Former Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox Dies at 84

A tough week for the Atlanta Braves, and Atlanta residents as a whole, hit another level on Saturday. Three days after the death of former team owner Ted Turner, former manager Bobby Cox, arguably Turner’s most important hire in running the Braves, died at 84 years old.

Cox managed the Braves for 25 years over two stints, part of his overall managerial career, which lasted 29 years. He won the 1995 World Series with Atlanta, was a four-time Manager of the Year, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Braves released a statement on Saturday paying tribute to the face of their franchise for a quarter-century.

“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.

“And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren.”

Cox owns or shares a number of Major League Baseball managerial records, including the most postseason appearances (16), the most 100-win seasons (six), the most Manager of the Year awards (four), and the most consecutive divisional titles (14).

Additionally, his nearly three decades as a skipper enabled him to set a couple of undesirable MLB records. Cox’s 69 postseason losses are the most all-time, while the notoriously short-tempered Cox also got the heave-ho a record number of times. He was ejected 162 times, which is 41 more than any other manager.

Cox’s second tenure with the Braves, which was from 1990 to 2010, is when he established himself as a Hall of Famer. Atlanta won five National League pennants under his stewardship including advancing to the World Series four out of five times from 1991–96. The crowning achievement came during the 1995 MLB season, which began with a strike that carried over from 1994 but ended with the Braves winning the World Series.

It was the fourth World Series in franchise history and the first since 1957. However, it was the first Atlanta Braves’ victory in the Fall Classic, as the three prior franchise World Series wins all came before the team moved to Atlanta.

Cox was known for his exceptional handling of Atlanta’s famed pitching staff during the 1990s, featuring the Hall of Fame trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. However, only Maddux was an established player before playing under Cox, as the manager got the best out of Glavine and Smoltz.

Glavine led the NL in losses in 1988 (17) and had a 26–33 career record before Cox came into the fold. But in the skipper’s first full season on the job in 1991, he helped Glavine go 20–11 and win his first of two NL Cy Young awards. For Smoltz, he was a lightly regarded 22nd-round draft pick in 1985. He also had a losing record (18–24) prior to Cox’s arrival but would soon become a Cy Young winner himself, claiming the award in 1996.

In total, Cox led Braves pitchers to six National League Cy Young awards, with three by Maddux, two by Glavine, and one by Smoltz.

Cox’s handling of a pitching staff somewhat overshadows what he did with his batters. Cox served as the Braves’ general manager from 1986-90, and it was during the 1990 MLB Draft that Atlanta held the first overall pick. Cox selected Chipper Jones first overall, and he didn’t make Cox regret the decision. Jones became one of the faces of baseball during the 1990s and 2000s, was an eight-time All-Star, and won the 1999 NL MVP award.

Another Jones, Andruw Jones, went a different route: he wasn’t drafted and instead signed with the Braves as a 16-year-old free agent in 1993. He made his debut with the Big League club under Cox in 1996, would go on to become a 10-time Gold Glove winner, and clubbed 434 career home runs.

Both Chipper and Andruw Jones, as well as Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, are all enshrined alongside Cox in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In addition to his 21-year run managing the Braves from 1990–2010, Cox also managed the team from 1978–81. In between those two Atlanta stints, Cox took his talents north of the border and managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982–85. For his career, he finished with a record of 2,504–2,001–3 (.556 W-L%). He currently ranks fourth all-time in manager wins and fifth in games managed (4,508). Cox’s 67 postseason wins are fourth-most, while his 136 playoff games trail only Joe Torre’s 142.

An often-forgotten part of Cox’s career was his short stint as an MLB player. He suited up for the New York Yankees for two seasons (1968–69) and spent another 10 seasons in the minor leagues. It was in 1971 that both Cox’s playing career ended and coaching career began as he performed both roles with the Fort Lauderdale Yankees.