Baseball Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox dies at age 84

Bobby Cox (Anthony Hewitt, Wikimedia Commons)

Major League Baseball manager Bobby Cox of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 according to the Associated Press. Cox managed the Atlanta Braves for 25 seasons (from 1978 to 1981 and again from 1990 to 2010) and the Toronto Blue Jays for four seasons (1982 to 1986). He had a total record of 2504 wins and 2001 losses for a winning percentage of .556 in 4508 games.

Four times Cox was named Baseball’s Manager of the Year. He was honoured with the Blue Jays in 1985, the Braves in 1991, 2004 and 2005.

In addition to being the Braves’s manager, Cox was the Braves general manager. He held that position from 1986 to 1990. It is interesting that when Cox decided to take over as the Braves manager in 1990, Atlanta named John Schuerholz general manager, and Schuerholz has been the Braves general manager for the last 36 years.

Cox won one World Series as a manager. That came in 1995 as the Braves beat the Cleveland Indians in six games. This was the first World Series ever for the Atlanta Braves. They also won in 1914 as the Boston Braves and in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves.

While Cox managed the Braves, Atlanta was known for their great pitching staff. It included starters Tommy Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux.

As a player, Cox was a third baseman for two seasons with the New York Yankees from 1968 to 1969. He batted .225 with nine home runs and 58 runs batted in. During 220 games, 719 plate appearances and 628 at bats, Cox scored 50 runs and had 141 hits, two triples, three stolen bases, 75 walks, 194 total bases, three sacrifice bunts, seven sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .310, and a slugging percentage of .309.

The two triples came in Yankees wins. The first was in an 11-6 Yankees win over the Minnesota Twins on June 21, 1968, and the second was in a 10-9 Yankees win over the Baltimore Orioles on July 1, 1969.