Bobby Cox
Cox with the Braves in 2009
Third baseman /Manager
Born: (1941-05-21)May 21, 1941 (age 84) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 14, 1968, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1969, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Batting average	.225
Home runs	9
Runs batted in	58
Managerial record	2,504–2,001
Winning %	.556
Stats atBaseball Reference
Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
As player New York Yankees (1968–1969) As manager Atlanta Braves (1978–1981) Toronto Blue Jays (1982–1985) Atlanta Braves (1990–2010) As coach New York Yankees (1977)
Career highlights and awards
2×World Series champion (1977,1995) 4×Manager of the Year (1985, 1991, 2004, 2005) Atlanta Braves No. 6 retired Braves Hall of Fame
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2014
Vote	100%
Election method	Expansion Era Committee

Robert Joe Cox (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professionalbaseballthird baseman andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for theNew York Yankees and managed theAtlanta Braves andToronto Blue Jays. He is a member of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame. He recorded a 100-win season six times, a record matched only byJoe McCarthy.

Cox first managed the Braves from 1978 to 1981, and then managed the Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985. He rejoined the Braves in 1986 as ageneral manager. He moved back to the manager's role during the 1990 season and stayed there until his retirement following the 2010 season. Cox led the Atlanta Braves to theWorld Series championship in1995. The Braves have since retired No. 6 in his honor. Cox holds the all-time record for ejections in MLB with 158 (plus an additional three post-season ejections^[1]), a record previously held byJohn McGraw.^[2] He also leads the league in playoff appearances as manager with sixteen, and he was the first sinceCasey Stengel to have qualified for the postseason ten times (four managers have since followed him). He became the first manager to exceed three consecutive appearances in the League Championship Series, doing so by qualifying for theNational League Championship Series from 1991 to 1999 (excluding 1994, which had no NLCS).^[3]

As a player, Cox originally signed with theLos Angeles Dodgers, but was never able to make the Dodgers' major league team. Eventually he was acquired by the Braves, but never appeared in an MLB game for them either. Instead, he was traded to theNew York Yankees on December 7, 1967. Cox played two seasons, mostly atthird base, for the Yankees.

Prior to managing in the States, Cox played from 1967 to 1970 for theCardenales de Lara andLeones del Caracas clubs of theVenezuelan Winter League.^[4] He later managed the Cardenales during three consecutive seasons from 1974–75 through 1976–77.^[5] In between, he coached and managed in the Yankees minor league system.

Cox began his managerial career in the Yankeesfarm system in 1971. In 1976, he led theSyracuse Chiefs to theInternational League'sGovernors' Cup title. This team featured such future major leaguers asRon Guidry,Mickey Klutts,Terry Whitfield andJuan Bernhardt. Overall, Cox had a highly successful six-year tenure as a minor league manager, compiling a record of 459 wins and 387 defeats (.543) with two league championships. He then spent the1977 season as thefirst base coach onBilly Martin's staff with theWorld Series–winning Yankees before beginning his MLB managerial career.

Cox replacedDave Bristol as the manager of the Atlanta Braves prior to the 1978 season, inheriting a team that had finished last in theNational LeagueWest during the previous two seasons and, in 1977, compiled a worse record than the first-yearSeattle Mariners of theAmerican League. Building from the ground up, the Braves finished last in both1978 and1979. Entering1980, Cox made one of the unusual moves for which he is known, moving power-hittingfirst baseman–catcherDale Murphy, who had developed a throwing block as a catcher that hindered his ability to play, to center field. Murphy later won twoNational League Most Valuable Player Awards and fiveGold Gloves, and became one of the premier players of the 1980s.^[6] In 1980, the Braves finished fourth with their first record above .500 since 1974. However, Cox was undone by the1981 baseball strike when the Braves finished fourth in the first half and fifth in the second. After the season, ownerTed Turner fired him. Asked at a press conference who was on his short list for manager, Turner replied, "It would be Bobby Cox if I hadn't just fired him. We need someone like him around here." The Braves won theNational League West division title in 1982 and finished second in both1983 and1984 under Cox's successorJoe Torre. Cox finished with a record of 266 wins and 323 losses in the regular season.^[7]

Cox joined the Toronto Blue Jays in1982, who steadily improved over the four years of his management.Cito Gaston was brought in as a coach for the team because of Cox, and Gaston would be named manager of the Jays years later. In1983, Cox led the Blue Jays to the first winning record in franchise history. In 1985, Cox'sfourth season with the club, the Blue Jays finished in first place in theAmerican League East, the franchise's first division title m. That season, theAmerican League Championship Series was expanded to a best-of-seven format after 16 seasons of a best-of-five format. This change ultimately made the difference when Cox's Blue Jays became only the fifth team to lose a playoff series after leading three games to one to theKansas City Royals, with the decision byDick Howser to counter Cox's platooning by starting a right-handed pitcher before going with left-handed relievers in the middle innings proving key.^[7][8]

