Cox won’t commit to returning for another season
Could this be Bobby Cox's final season as manager? (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
The Braves released their 2010 schedule Tuesday. But that is the extent of guarantees we’re going to get from the organization right now — and I’m including the return of Bobby Cox.
When asked if he would come back for a 25th season as the Braves’ manager next year, Cox would not commit one way or the other.
“We’ll see,” he said. Anticipating a follow-up question, he repeated, “We’ll see, OK?”
He is 68 years old. The Braves are likely to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season. Cox has come under more criticism than at any time in the past, primarily from a frustrated segment of the fan base (and I’ll get back to that in a little bit).
But he says the age isn’t an issue, the competition still fuels him and the criticism — well, that’s a new one on him.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” he said. “That’s why I don’t read them.”
But there is uncertainty about next season. He repeated the, “We’ll see,” response two other times when I asked about managing in 2010. It’s not a subject he enjoys discussing. Cox never likes being the subject of an interview, but especially when it involves a topic that might be perceived as rubber-stamping the end of this season.
“I just don’t know right now,” he said. “I’m not thinking about it. I’m still trying to get us in the playoffs somehow.”
He allowed only that it’s the same decision-making process he goes through every year, saying, “It starts in spring training almost. But you always feel good then. I guess I’ll be sitting down with [management] after the season.”
Let me caution: We’ve been down this road before.
In spring training 2007, Cox made his most emphatic statement ever on retirement, saying 2008 would be his final season. “This year and next year and that’s it,” he said that day at Lake Buena Vista, and I remember being stunned by the lack of hesitation in his voice. “I still love it. I feel great. I want to do this year and next year and then probably hang it up. … I haven’t really told anybody this. But it’s what I’m thinking.”
We’re now one year past that plan.
He knows he is missing out on non-baseball things. He has eight children and 14 grandchildren. But he’s having a hard time dragging himself away from the dugout.
“The game is still amazingly fun,” he said. “To be able to participate in a game every day is every kid’s dream. That’s never changed. I still love it. It’s the competition. Whether it’s a so-so team or a great team, it’s still competition. It’s what you thrive on.”
And difficult to find a substitute for?
“Yeah — there really won’t be one,” he said. “But I think [after retirement] I’ll still be around a little bit. As long as you’re connected a little bit, I think you’re OK. I’d still like to go to spring training and things like that.”
It has been a difficult season. There were high expectations — probably too high. But when Jeff Francoeur, Jordan Schafer and Kelly Johnson all tanked early, and we half-wondered if Brian McCann was going blind, and the Braves were still a .500 team at the end of June — well, it forced this team to grind to get back in the race.
But there’s something about this team that Cox’s critics still don’t grasp: The Braves are only good, not great. With Chipper Jones slumping, they’re closer to average. They have very good starting pitching but sporadic hitting.
If and when the Braves miss the playoffs again, it won’t be because of Bobby Cox, it will be because of the personnel. But it’s the easy answer, isn’t it? Michael Vick breaks a leg, fire Dan Reeves. And where are Joe Paterno’s critics now?
There’s talk he has overworked the bullpen. Yeah. It’s really hurt Mike Gonzalez and Peter Moylan, hasn’t it? There’s talk he tried to depend too much on Jones and McCann. I’m sorry, but is there some deep bench that I’m missing? There’s talk he keeps sending the lost Greg Norton to the plate. OK, that he’s guilty of.
Maybe this is the end. But it was game day again and Cox wasn’t feeling his age.
“Too old is when you don’t like it any more,” he said.
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308 comments Add your comment
Jeff Schultz
September 15th, 2009
8:17 pm
Curtis.
1 – Good/above average. Splitting hairs. That still assumes a normal Chipper.
2 – Cox’s fault always has been loyalty, sometimes too long. But, 1) That also has paid off at times in terms of players coming out of slumps and 2) I really don’t think they waited too long on Schafer (given his potential and the buildup) or Francoeur (given what he had accomplished in the past).
3- I would agree with that if there was somebody else to move up. There was nobody. And again, it’s CJ. He hit .364 last year. You drop him to 7th?
