I have been an Atlanta Braves fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Steve Avery pitch circles around National League batters. I looked on in amazement as Fred McGriff and Chipper Jones took pitches for a ride from the other side of the battery.

One staple of the Braves that had been there throughout my life was Bobby Cox, the longtime manager for Atlanta.

He managed the Braves from 1978 to 1981 before moving to the Toronto Blue Jays. He came back to Atlanta and took the position of general manager from 1986 to 1990.

He then went back to the manager’s role. He held that spot for 20 years, from 1990 to 2010 when he retired.

Cox had literally been with the Braves for my entire life, and his time in Atlanta still has me beat in terms of number of years.

When he announced he would retire after the 2010 season, I was taken aback. I completely believed that old man would be in a Braves uniform until he dropped dead of a heart attack (or some equivalent ailment) after arguing with an umpire and being ejected.

He does hold the all-time record for most ejections with 158, plus three more that occurred in postseason play. More importantly, he ranks fourth on the Major League Baseball All-Time Managerial Wins list.

It would be a safe bet to say that I liked and respected Bobby Cox as the Atlanta Braves manager. I did not follow baseball as much as I used to from halfway through high school until last year.

This disinterest was likely caused by a combination of factors, most notably that I was not playing baseball myself anymore and the Braves could not get anything going after the division games in the postseason after 1995.

Ah, 1995. That year the Braves actually won the World Series. Maybe they won because Rick Vaughn did not throw the heater enough. Maybe the Indians’ performance fell just a bit outside. Are these Major League jokes doing anything for you?

Bobby Cox did as he said and did indeed retire after the 2010 season. Many Braves fans were left pondering the following question: who would replace him? The answer came in the form of Fredi Gonzalez.

I still to this day remember the first words out of my mouth after the Braves announced Gonzalez would take over, and those words were “Who is Fredi Gonzalez?”

I am sure I am not alone in this. I talked to several people recently and asked if they had heard of Gonzalez before he took over for the Braves. In every case except one, the answer was no.

Fredi Gonzalez spent the last four seasons as the Florida Marlins’ head coach. The Marlins’ ballpark, Sun Life Stadium, also houses the Miami Dolphins and the University of Miami Hurricanes football team.

Miami does not draw a crowd. The Marlins’ owners pushed Miami-Dade County for a new stadium and the county agreed, but the ballpark will actually be smaller because the place never seems to get above half full.

The team name will also be changed to the Miami Marlins when the new stadium opens in 2012 as part of the deal.

Where was I? Oh yeah, Fredi Gonzalez. Who is that?

He does have previous ties to the Atlanta Braves, as he was the third base coach there for four years. I did not remember him from this position, but I wish him the best of luck.

He is attempting to fill some huge shoes for the Braves because, let’s face it, Bobby Cox was awesome.

If Gonzalez feels like he is not fitting in, he just needs to pick a verbal fight with an umpire and get ejected. Then it would be just like old times.