Longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox dies days after former team owner Ted Turner
Cox and Turner are two of the defining figures in Braves history — as integral to the team’s history as franchise icons including Hank Aaron, Greg Maddux, Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones, among others.
Cox managed the Braves for 25 years across two stints (1978-81, 1990-2010), the second by far the more prolific. But he and Turner were forever intertwined, with Cox the longtime owner’s first managerial hire — excluding the time Turner called his own number during the 1977 season.
Hired in November 1977, The Macon Telegraph’s Harley Bower reported Cox had “no apprehensions working for Ted Turner” after initially signing a two-year deal, adding, “His attempt to take over as manager for Dave Bristol during the middle of last season doesn’t bother me at all.
“I am going to be my own manager,” Cox continued.
“We’re hoping Bobby can lead us to the promised land as soon as possible,” Turner also said at the time, per the Hall of Fame’s official website.
Turner reluctantly fired Cox in 1981 (“If I hadn’t just fired him, Bobby would be the kind of manager I’d hire,” Turner said) before luring him back as general manager four years later. It wasn’t until 66 games into the 1990 season that Cox returned to the dugout, where he’d stay through 2010.
The two iconic Braves figures scored their biggest triumph in 1995 as Cox managed Atlanta to its first World Series title, taking a team that long struggled at maintaining relevancy to the promised land.
As one former scout said following the championship, “For a long time, we were the only thing that Ted touched that didn’t turn gold. Now we’re gold, too,” via The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Dave Kindred.
The Braves wouldn’t have been what they were during their 1990s peak without Cox and Turner playing prominent roles. Their deaths within days of each other, while tragic, is somewhat poetic.
It also gives this year’s Braves — currently 26-13 and leading the NL East by seven games — a rallying cry as they seek their second World Series of the decade. While the two franchise legends are no longer here, their presence will be felt in Atlanta all season long.