Bobby Cox, the Hall of Fame manager who steered the Atlanta Braves through one of the most sustained runs of success in modern baseball, has died. He was 84. Cox managed the Braves for a quarter-century, winning 14 straight division titles beginning in 1991, five National League pennants, and a World Series championship in 1995. In a statement issued Saturday, the club called him "the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform," CBS Sports reports, and said his managerial legacy with the organization "will never be matched."
A former infielder who played parts of two seasons for the New York Yankees in 1968 and 1969, Cox began managing the Braves in 1978, then led the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985, taking them to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in 1985. He returned to Atlanta during the 1990 season and oversaw the club's rise into a perennial contender, managing future Hall of Famers including Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones, along with stars such as Andruw Jones, Kenny Lofton, and David Justice. Only Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Tony La Russa had more regular-season wins than Cox, per the AP. Cox had a reputation for defending his players, and his 158 regular-season ejections was the most among managers.
Cox was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the same ceremony in 2014 as rivals Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, per MLB.com, as well as his former players Maddux and Smoltz. He won four manager of the year awards. The Braves retired Cox's No. 6 in 2011, when he entered the team's Hall of Fame. "He is the Atlanta Braves," catcher Brian McCann said in 2019.
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