I would blow Bobby Cox

[Thrilla]

He's got to be my favorite all time manager/head coach of any professional sport.  I will shed multiple tears when he retires.  I enjoyed this article.  I will be at the ballpark pulling for them tonight to take the series against the Yanks.

Braves’ Cox mellows out

By Gordon Edes, Yahoo! Sports

Jun 24, 1:58 am EDT
 
What’s Bobby Cox’s dream finish to his certain Hall of Fame managing career?

“I always wanted to go out with a five-year contract and get fired the first year,” he said with a chuckle last weekend in Boston. “That’s the way I wanted it.”

That scenario isn’t going to happen. Cox, who earlier this month became just the fourth manager to win 2,000 games with one team, will manage the Braves as long as he cares to keep the job, according to his bosses.

“We go year to year, as long as he wants it,” general Manager Frank Wren said.

Surely, Cox, who turned 68 on May 21 , has thought about when he’ll drop the curtain on a career that has spawned 15 division titles, a record 14 in succession with the Braves, five National League pennants, and one World Series title. Among active managers, only St. Louis’ Tony La Russa, who recently won his 2,500th game and is in his 31st season, has managed more games than Cox, who like Joe Torre of the Dodgers is in his 28th season.

“No,” he said, “I can honestly say I’ve never thought that once. I like it too much.

“This might be it. Next year might be it.”

Wren said that’s always been the team’s understanding with Cox. “Philosophically he has said, ‘Someday,’ ” he said, “but never specifically.”

Chipper Jones has been with Cox and the Braves longer than any current player, now that John Smoltz bailed out for Boston and the Braves decided Tom Glavine couldn’t pitch anymore. Jones, a rookie in 1995, when the Braves won their only World Series title in Atlanta, said he’s never wondered how Cox keeps going, year after year.

“Because from Day 1,” Jones said, “Bobby has given off the impression he’s a lifer.

“I don’t know Bobby away from the ballpark. I know Bobby here at the ballpark, and I don’t know how he would handle being away from the ballpark. Day in and day out, he’s a guy who’s here at noontime every day, fully dressed with his spikes on, out in the dugout smoking a cigar, just taking in the sights and sounds of a major league ballpark. It’s kind of hard just to walk away from 50 years.

“I know all the guys in here think of him as a favorite grandfather. You got one who’s a little standoffish and one who’s the big old teddy bear, and Bobby’s the old teddy bear.

“It will be culture shock around here when he’s not here.”

The Braves streak of division titles could not go on forever, but it is jarring that they’ve missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. They haven’t advanced to the NLCS since 2001, losing four straight times in the first round. They last appeared in a World Series in 1999.

While his critics point to his lone Series ring as a symbol of failure, the more widely held view in baseball is that the consecutive division titles have always been a better barometer of Cox’s managerial skills. In a three-tiered playoff system of short series, there are too many variables that come into play to make a Series title the sole measure of a manager’s worth.

But if the Braves miss the playoffs again this season, Cox for the first time may hear rumblings of retirement.

Their current homestand, which began with a shutout win over the Cubs in a makeup of a rainout, and continued Tuesday night with another shutout of the Yankees in the first game of a three-game set, may offer some clue as to whether the Braves can mount a challenge in what has become a crippled division. The Red Sox and Phillies follow the Yankees into town, before the Braves embark on a 10-game trip against the Nationals, Cubs and Rockies that will take them into the All-Star break.

Both the Phillies and Mets have sustained significant injuries, and the Marlins appear to have too many holes to make a run in the NL East.

“I believe in my heart this team is back on the rise,” said Jones, pointing to the additions of starting pitchers Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami to the rotation, and the trade for center-fielder Nate McLouth.  “We’re headed in the right direction. I wouldn’t have signed my extension if I didn’t feel that way. The last thing I want do the last six, seven years of my career is not play competitive baseball.”

Still, Jones is frustrated by the team’s inconsistent play that has kept the Braves hovering around the .500 mark. Those mistakes, he said, which he attributes to the team’s youth, were not present when the club was reeling off division titles. Cox has had to change, he said, as a result.

“He’s become more patient,” Jones said. “When I first got called up, the names on the back of the jerseys was a who’s who of Hall of Fame ballots. The game was played the right way. He didn’t have to do any coaching. All he had to do was manage the bullpen and tell Marquis Grissom when not to steal and when to steal, and tell Mark Lemke when to bunt and when to hit and run. That was basically it.

“Over the course of the past five, six, eight years, the names on the back of the jerseys have changed a little bit. He’s had to get a lot more patient with some of the players who made mistakes that quite frankly we were not used to seeing here. He’s mellowed quite a bit. He has very few rules, but if you break one of them he’s going to come down hard on you. But still not to the extent he used to.”

Cox concedes he may have mellowed a “tiny bit,” then notes that he recently yanked young shortstop Yunel Escobar(notes) after he botched a double play and a rundown play. And Sunday, Cox was ejected for the 145th time, extending the all-time record he set two years ago.

Will the new generation take advantage of Cox’s better nature?

“I don’t think so,” Jones said. “I think people have too much respect for him. When people come into this clubhouse, everybody wants to play for Bobby. There’s not a single guy who comes in this clubhouse who wouldn’t run through a wall for him.”

And so Cox soldiers on, on knees that were replaced with artificial ones nearly two decades ago. “He’s so passionate about the game,” Wren said, “that I believe he’ll want to stay as long as he feels good. And he feels good.”

