In a widely anticipated hiring, the Braves sign Fredi Gonzalez to replace their long-time legendary manager Bobby Cox, who retired at the end of the season. Atlanta’s new skipper, who served as the team’s third-base coach from 2003-06, was unexpectedly fired in June by the Marlins, a move which may have been prompted by the benching of shortstop Hanley Ramirez for not hustling.

The Rangers, behind the complete-game effort by Cliff Lee, beat Tampa Bay, 5-1, in the decisive Game 5 of the ALDS at Tropicana Field for the team’s first playoff series victory in franchise history, the last major league club to accomplish the task. Texas, who will take on the Yankees for the AL flag, lost their three previous playoff appearances with first-round losses to the Bronx Bombers in 1996 and 1998-99.

The Giants, with their 3-2 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS at Turner Field, advance to the National League Championship Series to play the Phillies. After the last out of the game, the San Francisco players come onto the field to salute the opposing manager, Bobby Cox, who is retiring after 29 years in the dugout.

Behind the solid starting pitching of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels, the Phillies complete the franchise’s first playoff sweep when Hamels throws a complete-game, five-hit 2-0 NLDS victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Philadelphia will have an opportunity to become the first team to win three consecutive National League pennants since the war-time Cardinals raised flags from 1942 to 1944.

11 new players are named to the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame, including Luis Tiant, Fernando Valenzuela, Dennis Martinez and Edgar Martinez.

Alexis Gómez hits a three-run triple in the 1st off Norge Vera and Lorenzo Barcelo allows one run in five innings as the Dominican national team stuns Cuba, 5 – 2, in the finale of the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament. Both teams had already qualified for the 2011 Baseball World Cup and 2011 Pan American Games along with the USA, Venezuela, Panama and Canada. Host Puerto Rico qualifies only for the 2011 Pan American Games.

At Yankee Stadium, the Twins drop Game 3 of the ALCS, 6-2, giving New York a sweep of the series. Minnesota, the first team to make the playoffs, exits the postseason for the second straight year without winning a game in the first round.

Although the Astros finish ten games under .500, the team exercises the 2012 option on the contract of their manager Brad Mills and adds a club option for the following season. After a dismal 17-34 start and the loss of veterans Roy Oswalt to the Phillies and Lance Berkman to the Yankees, the first-year skipper pilots Houston to a 59-52 record after June 1.

With only 17 instances of a manager getting tossed in the history of the postseason, two occurrences happen on the same day when the Rays’ Joe Maddon and Twins’ Ron Gardenhire are both ejected from different ALCS games. The Tampa Bay skipper gets the heave-ho in the fifth frame in a game against Texas for arguing a check swing with home plate umpire Jim Wolf, and the Minnesota pilot suffers the same fate with Hunter Wendelstedt for arguing balls and strikes in the seventh inning in the contest against the Yankees.

Rays’ hurler David Price is this year’s recipient of the Oklahoma Sports Museum’s Warren Spahn Award given annually to the best left-handed pitcher in the big leagues. The honor, named after the winningest southpaw in the history of the game, is awarded based on a point system which evaluates performance based on their wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.