MLB Playoff Race: Ranking Bruce Bochy, Bobby Cox and the 10 Contending Managers
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 its 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.
10. Bruce Bochy
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Despite their inconsistent pitching and mediocre offense, the San Francisco Giants find themselves only one game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West.
Bruce Bochy, the Giants skipper, is the only manager of a contending team with a career managerial record below .500.
Bochy's managerial success peaked in the late '90s. His 1998 Padres won the pennant and he was named 1996 Manager of The Year.
The Giants may be bound for October, but their success is due less to the man filling out the lineup card and more to their great pitching staff and situational hitting.
9. Ron Washington
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This year is only Ron Washington's fourth year as a manager in the MLB and he is starting to get the hang of things.
Washington and his Texas Rangers hold a comfortable seven-game lead in the American League West.
Yes, Washington has admitted to some off-field issues, but his personal life has nothing to do with baseball.
After managing the Rangers to two consecutive losing seasons, Washington is getting better with time and with the help of Cliff Lee and Josh Hamilton, Washington looks to go deep into the postseason for the first time in his career.
8. Jim Tracy
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The Colorado Rockies may not be in the playoffs quite yet, but if they continue this streak of winning and the division rival San Diego Padres continue to lose, they can contend for the National League Wild Card and possibly the NL West.
In his nine-year managerial career, the 2009 Manager of The Year has a record of .511, but he has only led a team to first place one time and has not won a pennant, which is why he sits in the bottom part of this list.
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7. Joe Maddon
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Just because Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon does not exactly follow the "traditional" rules of baseball does not mean that he is a bad manager.
In fact, Maddon has proven to be one of the best managers in the game and he has found this success with the wacky and unconventional tactics that make baseball purists want to jump off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
In Maddon's four-plus years as Tampa's manager, he has a record of exactly .500 with one pennant and the 2008 Manager of The Year under his belt.
Maddon and his Rays are on track for yet another playoff appearance this year, and they are once again overthrowing the Boston Red Sox as the second-best team in the AL East.
6. Ron Gardenhire
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Ron Gardenhire has quietly become one of the best managers in all of baseball.
The Minnesota Twins under Gardy have had only one losing season and fallen short of first place just three times in nine seasons.
Although Gardenhire has no pennants or World Series to his name yet, the Minnesota skipper is on track to bring the Commissioner's Trophy to the Twin Cities at some point in his managerial career.
5. Dusty Baker
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Yes, Cubs fans, I know that Dusty Baker destroyed the careers of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior and possibly the Cubs' chances of a World championship.
We've all heard it a thousand times, but the former Braves outfielder is also one of the greatest managers of our time.
Baker managed Barry Bonds* and the 2002 San Francisco Giants to the World Series and although the Giants did not hoist the trophy, Baker had a .540 winning percentage with the Giants and .523 in his 17-year career.
An even bigger accomplishment than the three Manger of The Year awards and high winning percentage is being able to coach the likes of Sammy Sosa* and Barry Bonds* without losing his mind.
4. Ozzie Guillen
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Ozzie.
There really isn't much more to say about the best personality in baseball.
Besides the incredible talent, the best part about watching a White Sox game is to see what Ozzie will say in the postgame press conference.
Besides the HBO show and the self-promoting comments that we all love, Guillen's managerial accomplishments have been even better to witness.
Ozzie led Chicago to the 2005 World Series and a clean sweep of the Houston Astros for the world championship. Guillen won Manager of The Year that year.
His career managerial winning percentage is .531.
3. Joe Girardi
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Joe Girardi had huge shoes to fill when Joe Torre left New York.
I would say that the Commissioner's trophy can fit in those shoes.
The reigning champions of the world are once again the team to beat in baseball and it is partly due to the astounding management of Joe Girardi—and slightly due to the unlimited amount of money and talent in the Yankees organization.
Since taking the reigns of the Yankees two years ago, Girardi has a .602 winning percentage, and his Bronx Bombers already have a reservation for October.
2. Charlie Manuel
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Charlie Manuel has never managed a team for a full season with a losing record.
Since joining the Phillies in 2005, Manuel has a winning percentage of .554 and he led the team to two World Series...one victory.
Manuel has managed the last two All-Star games and his Phighting Phillies are once again on track for another run into the postseason.
1. Bobby Cox
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You all knew it was coming.
No matter if you're a Braves, Mets, Phillies, or Yankees fan, you know the legacy of Bobby Cox.
I don't have to tell you about the 14 consecutive division titles, the five pennants, the fourth most managerial wins of all time, or the most ejections of all time.
You know about Bobby Cox.
Bobby Cox's Braves are bound for October one last time for their legendary manager's final farewell, and if they can accomplish what Cox did for 14 consecutive seasons, it will be a tale to tell for decades.
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