Bobby Cox, 1941-2026

[Edgy MD]

Hall-of-Fame Manager Bobby Cox, who enjoyed two successful tenures with The Atlanta Braves along with an impressive run with the Blue Jays in between, has died at 84.  He had been suffering the last five years from congestive heart failure.

Cox won five pennants and one World Series championship as a manager.  His sole championship with The Braves was an ongoing source of commentary as the teams he skippered were by any other measure one of the longest running dynasties in baseball history.

Cox had only a brief career as an MLB player, joining the late sixties Yankees as a part-time thirdbaseman for two seasons as they sunsetted out of the longest-running dynasty in American sports history, but parlayed a single year coaching for the World Series-winning 1977 Yankees into one of the most enduring managerial careers in history.  His teams were marked by an all-time rotation anchored by long tenures from three Hall-of-Fame starters, stars drafted and developed out of the Georgia region, and a managerial regime defined by relentless umpire baiting.  His career record of 162 ejections (a full season!) as manager is a whopping 38.8% more than John McGraw — the next-nearest competition.  When you consider that this eclipses that totals of legendary malcontents like Leo Durocher, Earl Weaver, and Billy Martin, you have to tip your cap to him, or possible throw it on the ground, and kick dirt on it.

Along the way he fathered eight kids over two marriages and, well, those were not entirely without incident.

Prior to his COPD diagnosis, Cox also suffered a stroke in 2019.  His number 6 is retired in the rafters of whatever stadium the Braves play in.

[The Hot Corner]

He had a wonderful managerial career in Atlanta.  I must admit that I was so accustomed to seeing him as the manager of the Braves, that I forgot that he had managed the Blue Jays for 4 seasons before eventually returning to the Braves for his long tenure during the rise to prominence.

[Lefty Specialist]

Love him or hate him, he was a helluva manager.

[Frayed Knot]

Bobby's ejections often seemed calculated to me, as opposed to, say, noted hotheads Billy, Earl, or Leo Durocher who, when something didn't go their way, would go half insane with rage and were completely incapable of controlling themselves. I think most of the time Cox wound up being tossed it was because he decided he was going to make it happen before ever leaving the dugout, that the ejection itself was the point. That other Bobby who was his contemporary (V.) otoh, went out to argue because he was convinced the ump(s) would see things his way if only they'd listen to him explain why they were wrong.

[Cowtipper]

RIP. It's been a million years, but I still think of him as THE Braves manager, despite the success of Snitker and Fredi Gonzalez being around a while. Snitker could have forged himself a Hall of Fame career, too, based on his success to date, had he decided not to quit. 

[metirish]

My Mets fandom coincided with the Cox Braves winning the NL East yearly 

[seawolf17]

He had a remarkable track record of success. He won 99 games in his last season with the Jays in 1985, too, before moving back to Atlanta to build that team.

[Fman99]

It was mentioned on the broadcast that he had also served a stint as the Braves GM and made the decisions to draft Glavine and trade for Smoltz, among others.  Which I did not know.

[MFS62]

11 hours ago, Cowtipper said:

RIP. It's been a million years, but I still think of him as THE Braves manager, despite the success of Snitker and Fredi Gonzalez being around a while. Snitker could have forged himself a Hall of Fame career, too, based on his success to date, had he decided not to quit. 

I couldn’t even think of those guys. To me, Cox is the Braves’ manager and he always will be. 
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