The rumour mill has been bussing that 2008 may be the last time venerable Bobby Cox welcomes pitchers and catches to spring training as manager of the Atlanta Braves. Then again, it might not be according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I don’t really look at it that way,” the Braves manager said Wednesday about possibly entering his last spring training. “I’m going to leave everything open. No reason to shut the gates.”

This will be his 27th season as a big-league manager, all but four with the Braves. He’ll be 67 in May, and he said a year ago during spring training that he was leaning toward retiring after the 2008 season. Cox quickly hedged on that statement and hasn’t repeated it. He says he’ll manage as long as he enjoys and has the energy to do it and the Braves want him.

Bobby Cox has been named Manager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, 2004, and 2005) and is one of only three managers to have won the award in both the American and National League. He is also the only person to have won the award in consecutive years. Cox has also been named Manager of the Year by The Sporting News eight times (1985, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005).

On May 12, 2007, Cox passed Sparky Anderson to become the fourth-winningest manager in major league history, with a record of 2,195 wins and 1,698 losses. He led the Braves to win their division every season from 1991 to 2005, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season; the Braves have competed in the National League East Division since 1994 and competed in the NL West prior to that. He has won a World Series Championship in 1995. In 2001, he became the most successful manager in Braves history. [3] Cox’s .561 winning percentage is fourteenth in all-time among managers with at least 1,000 games managed, and is the second highest among those who managed the majority of their career after the creation of divisions within each league in 1969.

On September 21, 2007, Bobby Cox was ejected from a game for the 133rd time during the eighth inning in a Braves’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers; he currently holds the all-time record for most ejections, previously held by John McGraw.

As a long time Atlanta Braves fan, it would be hard for me to imagine watching the Braves play without Bobby Cox in the dugout yelling encouragment at his players when they’re at the plate or on the mound. Even more entertaining is when the grumpy old skipper waddles his way onto the field to dispute an umpires call.

What do you Braves fans think? Is it time for Bobby Cox to hang his hat and retire or should he stick it out as long as he can?