas City Royals for fourth place in the AL Central.

Before we look ahead to next season, let's hand out some awards for the Wahoo Warriors who deserve them most.

Not surprisingly, the Choo train tops the list.

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With no real expectation hanging over them, the Cincinnati Reds enter the 2010 playoffs amid little fanfare, overshadowed considerably by their NLDS opponent, the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. 

Despite winning the NL Central, the Reds face a tough draw in a championship-caliber Philadelphia squad.

The New York Yankees have released their 25-man roster for the American League Division Series which begins Wednesday in Minnesota. While most of the roster is as expected, there were some decisions manager Joe Girardi needed to make.

Girardi has chosen a three-man starting pitching rotation for this series. CC Sabathia will start Game One on Wednesday, followed by Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes. Hughes gets the home start in Game Three on Saturday in Yankee Stadium.

Cincinnati Reds:

Strengths: Nothing like starting with the weakest team from the weakest division.

It's pretty simple with the Reds this year. They added a couple of veterans in Scott Rolen and Orlando Cabrera, got an MVP-caliber season from Joey Votto, and did just enough pitching to walk away with the NL Central crown.

Owners of professional sports teams are a fascinating set.  Usually wealthy, some charismatic, some stoic, others intensely private.  Only a select few people accumulate enough wealth to own a professional sports team, so naturally they draw a fair amount of interest.

WDAE’s drive-time show host Steve Duemig has a Facebook page for fans to talk sports in the Tampa Bay area.

Looking at his Facebook page, there are many vociferous Joe Maddon critics that post about the Rays manager’s decisions in a game.

This has been going on for the last few years. Many people think Maddon tends to outsmart himself by fielding different lineups or using different relievers to get an out.

So a couple of weeks back, Yahoo Sports writer Jeff Passan wrote a column called Think you know baseball? No, you don’t.

It was a good article that gave 25 facts about baseball that weren’t typical common knowledge. I liked it and in the back of my mind I thought that I wanted to do something similar about the Yankees at the end of the year.

As I watched the last inning of the Dodgers' last game of the season on TV, three things came to mind:

1.  That it was nice to see them end the year with a win.

2.  The way they hit—or more accurately, didn't hit—they were lucky to have won 80 games, and...

3.  Their biggest highlight was Vin Scully, the greatest broadcaster of all time, announcing that he will return for his 62nd season.