4- I agree with you that LaRoche was/is kept low in the order for too long. Can’t explain that one.
5- Disagree. But really it’s tough to make a big-picture statement on without going game-by-game situations.
6- Norton. Last I checked, Frank Wren was the GM.
Jeff Schultz
September 15th, 2009
8:19 pm
OnDeck – Depends on the corporation.
Toots – You nailed it on Ned Yost.
Larry
September 15th, 2009
8:23 pm
Cox: “I’m not thinking about it. I’m still trying to get us in the playoffs somehow.” End the postseason with yet another loss as he has managed his teams to do in 14 of his 15 opportunities? No thanks!
Anyone reading this with the even slightest leadership and decision making ability (unlike Schultz, as we can tell) knows that Bobby Cox has been at best an average manager who was richly blessed for many years by the Braves GM, scouting and player development to help him win the majority of 162 games. But, when the new season (postseason) starts, Bobby at 1-15 in the final game and series of the postseason, convincingly validates what those with more than a double digit IQ (again, unlike Schultz) clearly know–Bobby Cox is indisputably the worst in game strategic decision making manager in post season history and hasn’t a single clue how to manufacture runs in closely pitched muxt win games.
Nice guy, and a legendary nose miner with his thumbs, but a championship manager he is not and never has been.
Sanjeev
September 15th, 2009
8:24 pm
Anyone else think it’s a conicdience since the Braves are no longer in the top 5 in payroll there has been a dip in the standings? During most of the 90’s we were not far from the Yankees payroll.
Cox’s lack of post season success speaks for itself. Please retire and please don’t hand pick a replacement or Cox will set us back another 5 years. It’s not Cox’s fault for not trusting 3 sure fire hall of famers over the bullpen in the post season blown save after blown save?
Robert Godwin
September 15th, 2009
8:33 pm
I’ve been a Brave’s fan for at least 35 of my 36 years. I remember the days before Bobby Cox, I remember the losing seasons, the bottom of the cellar. I also remember the playoff years and Sid Bream rounding 3rd heading for home…screaming and jumping up and down. I remember the ‘91 post season against the Pirates. I remember watching Dale Murphy as child, Bob Horner on 3rd, Bruce Benedict behind the plate, Niekro on the mound, Glenn Hubbard at 2nd…on so on….Bobby, I’m fan of Braves and a fan of yours. You brought some great baseball back to Atlanta and many nights of heartache (and headaches) but I still would like to see you finish one more year. A BRAVES FAN FOR LIFE!
LUKE
September 15th, 2009
8:35 pm
GET GOING BOBBY AND TAKE CHIPPER WITH YOU . DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT .
DamYankee
September 15th, 2009
8:35 pm
Tami & Chef, you’re stealing my lines! But really, I can only think of one guy right now I’d like to see take Bobby’s place, and I’m not sure the Braves can afford Joe Torre.
brent a.
September 15th, 2009
8:40 pm
Schultz’s arrogance in this article is a tad unbecoming.
Jackie D.
September 15th, 2009
8:43 pm
Go home Bobby. Good grief; I mean when will you give someone else a chance. Thanks for the time you gave the Braves and Atlanta; but how can someone else have a chance if you will not leave.
Dog Town Bulldog
September 15th, 2009
8:44 pm
Bobby has forgotten more about baseball than any of us will ever know. Heck, he’s forgotten more about most things…just kidding. He’s a first ballot HOF manager. It’s time, however, to go in a different direction.
"Chef" Tim Dix
September 15th, 2009
8:44 pm
DamYankee: Torre is the MOST over rated manager in history. If I had to choose, Mike Scosia (sp)?, or Gonzo @ FLA.
BIOMASS
September 15th, 2009
8:46 pm
I can’t argue with knuckleheads, or even non-Braves fans *like you Schultzzz*.
One thing that should indicate Cox’s ineptness, lack of intellect, etc, to even the most backward hick posting here, is he will stick his hand up to the elbow into his nose on a nightly basis. He booger-picks on a national television stage, day after day, night after night, year in a year out. This is a sign of a moron.
