As we move into the “modern era” of Atlanta Braves baseball, it’s time to pay tribute to the best manager this franchise has ever had.
In the first two installments of this look at the managers bringing World Series victories to the Atlanta Braves franchise, we have seen an innovator (George Stallings) and a motivator (Fred Haney).
Now we arrive at the “encourager”… Hall of Famer Bobby Cox.
In the 150 year history of the Atlanta Braves, most of their 47 managers (39 different names, several in the job twice) didn’t last in the job very long.
Even including Ted Turner in this list (and he wasn’t the only single-game field general), there were 17 managers who didn’t hold the job for more than a single season.
Among them include such names as Rogers Hornsby (1928) and Casey Stengel (1943… though he ran the club from 1938-42, there was a hiatus of 46 games in 1943 while he recovered from being hit by a car in Boston).
But this isn’t about those managers.
Bobby Cox was the manager of the Braves for a total of 25 years, divided into groups of 4 and 21. Taken separately, his club wins rank 1st and 12th among those running the Braves: 1,792 and 266.
Together, it’s 2058 victories for Cox, which dwarfs the second-place total for Frank Selee (1,004 wins), who ran the team from 1890 through 1901.
For now, Stallings ranks a distant third (579) until Brian Snitker (441) passes that total — probably at some point in the 2023 season.
Adding in Cox’s wins from 4 years in Toronto, he has 2,504 overall, which ranks 4th all-time in victories behind Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa, and John McGraw… and almost 200 ahead of Joe Torre.
Building the 1990’s Braves
When Bobby Cox returned to Atlanta for the 1986 season, he did so in the role of General Manager. That lasted until he handed off the keys to the Front Office to John Schuerholz between the 1990 and 1991 seasons, but not until he’d made his mark.
Among those he drafted and/or brought in to develop during that time: Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Ron Gant, David Justice, and Steve Avery. He led off his last draft by selecting Chipper Jones in 1990.
At that point (June 1990), Cox opted to return to the field and named himself the manager. Just sixteen months later, his team was in the World Series. They played an epic battle against the Twins, falling in the 10th inning of Game 7.
A return trip in 1992 fell short against Toronto. 1993 saw the Phillies beat out the Braves in 6 games for the National League pennant. 1994 had no World Series, though at the time of the strike, the Montreal Expos were threatening to dethrone the Braves.
Then came 1995.
The Atlanta Braves were loaded, and smoked the NL East clubs, winning 90 games and ahead of second-place New York and Philadelphia by twenty-one games each. Even 1994’s darlings — the Expos — finished last, 24 games out.
In the division series, the Braves drew the pesky Rockies, and took them down 3 games to 1, though it wasn’t easy:
- Game 1 required runs in the 8th and 9th to win 5-4
- Game 2 was won with a four-run 9th inning rally (7-4). 3 of these scored after 2 men were out.
- The Braves lost Game 3 in 10 innings, 7-5 after a 2-out, bottom-of-the-ninth tying run had been scored by home-standing Atlanta… Luis Polonia providing that RBI.
- Game 4? Atlanta finally blew out Colorado 10-4.
That brought up the Cincinnati Reds with league MVP Barry Larkin and their formidable pitching staff with the NL pennant on the line.
Game 1 was another nail-biter as the Braves scored in the 9th again to tie the game before winning it in 11 innings.
Game 2 also went to extra innings before the Braves blew out the Reds with a 10th inning run before Javy Lopez inserted the dagger with a 3-run homer.
After that, the Reds were no match for the Braves as Atlanta swept the series and prepared to host Cleveland in the World Series.
The series itself was probably a lot more closely matched than we remember it from the safety of 26 years distance.
While the Braves took both of the opening games at home, both were single-run victories with Cleveland getting late runs to set the final margins.
In Game 3, the Braves were down 4-1 at the midpoint before adding single tallies in the 6th and 7th innings before taking the lead with a 3-spot in the 8th.
Greg McMichael couldn’t hold that lead, and then Alejandro Pena could not retire a batter in the 11th as Cleveland won 7-6.
The Braves only need to win once in Ohio, though, and that came with a Game 4 bounce-back victory, 5-2. Another 3-run outburst secured that win in the 7th inning.
After a Game 5 loss (5-4, but Cleveland closer Jose Mesa was playing his own games in the 9th by challenging Ryan Klesko… Klesko won that battle, but the Braves lost the game), the scene was set for Tom Glavine’s epic night back in Atlanta: a 1-0 victory and a World Series title.
That was already Cox’s third World Series appearance with the Atlanta Braves. There would be two more — 1996 and 1999 — both ending in defeat at the hands of the Yankees, with 1996 really feeling like the one that got away.
While detractors might wish to harp on the single title over 14 division-winning seasons, it’s notable that the advent of both divisional baseball and then Wild Card entries certainly added to the complexity of playoff visits.
So while under Cox’s leadership, the Braves did win just one Series, Cox’s teams were often the victims of highly unusual moments over the years:
- 1991: The Lonnie Smith play and the Kent Hrbek leg lift of Ron Gant
- 1996: Jim Leyritz‘ home run (he only had 7 in the entire regular season). There was also a blown call in Game 6 as Marquis Grissom was called out at second base after a passed ball.
- 1997: The Eric Gregg game.
- 2010: Buster Posey was out.
- 2012: The infield fly rule game.
Bobby Cox
Bobby Cox was born in 1941 at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Originally a signee of the Dodgers, he was traded to the Yankees as a minor leaguer and finally made the majors at nearly 27 years of age.
As a minor leaguer from 1960-1971, Cox hit .275 and slugged 125 homers with a respectable .810 OPS overall.
His 1968 debut season was not as productive. He played 3rd base for the Yankees, but hit just .229 in 490 plate appearances with an OPS+ of 91 and 7 homers… not exactly what most teams are looking for out of a corner infielder.
His playing time dropped significantly in 1969: 229 PA while hitting just .215. That year ended his major league career, and his playing career didn’t last much longer, but Cox immediately started onto something he was clearly better suited for: managing.
From 1971-76, he ran minor league clubs in the Yankee organization, and every single year his teams ended with winning records — including 4 AAA seasons.
That got him a “call up” as the Braves hired him in 1978. Those years were difficult for Atlanta, and Cox managed to lead them above .500 just once (in 1980). They were better almost immediately afterward, and Cox did receive credit for that, but he was off to Toronto in the meantime.
His Blue Jays teams fared better. In 1982, they began 78-84, but improved in successive years, finishing 99-62 in 1985, falling to the Champion Royals in 7 games.
After his front office stint in Atlanta, he returned to the dugout in the midst of the 1990 season, and his dynasty started the next season, finishing below .500 only in 2006 and 2008 once the run began in 1991.
Bobby Cox was named manager of the year a total of 5 times, including both AL and NL awards and a rare consecutive years nod for the 2004-2005 seasons.
One of the better-known stats about Cox is his never-to-be-matched ejections record: 158. After Jeff Francoeur‘s only game ejection ever, Cox told him how he typically handled the situation: he just wrote $10,000 checks to MLB and asked them to let him know whenever that money ran out for his ejection fines so he could send the next one.
Cox has made few public appearances since his 2019 stroke, but remains a beloved figurehead of the Braves’ run of success from 1990-2010. He is certainly the manager that most of this generation’s fans remember best.