Bobby Cox

A Bobby Cox ejection has always been comedy gold to me, but definitely 14 straight division titles and a World Series ring will stand out. Good luck to the skipper who wants to duplicate the former feat.

 

Yep. I don't remember the ejections so much.

 

I think Cox will be remembered by many as the most successful, unsuccessful manager in MLB History. Granted, had the Braves had the success of the 1990s here in this decade (at least making the LCS more than once) or one a World Series or two more (Although if Lonnie Smith had been paying attention, Cox has two WS rings) he'd be remembered a lot more successful by many more.

I think Cox does not get a lot of credit for managing the everyday team through 14 straight years. Granted its a lot easier throwing Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine for three of five days for so many years. But, how many times has it been seen that the Braves will sign someone on a whim, and once in Cox's system they give some positive production towards the team. So many times a guy like John Burkett, Chris Hammond or Jaret Wright have been signed to an almost nothing contract with a DOA career and have been able to flourish in the Atlanta franchise and been able to rob a team in free agency after leaving the Braves.

That goes hand-in-hand with dealing with a shrinking budget from owners Time Warner in recent years. The Braves and John Schuerloz would see guys walk away in free agency and either make a signing of a Burkett or Wright or pull the trigger on a trade to get an established veteran for one of their prized prospects - only to see that prospect flounder in his new home. Of course, all of this is due to the way that the Braves put things together top to bottom from Cox and John Schuerloz to the scouting and front office - they established a plan back in the late 1980s and its got them this far. A lesson for perhaps owners in today's game that change plans every 2-3 years like the Cubs, and some clubs that get it like the Milwaukee Brewers.

Then I think the fact that the cohesiveness of the Braves clubhouse is perhaps the best aspect of Bobby Cox. Very rarely has anyone not fit in or been trouble in Atlanta. The few instances I can think of involve guys like Jason Marquis and Tim Spooneybarger. Drama Queens Gary Sheffield, JD Drew, Deion Sanders and even John Rocker to a point (not-withstanding his relationship with Randall Simon) have fit in well in Atlanta.

And that nature of the clubhouse and how Cox treats his players - standing up for them, not lashing out at them through the media, and keeping with a guy who's 2 for his last 40 is what makes him a great manager and is what has made the Braves successful throughout the last nearly 20 years. It's also led to his ejections; if any player on the team gets tossed or even argues a call, you can bet Bobby will be making an early exit that day, its like clockwork.

 

Losing Division Series games in front of empty ballparks.

 

You can make all the jokes you want and criticize his World Series record, but you can't downplay his record. He will be a Hall of Fame manager and, in my experience covering baseball, I have heard of maybe 5 percent of his former players who didn't love him; 95 percent who did. Only one World Series is a bit of a negative, but I can think of a few managers who will wind up with zero. Cox is among the best for my money.

 

He'll be remembered as one of the most successsful managers of all time. 4th wiinningest all time.

And he'll be remembered both for winning 14 straight division titles and only turning one of those into a World Series win. Decades from now people will look back at the record book in astonishment wondering, almost not believing that a) a team could possibly win 14 straight divisions and b) at the same time lose in the playoffs 13 times.

 

The AJC did a story about 3-4 years ago on how the Coxes have repatched their relationship since that incident. They've got a big property northwest of Atlanta, and they raise their dogs and visit their kids and forget about baseball in the offseason. Bobby attributed the rise in his on-field ejections to having learned his lesson off the field then.

He said he used to let his anger boil over and take it home with him, which obviously he said he regrets. Now, he leaves it all out on the field, which is why he's getting ejected at a much higher rate in the last 10 years than he ever did in the 1980s or early 1990s.

He also said he has a lot of fun unleashing his venom on the umpires.

 

There was a story that right after the Coxes moved there -- the name of the town is Adairsville -- a couple of town leaders came knocking on their door with a proposition to sell them the town. Seriously. A la Kim Basinger/Braselton. Damn, people get really weird around celebrity.

 

I'll remember that, too, but as a whole, the man will be remembered for winning a hell of a lot of ballgames.

 

As for what I'll remember about Cox the most ... he has won with everybody.

Almost every player that he and Schuerholz brought in -- whether it was a Cy Young free agent like Greg Maddux or an NFL prima donna like Deion Sanders or clubhouse lawyers like J.D. Drew and Gary Sheffield or a down-on-his-luck veteran like John Burkett or wide-eyed hometown boys like Francoeur and McCann -- he made them feel comfortable and they played their best for him. There are very few exceptions (Marquis, Spooneybarger, Bret Boone, Kenny Lofton, Randall Simon, etc.)

The 1991 team didn't look anything like the 1993 team didn't look anything like the 1995 team didn't look anything like the 1997 team didn't look anything like the 2001 team didn't look anything like the 2004 team didn't look anything like the 2005 team.

In 14 years, his teams won division titles with:

4 different starting catchers (Olson, Berryhill, Lopez, Estrada)
7 different starting 1Bs (Bream, Hunter, McGriff, Galarraga, Franco, Fick, LaRoche)
5 different starting 2Bs (Lemke, Lockhart, Boone, Veras, Giles)
3 different starting 3Bs (Pendleton, C. Jones, Castilla)
4 different starting SSs (Belliard, Blauser, Weiss, Furcal)
8 different starting LFs (Gant, Klesko, G. Williams, R. Sanders, Surhoff, C. Jones, Thomas, Langerhans)
4 different starting CFs (Nixon, Grissom, Lofton, A. Jones)
7 different starting RFs (Justice, Dye, Tucker, B. Jordan, Sheffield, Drew, Francoeur)

Not to mention 9 different closers (Berenguer, Pena, Stanton, McMichael, Wohlers, Ligtenberg, Rocker, Smoltz, Reitsma)

Sure, it's easy to throw Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz every three days out of five. But it's no coincidence that he also helped coax a 20-win season from Denny Neagle and Russ Ortiz, and got the best years out of Steve Avery and Kevin Millwood and Jaret Wright and Kent Mercker and John Thomson and Damian Moss and Jorge Sosa and on and on ...

Only one player is left from the 1991 NL champs (Smoltz), only two left from the 1995 WS champs (Smoltz, C. Jones) and only three left from the start of the millennium (Smoltz, C. Jones, A. Jones). And still the Braves keep winning.

That's what I'll remember.

(... and we're not even mentioning that he won the AL East with Toronto or how he moved Dale Murphy from catcher to center field in 1980 ... )

 

I concur with the majority's opinion on Cox.

He has done a great job in getting his team to the playoffs especially with the changes of the roster year after year.