Lord knows what he does in the locker room.
rufues
September 15th, 2009
8:49 pm
Chipper Jones makes over 10 million a year, they have to play him no matter how much
damage, he does to the team. Cox is very closed minded, he is a creation of habit. Francoeur, Johnson, Schafer, Norton and Jones, haven’t help this team at all. Cox refuses to let go of his stagnated ideas and as a resolute, lost games, or gave games away. I think he said that he doesn’t read anything negative about him, he should run for congress, they don’t know or want to face reality. Bobby should quite, resign, whatever, mainly leave the Brave, maybe he can manage the Washington team.
Jeff Schultz
September 15th, 2009
8:50 pm
Brent A — You think my arrogance is unbecoming? Some find my arrogance kinda hot.
BioMass — We’re guys. Of course we pick our nose!
Chief Nocahoma
September 15th, 2009
8:51 pm
I can’t stand all this Bobby bashing. In my opinion, he is the best manager, bar none, in the history of the game. What other manager, coach, etc. has ever won 14 divisions in a row. Unlike the playoffs, where a hot pitcher or hitter can dominate another team in a 5 or 7 game series, the winning the regular season is a test of patience, resourcefulness, and skill. This especially true in baseball where every team plays 162 games/year.
Sure we lost in the playoffs 13 of those 14 years, however, we were in the hunt which is something that 20+ other teams wish they had been. Bobby doesn’t throw any pitches, catch any balls, or take any swings of the bat. All he can do is manage in a way so that the players have an opportunity to succeed. With the exception of the 1999 World Series, each time we lost a series in the post season, the team’s key players were in a position to tie the score or put the team ahead in the deciding inning. Bobby Cox got them in the position to win – but the players who walk between the lines, pitch and throw the ball, catch, and swing the bats didn’t get it done. Certainly not Bobby’s fault but more of a testament of his genius.
curtis jones
September 15th, 2009
8:51 pm
Jeff, I appreciate the reasonable dialogue. It’s nice to interact with a sportswriter who doesn’t automatically insult anyone with a differing opinion. And I know you guys usually get the final word, but I must respond to your responses, if you don’t mind.
1. Going into tonight’s game the Braves winning percentage is .524, with no hope for postseaon play. That screams “slightly above average” far more than “good” to me.
2. You don’t think they waited too long on Schafer? Again, let’s look at the facts: 50 games, 167 AB, 63 strikeouts, .204, 2 HR, 8 RBI. That’s one-third of a season. Blame it Cox, blame it on Wren, blame it on Rio. Maybe someday he’ll be a big league player. But someone made a seriously wrong call this year, and it cost the Braves some runs, and some games. And keep sending Frenchy up there thru July 31 to kill rallies, based on what he did in the past? Well heck, if we’re going by past performance, activate Knucksie.
3. Yep, as I’ve posted here before, Chipper would have been in the 6-hole for the past two months. If that’s a blow to the ego, too bad. Diaz, LaRoche, and Escobar could not possibly have done any worse in the 3-hole. You say “there was nobody,” I strongly disagree, and the numbers back me up.
4. Thank you.
5. Again, Jeff Bennett, Kris Medlen. I can’t make it any clearer. The games were played, the results are in the record books.
6. I don’t think Wren sent Norton and his Swiss cheese bat to the plate in recent weeks while Conrad, Ross, KJ (heck, why not) and other living, breathing human beings were available on the bench.
LaRoche just hit another bomb. Imagine what he could have done higher in the lineup, with men on base. Which reminds me of a fact you didn’t even mention. Cox chose to play the slowest 26-year-old “hitter” in the history of baseball (Kotchman) for 4 months, again while Prado usually rode the bench.
Nobody at the AJC has the guts to do it, so please allow me:
“Thanks Bobby, but it’s time to go.”
