[vincesanity82]

Moving toward the September home stretch there are 10 National League teams in contention for a playoff spot. Which means there are also 10 NL managers in the running for the Manager of the Year Award.
In this week's Beyond the Box Score we rank the skippers 1-10 as they turn for home.

1. Bob Melvin, Diamondbacks
Someone forgot to tell Melvin and his young squad that this wasn't supposed to be happening for another couple of years. But despite a -33 run differential (good for 10th in the NL) the D-Backs have the second-best record in the league (73-57), one game behind the Mets. This means Melvin is pushing all the right buttons in the close games.

2. Tony La Russa, Cardinals
There have always been — and will always be — a lot of La Russa bashers out there, but this season — his toughest as a manager — may be the four-time Manager of the Year winner's best. The year began with La Russa getting pinched for a DUI in spring training and then turned tragic with the drunk-driving death of pitcher Josh Hancock. On the field, the defending champs lost ace Chris Carpenter for the season after his first start and seemingly fell out of contention as the patchwork rotation got blasted night after night. But somehow La Russa has gotten things back on the rails.

3. Bud Black, Padres
It's only right that the Padres are making yet another playoff push with a former pitcher at the helm. Playing in run-supressing Petco, the Pads are all about pitching, a subject no manager knows more about than the longtime Angels pitching coach who is making the most of his shot at the big job.

4. Lou Piniella, Cubs
The Manager of the Year battle may come down to a simple head-to-head between La Russa and Piniella. Their teams have a huge four-game series at Busch Stadium in mid-September. If Sweet Lou can drag his at-times underachieving Cubs into the playoffs, it will be hard for the voters to ignore his dramatic June 2nd tirade that jump-started the team. No other candidate has a better highlight reel. But heading into the home stretch there is also a strong argument to be made against Piniella: how can a team that is +51 in run differential be only three games ahead of a team (the Cards) that is -71? Somebody's been losing the close ones.

5. Charlie Manuel, Phillies
The Phils had a chance to shave the Padres' wild card lead to two games Saturday night before Tom Gordon and Brett Myers combined to allow three home runs in the 8th and 9th in a crushing 4-3 loss. But it's been hard to imagine the Phils making it to the finish line with their matchstick-and-bubblegum pitching staff. If they somehow win the wild card, Manuel deserves a ton of credit (and a free agent starter who isn't a complete disaster).

6. Clint Hurdle, Rockies
The Rockies finished 29 games under .500 in 2005. They finished 10 games under .500 last year and then traded their ERA leader Jason Jennings for Jason Hirsh (5-7, 4.81) and Willie Taveras (.735 OPS). But somehow Hurdle has Colorado three games over .500 and 4.5 back in the wild-card race. They may not get there this year, but Hurdle has the young nucleus of Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe, Troy Tulowitzki and Garrett Atkins poised to contend for the rest of the decade.

7. Willie Randolph, Mets
When the baseball cognoscenti concedes the division to you in February it's very hard to win the Manager of the Year award since the perception is that all you've done is meet expectations. Still, Randolph has kept the team winning despite a rash of injuries and the mysterious season-long slump of Carlos Delgado. Making the playoffs for the second straight year will have to be satisfaction enough for the skipper who has already locked up the most underappreciated manager award.

8. Bobby Cox, Braves
Cox entered the record book with his 132nd ejection this season, but all the steam coming out of his ears probably won't be enough to keep the Braves from extending their streak of not winning the NL East to two seasons. Even if Atlanta — with Mark Teixeira's thunder leading the way — bashes its way into the playoffs, Cox is a long shot to win his fifth Manager of the Year award.

9. Ned Yost, Brewers
Poor Ned Yost. Like the NL Central, the Manager of the Year award was probably his to lose in late June. But then came the crippling injury to Ben Sheets, the thudding return to mortality of Coco Cordero and the scrap with Johnny Estrada. Oh, and a bunch of truly ugly losses, including two blown six-run leads in the span of nine days.

FOX Sports on MSN - MLB - Melvin leads tight race for manager honors

[bears9]

I am going to be ripped for being a homer but it has got to be Lou Penilla he got a 66 win and right now they have 66 wins with a month left got be Sweet Lou

[vincesanity82]

Originally Posted by bears9

I am going to be ripped for being a homer but it has got to be Lou Penilla he got a 66 win and right now they have 66 wins with a month left got be Sweet Lou

Yeah I could be biast picking Cox but he did break a record this year..

[Lefty Noob]

I think Bud Black would get my vote. Winning with as badly as they've been hitting? That's impressive.