Atlanta Braves GM
Cox took the reins of a team that started slipping after Torre’s departure and knew his priorities were pitching and defense. Dan Schlossberg quoted Cox’s brutal assessment in his book When the Braves Ruled the Diamond (New York: Sports Publishing, 2016.)
"“In order to have great pitching, you’ve got to have great defense. We just didn’t. … our defense was horrendous, not good at all.”"
Cox and Paul Snyder created a plan based on drafting and player development. He leaned heavily on his scouts and signed the players they recommended.
". . . We spent all of our money drafting players. We didn’t want to lose anybody. If a scout wanted somebody, we signed them. That really got the foundation going and all that had to do with Paul Snyder, our scouting director . . . YouTube Hall of Fame interview, 7:25- 7:56"
The Braves were improving each year, but the GM thought a new manager might improve the team’s chances, so 65 games into the 1990 season, Cox fired Russ Nixon and hired himself. The Braves finished last after Cox took charge in 1990, a place the club never visited again while he was in charge.
Streak Trivia
The story of the Atlanta Braves streak is well documented by better writers and videos available free online, but a few less publicized things are worthy of note because they relate to Cox as a manager.
- During the streak, the Atlanta Braves had one manager, the other 29 teams had 149. Cox managed 272 different players, including 144 pitchers.
- The only player with the organization from start to finish was John Smoltz. Javy Lopez was there for the final 13 seasons.
- The only player with the organization from start to finish was John Smoltz. Javy Lopez was there for the final 13 seasons.
- The Braves played 2362 regular season games during the streak, Mark Lemke’s 906 ranks fourth on the list of players involved, behind Chipper, Andruw Jones, and Lopez.
- 144 pitchers appeared, only five started 160 or more games, Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, and Millwood.