Hall of Fame manager and legendary Atlanta Braves icon Bobby Cox died at the age of 84, the team announced Saturday.
Cox’s 2,504 victories as a manager for the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays rank fourth in major league history and include an extensive list of accomplishments for his teams, including 15 division titles, five pennants and one World Series championship in 1995.
“We are overcome with emotion on the passing of Bobby Cox, our treasured skipper. Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform,” the Braves said in a statement. “His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched.”
Born on May 21, 1941, in Tulsa, Okla., Cox moved at age 3 to Central California, where he was signed out of Selma High School as an infielder in 1959 by legendary Los Angeles Dodgers scout Red Adams.
After almost a decade playing in the minors for the Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Braves, Cox had a relatively brief playing career. His first major league season with the New York Yankees in 1968 overlapped with Mickey Mantle’s last. Cox hit nine home runs and had a .619 OPS over the next two seasons (220 games) with the Yankees.
New York general manager Lee MacPhail then offered him the managerial position at the Yankees’ Class A team in Ft. Lauderdale, where Cox spent the next six seasons before being added to Billy Martin’s coaching staff in the major leagues as the first-base coach for the team that ultimately won the 1977 World Series.
The following year, former Braves owner Ted Turner gave Cox his first big league managerial job, where he compiled a 266-323-1 record during rebuilding years before Turner famously fired him in 1981 by saying of his successor, “It would be Bobby Cox — if I hadn’t just fired him. We need someone like him around here.”
Cox stayed in the managerial game, spending the next four seasons at the helm of the Toronto Blue Jays, guiding them to their first division title in 1985.
At the time of his firing, Turner called Cox a “terrific manager and a terrific person,” making it no surprise when he hired Cox back into the Braves organization in 1986, this time as the general manager. Though he’d never previously held a front-office job, Cox used the next four years to develop, trade and pick the likes of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery and Chipper Jones, who he took with the first pick of the 1990 MLB Draft.
Cox transitioned back into the manager position midway through the 1990 campaign and was on the bench full-time the following year when the Braves began a run of 14 consecutive division titles. Cox’s teams won five National League pennants in the decade that saw them bring Atlanta its first professional sports championship with the 1995 World Series title.
Cox served as a top advisor within Atlanta’s front office after retiring as manager after the 2010 season when the Braves were the NL’s wild-card entry.
Cox managed a total of 29 seasons, compiling a 2,504-2001 record (.566 winning percentage) and earning manager-of-the-year honors four times.
“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 — enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame,” the Braves said.
As much respect as he gained around the league, he also holds the record for most ejections in league history with 158 in the regular season and an additional three in the postseason, many of them extended and colorful.
“And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family,” the Braves continued. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren.”
