Bobby Cox

For other people named Robert Cox, see Robert Cox (disambiguation).

Bobby Cox
Atlanta Braves – No. 6
Third baseman / Manager / GM
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
April 14, 1968, for the New York Yankees
Last appearance
October 1, 1969, for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Batting average	.225
Home runs	9
Runs batted in	58
Teams
As Player New York Yankees (1968–1969) As General Manager Atlanta Braves (1986–1990) As Manager Atlanta Braves (1978–1981) Toronto Blue Jays (1982–1985) Atlanta Braves (1990–present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1995) 1985 AL Manager of the Year 3x NL Manager of the Year (1991, 2004, 2005)

Robert Joseph "Bobby" Cox (born May 21, 1941 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is the manager of the Atlanta Braves, and a former third baseman in Major League Baseball. He first led the Braves from 1978 to 1981, and then managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985. He later rejoined the Braves in 1985 as a general manager. He moved back to the manager's role during the 1990 season; as of 2010, Cox is the manager with the longest current tenure in Major League Baseball. He plans to retire at the end of the 2010 season. He led the Atlanta Braves to the World Series championship in 1995. He holds the all-time record for ejections in Major League Baseball with 154, a record previously held by John McGraw.

He ranks 4th on the Baseball All-time Managerial Wins list.

Playing career

As a player, Cox originally signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was never able to make the Dodgers' major league team. Eventually he was acquired by the Braves, but never appeared in an MLB game for them either. Instead, he was traded to the New York Yankees on December 7, 1967. Cox played two seasons, mostly at third base, for the Yankees. Because of bad knees, Cox became the second in a string of four stopgap players between Clete Boyer and Graig Nettles. He played with fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle during Mantle's final season in 1968 and with Thurman Munson during his debut season in 1969.

Managerial career

New York Yankees farm system

Cox began his managerial career in the Yankees farm system in 1971. In 1976, he led the Syracuse Chiefs to the Governor's Cup title. This team featured such future major leaguers as Ron Guidry, Mickey Klutts, Terry Whitfield and Juan Bernhardt. Overall, Cox had a highly successful six-year tenure as a minor league manager, compiling a record of 459 wins and 387 defeats (.543) with two league championships. He then spent the 1977 season as the first base coach on Billy Martin's staff with the World Series-winning Yankees before beginning his MLB managerial career.

Atlanta Braves (1978–1981)

Cox replaced Dave Bristol as the manager of the Atlanta Braves prior to the 1978 season, inheriting a team that had finished last in the league during the previous two seasons and had compiled a worse record than the two expansion teams, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners, in 1977. Building from the ground up, the Braves finished last in both 1978 and 1979. Entering 1980, Cox made one of the unusual moves for which he is known, moving power-hitting first baseman-catcher Dale Murphy, who had developed a throwing block as a catcher that hindered his ability to play, to center field. Murphy later won two National League Most Valuable Player Awards and five Gold Gloves, and became one of the premier players of the 1980s. In 1980, the Braves finished fourth with their first record above .500 since 1972. However, Cox was undone by the 1981 baseball strike when the Braves finished fifth and owner Ted Turner fired him. Asked at a press conference who was on his short list for manager, Turner replied, "It would be Bobby Cox if I hadn't just fired him. We need someone like him around here." The Braves won the National League West division title in 1982 and finished second in both 1983 and 1984 under Cox's successor Joe Torre.

Toronto Blue Jays

Cox joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982, who steadily improved over the four years of his management. In 1985, Cox's fourth season with the club, the Blue Jays finished in first place in the American League East. That season, the American League Championship Series was expanded to a best-of-seven format after sixteen seasons of a best-of-five format. This change ultimately made the difference when Cox's Blue Jays became only the fifth team to lose a playoff series after leading 3 games to 1 to the Kansas City Royals.

Atlanta Braves (1986–present)

General Manager

After the Blue Jays' elimination, Cox returned to the Braves as general manager. After going through two managers over the course of less than five years with disastrous results in attendance and outlook, Cox fired Russ Nixon in June 1990, and appointed himself as the manager. Cox had spent the prior four seasons accumulating talented players, including Ron Gant, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, Pete Smith, and David Justice. He was also responsible for drafting Chipper Jones with the first overall pick in the 1990 draft.

1991

In 1991, the Braves, along with the Minnesota Twins, became the first team to go from last place in one season to first place the next. The two teams met in the 1991 World Series. Although the Braves lost, they continued to win division titles for a total of fourteen consecutive seasons. Cox's 15 division titles is a Major League record for a manager. On five separate occasions, the Braves have won the National League pennant and played in the World Series, including four in a six-season stretch (1991, 1992, 1995, and 1996).

