Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, a longtime East Cobb resident and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 84.
The Braves announced Cox’ passing on Saturday. He had been suffering from congestive heart failure and other health issues related to a stroke in 2019.
Cox, who managed the Braves on two occasions—from 1978-81 and from 1990-2010—is fourth on the all-time Major League Baseball list for wins by a manager with 2,504, as he led Atlanta to 15 division titles, five National League championships and the World Series crown in 1995.
“While Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family,” the Braves said in a statement.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren.”
Cox died three days after the passing of former Braves owner and CNN founder Ted Turner, who hired Cox after the 1977 season. Cox, who had been a first-base coach with the New York Yankees, had not been a manager before.
The Braves went 266-323 before he was dismissed by Turner, who said he needed to make a change but wanted to hire someone like Cox.
Cox managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982-85 before returning to Atlanta as the Braves’ general manager. In the front office, he helped develop roster parts that would lead to the team’s dominance in the 1990s.
He was regarded as the ultimate players’ manager. “I never wanted to go anywhere else; I wanted to play for Bobby,” said former Braves pitcher Smoltz.
Two other Braves’ players under Cox’ tutelage have Hall of Fame credentials: Third baseman Chipper Jones, inducted in 2018, and center fielder Andruw Jones, who will be inducted in July.
Cox also holds another Major League record, although it is unofficial, for having been thrown out of 162 games by umpires.
In 1991, the Braves reached the World Series for the first time in Atlanta, then defeated the Cleveland Indians for their first World Series championship in 1995.
Cox was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 with two of his Braves’ pitchers, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, followed a year later by Smoltz.
Cox’ playing days were brief. He was a third baseman for the Yankees from 1968-69, but injured knees prompted his retirement after 229 games in the majors, and he soon embarked upon a baseball coaching and managing career.
Early in the 1995 season, Cox was arrested by Cobb County Police on a domestic violence complaint from his wife, following an argument at their home near Atlanta Country Club.
Both denied at a press conference that there was a physical altercation, and he did not miss any time away from the team. Battery charges against Cox were later dismissed.
In his retirement, Cox spent time on a farm he owned in the north Georgia mountains before selling it in 2021.
Due to declining health, Cox was an infrequent visitor to Truist Park. He last took in a game in August, at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Braves’ 1995 World Series title.
Among those paying tribute to Cox Saturday were Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, and Braves fans turned out at Truist Park and laid flowers at a Cox statue.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
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