After the 1985 season, the Braves asked for permission to ask him about their general manager position, which Toronto allowed despite nearly signing Cox for the next season. While he didn't think he would be going, he ultimately came to accept their idea. On October 22, 1985, Cox left to return to Atlanta as general manager; he stated that a key reason was to be closer to his family, who had continued to live in suburbanMarietta, Georgia. Cox and incoming managerChuck Tanner both received five-year contracts from Turner. Cox finished his stint as Jays manager with a record of 355 wins and 292 losses for his regular season record. Cox was replaced in Toronto byJimy Williams.^[7][9][8]

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After going through two managers over the course of less than five years with disastrous results in attendance and performance, Cox firedRuss Nixon in June 1990 and named himself field manager. Cox had spent the prior four seasons accumulating talented players, includingTom Glavine,Steve Avery,John Smoltz,Ron Gant, andDavid Justice. He was also responsible for draftingChipper Jones with the first overall pick in the 1990 draft.^[10] After the 1990 season, he handed the general manager's post toKansas City Royals general managerJohn Schuerholz.

In 1991, theBraves, along with theMinnesota Twins, became the first teams to go from last place to first place from one year to the next. The two teams met in the1991 World Series, which the Twins won in seven games. It was the second World Series in which the home team won every game. The first was in 1987 when the Twins defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

In 1992, Cox's Braves held a 3–1 lead in theNational League Championship Series against thePittsburgh Pirates before losing Games 5 and 6, although they did win Game 7 onFrancisco Cabrera's ninth-inning, two-out, pinch-hit, two-run single. They went on to lose the World Series to the Blue Jays, his former club. In 1993, the Braves had the best record in baseball after a pennant race where they overcame a 10-game deficit in August to beat theSan Francisco Giants. By going 51–17 over the last two and a half months of the season, they won the division by a game. However, they lost theNational League Championship Series in six games to thePhiladelphia Phillies.

In 1995, theAtlanta Braves won Cox's onlyWorld Series championship as a manager, over theCleveland Indians. Their division title in 1995 marked the first time since 1989 that neitherPennsylvania team won theNational League East.

In May 1995, Cox was arrested on simple battery charge after his wife called police and alleged Cox struck her. She retracted the statement the following day, and the charges were dropped after the couple attended court-ordered counseling.^[11]

In 1996, theBraves again won the division title. After sweeping theLos Angeles Dodgers in thedivision series, the Braves fell behind theSt. Louis Cardinals, three games to one in the1996 National League Championship Series. Facing elimination, the Braves offense outscored the Cardinals 33–1 over the final three games and won the pennant. Cox became the only manager in history to lose a series leading three games to one and win a series trailing three games to one.^[12] The scoring continued into the first two games against theNew York Yankees as the Braves took a two games to none lead by winning with scores of 12–1 and 4–0 in theWorld Series. In game four, the Braves led 6–0 in the fourth inning, but the Yankees came from behind.Jim Leyritz homered to tie the game, and the Yankees tied the series with a win in 11 innings, 8–6. The Yankees would ultimately win in six games. Cox was ejected in Game 6; he was the most recent person to be ejected in a World Series game untilDave Martinez in 2019 in Game 6 against the Houston Astros.

The Braves lost to theFlorida Marlins in the1997 NLCS and theSan Diego Padres in the1998 NLCS. TheBraves made it back to the World Series in1999, but lost to the defending World Series ChampionNew York Yankees in four straight games. Cox's2001 team won the division title and upset the favoredHouston Astros in three straight games in thedivision series. However, theArizona Diamondbacks defeated the Braves in five games in theNLCS.

One of Cox's memorable games as manager of the Braves during this period came on September 21, 2001, when they playedrivalNew York Mets in the first major professional sporting event played in New York City since the9/11 attacks.

In 2001, he tied a record held by John McGraw,Bill Dahlen andPaul Richards by being ejected from eleven games in a single season.^[13]

Cox's Braves did not advance past the first round of the playoffs in any of their last five appearances. In 2002, the Braves won 101 games and led thewild cardSan Francisco Giants 2 games to 1 before dropping the last two. In 2003, theBraves pushed theChicago Cubs to the fifth game before falling. Thefollowing year, theBraves lost in the best-of-fiveDivision Series for the third straight year. In 2005, theBraves lost to theHouston Astros, with the finale taking 18 innings to decide in the2005 NLDS. On September 23, 2009, Cox signed a one-year contract extension through 2010, and on the same day announced that 2010 would be his final year as manager. He also announced that he agreed to stay on as an advisor for team baseball operations for the next five years after he retires. On October 2, 2010, the Atlanta Braves honored Bobby Cox at Turner Field in a sold-out game. On October 3, 2010, Cox led the Braves to an 8–7 win over the Phillies and clinched both his and the Braves' firstwild card. His final game was on October 11, 2010, when the Braves were eliminated by theSan Francisco Giants in Game 4 of theNational League Division Series. He was given a standing ovation by the crowd and both teams immediately following the game.^[14] He finished with a record of 1,883 wins and 1,386 losses in the regular season and 64 wins and 65 losses in the post-season. His record from both stints as manager is 2,149 wins and 1,709 losses for a .557 winning percentage in 3,858 games. His overall managerial record is 2,504 wins and 2,001 losses in the regular season and 67 wins and 69 losses in the post-season.^[7]

