Sunday, 22 December 2024

Bobby Cox

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Baseball
Statistics: 2 World Series Championships (1995) (1977 as a First Base Coach)
4 AP Manager of the Year Awards (1985, 1991, 2004 & 2005)
2,504-2,001 Record
Number Retired by the Atlanta Braves
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Bobby Cox made it to the Majors briefly with the New York Yankees as an infielder, but he quickly went into coaching, a vocation he was meant for.

Cox was the first base coach for the Yankees in their 1977 World Series win, and he signed with the Atlanta Braves as their skipper the tear after. The Braves did not have the best talent, but Cox did the best he could. He was let go by the tempestuous Ted Turner after the 1981 season, who actually said the right guy for the job would be Bobby Cox, “but I just fired him.”

Cox went to the Toronto Blue Jays and took them from the basement to their first playoff appearance in 1985 and winning his first Manager of the Year Award. Atlanta came calling back, and Cox took the general manager role in 1986, before returning as their manager in 1990, in a dual-role. Cox was in this capacity for the next 20 seasons, and the Braves were a perennial threat to win the World Series.

Cox had 18 winning seasons in this second run and five pennants. Atlanta only won the World Series once, but Cox put his team in contention over and over, and weren't his constant ejections entertaining?

We are proud to nominate Bobby Cox for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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