RIP Bobby Cox

[2muchcoffeeman]

Greatest manager in Braves history. Certainly in the top 20 all time.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48722612/bobby-cox-long-braves-manager-world-series-champ-dies

 

[part-timer]

Already ejected for arguing with St. Peter.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Also the Blue Jays manager during the George Bell-Jesse Barfield days

 

[garrow]

And first base coach with the legendary '77 Yankees.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

And first base coach with the legendary '77 Yankees.

Hit .225 in parts of two seasons as the Yankees third baseman

 

[Spartan Squad]

Boy that’s a shot right to some childhood baseball memories. Great coach and great to watch him get fired up.

RIP

 

[tapintoamerica]

Definitely the sort of manager we'll never see again in the era of replay. There's nothing to argue anymore. Which is a good thing. But I still miss the show sometimes.

 

[dixiehack]

Strictly through being in the room where a friend had the Braves game on and not even really paying attention, I probably managed to be around for a dozen or more of his ejections.

Now of course you can’t even find the Braves game and that ubiquitous presence they had across the South has been shattered and won’t be recovered. An entire generation has no memory of the TBS days now.

 

[UNCGrad]

Dave O'Brien's obit of Bobby on The Athletic is a good one.

One fun stat: Cox was ejected 162 times. What a perfect number.

Bobby Cox, Hall of Fame Braves manager, dies at 84

 

[Sea Bass]

Also the Blue Jays manager during the George Bell-Jesse Barfield days

Coincidentally I stumbled across this the other day. I don’t remember it (I’d have been 11 years old max) but it’s perfect 80’s-era culture.

 

[Sea Bass]

Also the Blue Jays manager during the George Bell-Jesse Barfield days

Still has the record for wins in a season by a Blue Jays manager (99, in a 161-game season).

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Guess we don't have to RUN THE OTHER WAY anymore when the Braves dangle a pitcher as trade bait.

 

[Driftwood]

I say this as a Braves and Bobby Cox fan:
He did less with more than any manger in history.

First Turner, now Bobby, Joe Torre better watch himself.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Guess we don't have to RUN THE OTHER WAY anymore when the Braves dangle a pitcher as trade bait.

No, now you do that when the Rays dangle a pitcher.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I say this as a Braves and Bobby Cox fan:
He did less with more than any manger in history.

First Turner, now Bobby, Joe Torre better watch himself.

I used to think he was overrated b/c of the lack of titles, but I've done a 180. The playoffs are a crapshoot, regardless of format. Amongst managers who spent most or all of their career in the divisional era, only Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone, Davey Johnson and Earl Weaver have a higher winning percentage than Cox (.556). Roberts and Boone are managing superteams while Johnson and Weaver won as many titles as Cox...who managed almost as many games by himself (4,508) as Johnson and Weaver did combined (4,986). You can only do so much about the playoffs. Nobdoy in history has ever done more to get his teams there--in two different formats to boot.

 

[Driftwood]

I used to think he was overrated b/c of the lack of titles, but I've done a 180. The playoffs are a crapshoot, regardless of format. Amongst managers who spent most or all of their career in the divisional era, only Dave Roberts, Aaron Boone, Davey Johnson and Earl Weaver have a higher winning percentage than Cox (.556). Roberts and Boone are managing superteams while Johnson and Weaver won as many titles as Cox...who managed almost as many games by himself (4,508) as Johnson and Weaver did combined (4,986). You can only do so much about the playoffs. Nobdoy in history has ever done more to get his teams there--in two different formats to boot.

Still, 14 divisional titles and 1-4 in WS. I don't know that I lay any of that at Bobby's feet for managerial decisions, but it doesn't change the fact that those teams should have more than one WS to show for it.

 

[wicked]

In case everyone forgot:

https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/09/sports/on-baseball-reality-again-intrudes-on-men-and-games.html

It's not like "different times" meant this was OK back then. That was around the time Wil Cordero got released by the Red Sox after being the crap out of his wife with a telephone.

Great manager. Undoubtedly. I don't know enough to say he was a horrible guy, but that incident looks really bad.

 

[MarkWatney]

Cox is being widely mentioned today as the all-time leader in managerial ejections, but I gotta suspect that some of the real old-timers such as John McGraw and later Leo Durocher probably had some more, but they weren't counted as official stats until the 70s, I believe.

 

[MileHigh]

Great from April to September. A disaster in October.