Jeff Schultz
September 15th, 2009
8:58 pm
Curtis — No problem. Not sure I want to get into a back-and-forth, but I’ll just leave you with this. You shouldn’t confuse somebody (me) having a difference of opinion with not having “the guts to do it.” I think any owner, GM, coach or athlete in this town will attest that I write my opinion and I protect nobody. In other words, there’s no agenda here. Cheers.
guy
September 15th, 2009
9:00 pm
To Greg,
I’m sure if you decide to not watch the Braves after this year they will play on anyway.What a loss!
Jack Mcmillan
September 15th, 2009
9:00 pm
“Greg
If Bobby doesn’t retire at the end of this year, I am going to retire from watching Braves’ baseball. That’s not a “we’ll see” that’s a promise”
GOOD, PLEASE GO, it is ignorant fans like you that give Atlanta the reputation of being
the sorry, lame stupid sports town that it is.
Anyone else that agrees with granny greg please go join his pathetic exit!
Bobby, you aren’t perfect but who is. Maybe greg will pony up and buy you another
major league hitter.
Todd - Dacula
September 15th, 2009
9:00 pm
There are quite a few great managers contributing tothis blog; for sure a good many of you have won coaching a world series. So you can certainly tell Bobby Cox a few things. Afte all, you are a much better coach; NOT!!!
As far as I am concerned, Bobby Cox can write his own departure. The issue with the Braves is ownership. During the 14 year run, the Braves had talent. Since that time, the total talent level has not been near as good as it was during the 14 year run. Cox can tay as long as he want to.
Chris
September 15th, 2009
9:01 pm
Everybody would kill to have a boss that will always have your back no matter what you did….Sure, I get fustrated @ times w/Bobby decisions, but he a class act. If he does decides to retire…there are some might big shoes to fill for the next manager…..and how long will it b before everyone starts bashing the new manager….uh 1 game.
Reid Adair
September 15th, 2009
9:04 pm
It’s a shame that it has come to this, but if Bobby Cox doesn’t return, I don’t blame him one bit. With all that he has done for the Braves’ organization over the years, I believe he deserves to go out on his terms.
If the decision has been forced as a result of problems with ownership and the general manager, that is bad. Looking at the roster and the uncertainties for 2010 (one or more starting pitchers will be gone – and no definite improvements for the offense), I can see why Cox would be contemplating leaving.
On a separate note, Jeff, I love how all of the “experts” out there think you have an agenda just because you don’t want Cox run out of town.
Toots
September 15th, 2009
9:06 pm
Jeff, you and your arrogance can sit by me any ol’ time.
JEM
September 15th, 2009
9:09 pm
You tell’em Shultz!
not so fast!!
September 15th, 2009
9:10 pm
Bobby has earned the right to leave on his terms. He knows when its time to go. Remember Dan Reeves, we did not appreciate him until we got Jim MORA, Jr., then Bobby Petrino.
curtis jones
September 15th, 2009
9:10 pm
Well, I’ve made my case; the numbers, and the results don’t lie. Bobby has had choices and decisions to make this year, and the record shows he’s made the wrong choices more often than not.
The division, and later the wild card were winnable. They are no longer within reach.
For those of you, like Jeff, who don’t want a change of managers, it’s pretty simple. If you like finishing in 3rd place, without pesky baseball games to interfere with your October football viewing…Bobby Cox is your man!
bob horner
September 15th, 2009
9:10 pm
This is an organization where if you make the playoffs, you’ve had a good year – even if you get bounced in the first round in front of the hometown fans (many of which are there rooting for the opposition).
Teams like the Yankees and Red Sox consider a season successful only with a title – that is the difference between winners and losers. Atlanta fans are so content with mediocraty, the status quo. This is a team that plays with no emotion and no hunger to win – that comes from the top.
Organizations have to be bold and courageous to make things happen. The Rockies were in the playoffs two years ago yet they bounced their manager before the end of May. Look at how the team responded to that change – the Rockies will finish ahead of the Braves and may be in the post season.
Until the ownership of this team becomes interested in the Braves as something more than a tax writeoff, all you diehard fans are in for more years of mediocraty with absent ownership and a guy running the team who should have retired 10 years ago.
It was 2001 when the Braves last won a post season series. All you Cox enablers must just love to lose.