Hands-on management

The Braves’ Bobby Cox trails only Tony La Russa in wins among active skippers. Here’s where he ranks among baseball’s top 10:

Manager       Wins Losses Pennants Titles
Connie Mack  3,731  3,948    9          5
John McGraw 2,763 1,948   11          3 
Tony La Russa* 2,501 2,178   5            2 
Bobby Cox*   2,361 1,890      5          1
Joe Torre*    2,198 1,872       6         4
Sparky Anderson 2,194 1,834 3           5
Bucky Harris    2,157 2,218     3           2
Joe McCarthy   2,125 1,333     9          7
Walter Alston   2,040 1,613      7         4
Leo Durocher    2,008 1,709     3          1
* Active managers (As of June 23, 2009)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlfCs5SMWH0KfFkT7TQ_zSARvLYF?slug=ge-fullcount062309&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Snaggletiger]

Yeah...uuumm...I really like Bobby and all but truthfully, I'm not suckin' his dick.  I may watch you...point and laugh my ass off but, no...I'm not sucking Bobby Cox' dick.

[Ogre]

Fuck Bobby Cox.  If there is one manager in all of professional sports that needs to hang it up, it's that tub o' lard.  I hope he gets nailed in the dome by a line drive. 

[CCTAU]

Fuck Bobby Cox.  If there is one manager in all of professional sports that needs to hang it up, it's that tub o' lard.  I hope he gets nailed in the dome by a line drive. 

Worst world series manager EVAR!

[Tiger Six]

Worst world series manager EVAR!

At least he won one.

Signed,

Marv Levy

[Snaggletiger]

At least he won one.

Signed,

Marv Levy

Jim Kelly just put a curse on your sister's household.

What's amazing is how bad the Braves have looked this year and they're now 2 games out. (At 2 games under .500)  The Division os playing like a bunch of Keystone Cops but hey, a trade here or there, a little hot streak and this could get interesting.

[Thrilla]

Jim Kelly just put a curse on your sister's household.

What's amazing is how bad the Braves have looked this year and they're now 2 games out. (At 2 games under .500)  The Division os playing like a bunch of Keystone Cops but hey, a trade here or there, a little hot streak and this could get interesting.

Tommy Hanson  > Tommy Glavine

I'm too hungover right now to defend Bobby...but the stats do not lie.  They backup the fact that he is one of the greatest managers of all time.

[Ogre]

Tommy Hanson  > Tommy Glavine

I'm too hungover right now to defend Bobby...but the stats do not lie.  They backup the fact that he is one of the greatest managers of all time.

Has that hangover worn off yet?  I want to see these stats. 

[Thrilla]

Has that hangover worn off yet?  I want to see these stats. 

Well, not quite...it's looking like Wednesday will be the day that I stop burping up tequila, vodka, and beer.  But I will humor you, nonetheless.

Let's start with the basics.

27 Years in the Bigs as a Manager.  Currently in his 28th year, where the Braves are 39-42.

Overall record, through yesterday: 2366-1896, for a winning %age of .555.

Of those 27 years, he's made it to the playoffs 15 times.  That's more than half of the years he's been managing.  This doesn't include the strike year, where they would've made the playoffs, as their record was 68-46 before the strike.  But we'll call it 15 times, because that's what happened.

Of the 15 times he's made the playoffs, he's made the World Series 5 times, and won once.

Of the 15 times he's made the playoffs, he made it to the NLCS 5 times.  The rest of the playoff games were lost in the NLDS.

Translation: He's made it the National League Championship game 10 out of 15 times.  Insane.

What everybody knows: Bobby's led the Braves to a division title every season from 1991 to 2005, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season.  This is unheard of amongst all managers in MLB evar, in terms of consecutive playoff runs.

Cox has been named Manager of the Year four times (1985, 1991, 2004, and 2005) by MLB and is one of only four managers to have won the award in both the American and National League. He is also the only person to have won the award in consecutive years.

Cox has also been named Manager of the Year by The Sporting News eight times (1985, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005).

Now lets look at how he stacks up against the greats.  I pulled this from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB_All-time_Managerial_wins) but note that these stats are only through June 21st, 2009.  The bolded names are active managers.

All Time Managerial Wins, MLB
Rank Name          Wins    Losses      Pct.
1      Connie Mack 3,731   3,948     .486
2      John McGraw 2,763  1,948     .586
3     Tony La Russa 2,500  2,177    .535
4      Bobby Cox     2,359   1,890    .555
5      Joe Torre      2,203    1,875    .540
6   Sparky Anderson 2,194  1,870     .544
7      Bucky Harris   2,157   2,218     .493
8      Joe McCarthy 2,125   1,333      .615
9      Walter Alston 2,040   1,613      .558
10    Leo Durocher   2,009   1,709     .540
11    Casey Stengel  1,905   1,842    .508
12    Gene Mauch    1,902    2,037    .483
13    Bill McKechnie  1,896    1,723    .524
14    Lou Piniella 1,735     1,592    .521
15   Ralph Houk      1,619     1,531    .514

Translation: He is firmly entrenched in 4th place as the best Pro Ball Manager of All Time.  Amongst current managers on this list, he has the best winning percentage.  Only John McGraw, Walter Alston, and Joe McCarthy have better winning percentages.

In 2001, he took sole possession for all time leader in wins for the Atlanta Braves.

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.

On the side: He's the all time leader in ejections with 143. This doesn't count the two that occured in World Series games...He played with fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle during Mantle's final season in 1968 (Cox has two seasons under his belt, but had bad knees, so he wasn't much of a player.)...Cox also has two league championship rings when he was a Minor League Coach for the New York Yankees.

Got most of this off of Wiki and from memory...but there's probably a lot more out there that would support my argument.


Now please quit pissing Bobby off, before this is the last thing you see before viewing the back of your eyelids:

[Thrilla]