Bobby Cox, legendary Atlanta Braves skipper, dies at 84

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Bobby Cox, the baseball manager who led the Atlanta Braves to 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants and one World Series championship, has died at 84, the team announced on Saturday.

“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him,” the team’s statement said. “... And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family.”

Robert Joe Cox was born May 21, 1941 in Tulsa, Okla. According to his Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame bio, Cox graduated from Selma High School in California’s San Joaquin Valley before signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1959.

As a minor leaguer splitting between second and third base, Cox spent five seasons in the Dodgers’ farm system before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1964. After being traded to the Braves in April 1966, Cox was acquired by the New York Yankees after the 1967 season, where he made his big league debut in 1968.

Cox played as a third baseman for the Bronx Bombers for two seasons (1968-1969) before bad knees forced his retirement.

At age 30, Cox began his managerial career in the Yankees’ farm system with Fort Lauderdale of the Florida State League in 1971.

After a season with West Haven in the Eastern League, he skippered Syracuse for four seasons, winning the International League’s Governor’s Cup in 1976 before serving as the Yankees’ first base coach in their championship season of 1977.

After 10 years with the Yankees as a player, a minor league manager and a big league coach, Cox became Atlanta’s eighth manager in 12 years in December 1977. Cox was 36 when Braves owner Ted Turner signed him to skipper his team, and was the youngest manager in the National League.

Cox’s first stint managing the Braves ran from 1978 to 1981, a 266-323 record. Cox then headed to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he spent the next four years and, in 1985, leading the franchise to 99 wins and to within one game of a World Series title.

Cox returned to Atlanta as general manager in October 1985. When John Schuerholz was signed from the Kansas City Royals to become the new Braves general manager, Cox returned to the dugout where he would achieve his greatest professional baseball success.

In 1990, the Braves finished last in the National League West. The next year, with Cox as manager, the Braves captured Atlanta’s heart and soul by winning the division, the first of 14 straight division titles.

They also made the World Series in 1991, the first of five such appearances under Cox’s helm: 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999. In 1995, the Braves won the World Series in six games against the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians). It was Atlanta’s first professional sports world championship.

Cox retired from managing after the 2010 season. He spent 29 seasons as a big league skipper; his 2,504 wins rank fourth all-time and include a franchise-best 2,149 victories with the Braves.

Cox was voted Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America four times (1985 with Toronto and 1991, 2004 and 2005 with Atlanta), Cox was also honored by the Sporting News, in a poll of his peers, as the league’s top skipper eight times. His big-league record of 162 ejections likely will never be broken.

Cox was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014.

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