Bobby Cox is married to Pamela and has eight children.^[15] In 1995, Cox was arrested on simple assault charges against his wife.^[16]

One day after participating in theBraves' home opening day (April 1, 2019) festivities, Cox was hospitalized after suffering a stroke.^[15] Five months after his stroke, Cox made a visit toSunTrust Park on September 2, 2019, to watch the Braves play theToronto Blue Jays, a game which the Braves won 6–3. As a result of the stroke Cox suffers from paralysis in his right arm which requires it to be in a sling.^[17] The stroke did not cause cognitive impairment, as Cox follows and retains interest in baseball, receiving regular visits with long-time baseball colleagues such as Braves managerBrian Snitker, but caused some difficulties communicating.^[18] He was diagnosed withcongestive heart failure in 2020. Cox attended the July 6, 2024 Atlanta Braves game versus the visiting, division-leadingPhiladelphia Phillies, his first in-person attendance at a Braves game since 2019. Cox visited the home clubhouse, met with Braves players, and took a group photo. He was shown on the videoboard before the fourth inning to a standing ovation.

Due to poor health, Cox was unable to attend the2025 All-Star Game, the first held in Atlanta since he managed the National League in the2000 All-Star Game. Before the game, tributes were paid to him in the media by his former players.^[19]

Cox has been namedManager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, 2004, 2005) and is one of only four managers to have won the award in both the American and National League. He andKevin Cash are the only managers to have won the award in consecutive years. Cox has also been named Manager of the Year byThe Sporting News eight times (1985, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005).

On May 12, 2007, Cox passedSparky Anderson to become thefourth-winningest manager in major league history, with a record of 2,195 wins and 1,698 losses. He led the Braves to a division title every season from 1991 to 2005, excluding thestrike-shortened 1994 season; the Braves have competed in the National League East since 1994 and competed in the National League West prior to that. He won a World Series Championship in 1995. In 2001, he took sole possession of first place for most wins as a manager in Braves history.^[20] Cox's .561 winning percentage is fourteenth in all-time among managers with at least 1,000 games managed, and is the second highest among those who managed the majority of their career after the creation of divisions within each league in 1969. On June 8, 2009, Cox won his 2,000th game with the Atlanta Braves, becoming only the fourth manager in Major League history to accomplish that feat with one team.^[21] Cox reached career win number 2,500 on September 25, 2010, becoming only the fourth manager in Major League history to do so.^[22]

On September 17, 2010, Cox was ejected for the 158th time in his Major League coaching career during the second inning of a Braves game against theNew York Mets; he currently holds the all-time record for most ejections (set on August 14, 2007, with his 132nd), previously held by John McGraw.^[23] By a strange twist of fate, his first ejection happened while managing of the Braves in a game against the Mets on May 1, 1978.^[24] Unlike McGraw, Cox did not have a reputation for having a fiery temper and Cox generally only got ejected to prevent his players from being ejected. In the 158 games from which Cox was ejected, his teams had a winning percentage of .385.^[24] In a July 2006 game, Cox was unable to save outfielderJeff Francoeur from ejection; speaking withAtlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer David O'Brien, Francoeur recounted his manager's advice after both men had been sent to the Braves clubhouse:

"I’m like, ‘What do I do?’ He said, ‘Go have a couple cold beers and get in the cold tub or something and relax. And then you’ll probably have to write a $500 check. Or you can do what I do, write a $10,000 one and tell them when it runs out, let me know'."

Cox is also the only person among all players and managers to beejected from two World Series games (1992 and1996). He was ejected in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the1992 World Series for throwing a batting helmet onto the field at theSkyDome. Cox was trying to slam the helmet against the lip of the dugout and missed, throwing it onto the field.^[25] Cox was tossed again in the final game of the1996 World Series after protesting an out call ofMarquis Grissom attempting to take second base on apassed ball. Although video replays appeared to show Grissom was safe, umpireTerry Tata called him out, and Cox was tossed in the ensuing argument.^[25]

In 1981, Cox was inducted into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame.^[26]

On August 12, 2011, a luncheon was held by the Braves, and Cox was inducted into theAtlanta Braves Hall of Fame and his number six jersey was retired. Afterward, an on-field ceremony was held that recognized the long-time Braves manager prior to the scheduled game versus theChicago Cubs.^[27][28]

Cox was unanimously elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame by the 16-memberVeterans Committee on December 9, 2013. The ceremony was held on July 27, 2014.^[29]

Cox was hired on September 22, 2014, to return on a part-time basis to help the Atlanta Braves choose their next general manager and director of player development after the dismissal of general manager Frank Wren and player personnel director Bruce Manno.

In 2019, theInternational League announced that Cox would be inducted into itsHall of Fame, noting especially his managerial experience with the Chiefs.^[30]

• List of Major League Baseball managers with most career ejections
• List of Major League Baseball managers with most career wins

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBobby Cox.

• Career statistics fromMLB · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac
• Bobby Cox managerial career statistics atBaseball-Reference.com

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