1992–1993

In 1992, Cox's Braves held a 3–1 lead in the National League Championship Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates before losing games 5 and 6, although they did win Game 7 on Francisco Cabrera's ninth-inning, two-out, pinch-hit, two-run single. In 1993, the Braves had the best record in baseball after a pennant race where the Braves overcame a ten-game deficit in August to beat the San Francisco Giants by going 51–17 over the last two and a half months of the season to win the division by one game. However, they lost the National League Championship Series in six games to the Philadelphia Phillies.

1995–1996

In 1995, the Atlanta Braves won Cox's only World Series championship to date over the Cleveland Indians. In 1996, the Braves again won the division title. After sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series, the Braves' pitching fell behind the St. Louis Cardinals, three games to one in the 1996. Facing elimination, the Braves offense outscored the Cardinals 33–1 over the final three games and won the pennant. Cox became the only manager in history to lose a series leading three games to one and win a series trailing three games to one. The scoring continued into the first two games against the New York Yankees as the Braves took a two games to none lead by winning with scores of 12–1 and 4–0 in the World Series. In game four, the Braves led 6–0 in the fourth inning, but the Yankees came from behind. Jim Leyritz homered to tie the game, and the Yankees tied the series with a win in eleven innings, 8–6, before going on to win the series.

1997–2001

The Braves lost to the Florida Marlins in the 1997 NLCS and the San Diego Padres in the 1998 NLCS. The Braves made it back to the World Series in 1999, but lost to the defending World Series Champion New York Yankees in four straight games. Cox's 2001 team won the division title and upset the favored Houston Astros in three straight games in the division series. However, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Braves in five games in the NLCS.

2002–present

Cox's Braves have not advanced past the first round each of the last four seasons in which they made the playoffs. In 2002, the Braves won over 100 games and led the wild card San Francisco Giants two games to one before dropping the last two. In 2003, the Braves pushed the Chicago Cubs to the fifth game before falling. The following year, the Braves lost in the best-of-five Division Series for the third straight year. In 2005, the Braves lost to the Houston Astros, with the finale taking eighteen innings to decide in the 2005 NLDS. On September 23, 2009, Cox signed a one year contract extension through 2010, and on the same day announced that 2010 will be his final year as manager. He also announced that he agreed to stay on as an advisor for team baseball operations for the next five years after he retires.

Accomplishments

Cox has been named Manager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, 2004, and 2005) and is one of only four managers to have won the award in both the American and National League. He is also the only person to have won the award in consecutive years. Cox has also been named Manager of the Year by The Sporting News eight times (1985, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005).

On May 12, 2007, Cox passed Sparky Anderson to become the fourth-winningest manager in major league history, with a record of 2,195 wins and 1,698 losses. He led the Braves to a division title every season from 1991 to 2005, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season; the Braves have competed in the National League East since 1994 and competed in the National League West prior to that. He won a World Series Championship in 1995. In 2001, he took sole possession of first place for most wins as a manager in Braves history. Cox's .561 winning percentage is fourteenth in all-time among managers with at least 1,000 games managed, and is the second highest among those who managed the majority of their career after the creation of divisions within each league in 1969. On June 8, 2009, Cox won his 2,000th game with the Atlanta Braves, becoming only the fourth manager in Major League history to accomplish that feat with one team.

Bobby Cox following an ejection from a game in September 2009.

On September 3, 2008, Cox was ejected for the 143rd time in his Major League coaching career during the fifth inning of a Braves game against the Florida Marlins; he currently holds the all-time record for most ejections (set on August 14, 2007 with his 132nd), previously held by John McGraw. Unlike McGraw, Cox does not have a reputation for having a fiery temper and Cox generally only gets ejected to prevent his players from being ejected. Cox is also the only person among all players and managers to be ejected from two World Series games (1992 and 1996). He was ejected in the ninth inning of game three of the 1992 World Series for throwing a batting helmet onto the field at the Skydome. Cox was trying to slam the helmet against the lip of the dugout and missed, throwing it onto the field. Cox was tossed again in the final game of the 1996 World Series after protesting an out call of Marquis Grissom attempting to take second base on a passed ball. Although video replays appeared to show Grissom as safe, umpire Terry Tata called him out, and Cox was tossed in an ensuing argument.

Personal life

In May 1995, police were called to the home of Bobby and Pamela Cox in northwest Atlanta, Georgia. Pamela Cox told the police that her husband struck her. Bobby Cox was charged under Georgia's Domestic Violence Act with simple battery. He was accused of punching his wife and pulling her hair. In a court settlement, Pamela Cox was instructed by the judge to attend a battered women's program and Bobby Cox was told to complete violence counseling and an alcohol evaluation. The criminal charges against Bobby Cox were dismissed, and he was not punished by Major League Baseball or the Atlanta Braves for the incident.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2006
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008
• All Time Winning Managers

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• Bobby Cox managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com