Bobby Cox, the iconic manager who guided the Atlanta Braves through their most dominant era and ranks among the greatest skippers in baseball history, died at 84, the team confirmed on Saturday. He had been battling congestive heart failure and other health issues following a major stroke in April 2019.
Cox managed the Atlanta Braves for 25 seasons.
George Gojkovich / Getty Images
His passing comes just days after the death of longtime Braves owner Ted Turner, who both fired and rehired Cox to lead the franchise.
Born in Oklahoma and raised in California’s Central Valley, Cox moved to Atlanta later in life, where he became a beloved Southern sports icon—known for his cigar smoke, fiery arguments with umpires, and a fatherly (and later grandfatherly) presence. Over 25 seasons as Braves manager and five as general manager, he left an indelible mark on the organization and the city.
Cox also managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985 between his two stints with the Braves. Yet he became synonymous with the Braves, just as much as any Hall of Fame player who took the field for him in Atlanta.
Under Cox’s leadership, the Braves captured an unprecedented 14 straight division titles, won five National League pennants during the 1990s, and claimed the World Series in 1995—Atlanta’s first major professional sports championship before the Braves repeated in 2021 under Brian Snitker, a Cox protégé.
Cox was widely regarded as a players’ manager, and his 162 career ejections—the most in MLB history—were seen by his players as proof he always had their backs.
“If I were on the field, I’d want the manager sticking up for me,” Cox once said. “Sometimes players are dead wrong, ranting and raving, but you stick up for them. They appreciate that.”
After retiring following the 2010 season, Cox left with 2,504 wins, the fourth-most in major-league history. He was named Manager of the Year four times by the BBWAA (three in the NL, once in the AL) and earned a record eight Manager of the Year awards from The Sporting News.
Cox was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility and was inducted in the Class of 2014 alongside Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux—two-thirds of the Braves’ Big Three pitching rotation during his tenure. John Smoltz, the third member, was inducted a year later.
“I’ve always said that in some ways Bobby, for me, was like a second father,” Glavine said. “I learned more from Bobby about baseball—how to go about your business, how to be a good teammate and part of a team. I learned all that stuff more from him than anybody. And one thing I always said about Bobby—we all saw it, we all knew it—he fought tooth and nail for us players and every call he could get on the field to go our way. And I think really just created an environment where guys knew how much he cared.
“And because of that, you showed up at the ballpark every day ready to work hard and play hard for him. I just think he did an unbelievable job creating that atmosphere and that environment. And like I’ve said so many times, when I would have a bad game, it would be a combination of being mad at myself for having had a bad performance, but also the disappointment of feeling like I let Bobby down.”
Once a promising third-base prospect, Cox played two unremarkable seasons with the New York Yankees in 1968 and 1969 before chronic knee issues ended his playing career. By age 30, he was managing in the Yankees’ minor-league system, spent one season as Billy Martin’s first-base coach on the 1977 World Series champion Yankees, and was just 36 when hired to manage the Braves in 1978.
In New York, he was a teammate of Mickey Mantle and Thurman Munson, playing under manager Ralph Houk. He is survived by his wife, Pam, and eight children.