MightyQuinn
September 15th, 2009
9:11 pm
How many times in Atlanta sports history has a manager/coach been fired because he wasn’t able to “get us to the next level” and the new guy took that to mean the next level DOWN. Remember when the Braves fired Joe Torre? The Falcons fired Leeman Bennett? The Hawks got rid of Hubie Brown? Mike Fratello? Lenny Wilkens? In every instance the team tanked thereafter and it was years before we returned to respectibility. Somebody said it earlier: Be carefull what you wish for, sports fans.
BIOMASS
September 15th, 2009
9:13 pm
Bobby Cox is a “class act?”
Ever count all the GD’s and MF’s he hurls at umpires? There’s no need for all that vulgarity. Cox is a base imbecile.
Pick a winner, Bobby!
And Schultz, we’re guys? I’m a guy, and I don’t pick my nose in public. Nor would I pick it on national television. You crack me up.
BravesBeat
September 15th, 2009
9:15 pm
Bobby Cox should have retired years ago–his team has slipped and he gets thrown out of so many games, his effectiveness is way down. Give it up bobby—hit the golf course and casinos.
Goldenglove002
September 15th, 2009
9:15 pm
I always respected Bobby Cox and always have though he was a great manager, but regardless of the personnel around him it hasn’t been his year. The whole fiasco with Norton getting so many important AB’s is one thing, and the use of the bullpen has definitely been subject to question. Many of Soriano and Gonzalez’s bad nights have come after sending them out for a long stretch of consecutive nights. It took too long for him to gain confidence in Medlen as being able to handle himself out of the pen, and once he did he used him 3-4 times when he was struggling
JEM
September 15th, 2009
9:16 pm
I mean Schultz! Bobby can do whatever the hell he wants to!
Lane Kiffin
September 15th, 2009
9:17 pm
This is similar to the debate being held at the end of the Phillip Fulmer era. If you want the Braves to end up looking like Tennessee football has looked since Sept 2008, by all means bring Cox back…
curtis jones
September 15th, 2009
9:26 pm
These comments from Cox lovers about “be careful what you wish for if Bobby is replaced…” What are you afraid of? That the Braves won’t make the playoffs (again) next year?
NCBravesFan
September 15th, 2009
9:26 pm
BIOMASS: So you think the Braves should be leading the division? So they’re better this year than the Phils top to bottom? Really?
Or you think they’re better top to bottom than the Dodgers or Colorado? St Louis?
I get the frustration with Cox, but dude the Braves are not a very good team as constructed in relation to the playoff bound teams.
Fishawk
September 15th, 2009
9:28 pm
Great run Bobby. Adios and God speed.
Herschel Talker
September 15th, 2009
9:31 pm
SCHULTZIE – THIS IS PHENOMENAL NEWS, POTENTIALLY. THIS MAN NEEDS TO BE PUT OUT TO PASTURE IMMEDIATELY. HE IS A CLOWN OF THE HIGHEST ORDER.
BIOMASS
September 15th, 2009
9:33 pm
NC, I didn’t say any of that.
I will say Cox has one of the best pitching staffs in the NL.
I will say he squandered game after game with his lineup decisions, and pitching decisions. Typical year.
Jack G.
September 15th, 2009
9:34 pm
You folks that want to bring up olden times when the Braves couldnt beat Tom Thumb with an Ax, chew on this. I remember the Crackers and Johnny Hill Emil Mahilo, Buster Chatam, Country Brown, Tony Ordenaiz. Dutch Leonard, Paul Richards and many more.
And they were known as the yankees of the minors. I seem to recall something like 15 penants in the Southern league.
Braves fan since 1959
September 15th, 2009
9:34 pm
He was an average manager before Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux and no better since. So you tell me
Jack G.
September 15th, 2009
9:35 pm
Enter your comments
TPM
September 15th, 2009
9:36 pm
Bobby – Thanks for being the best manager ever. Please take Oblique Jones with you
T'ville Dawg
September 15th, 2009
9:36 pm
The only problem to me has been his having favorites that no matter how bad they were they were still out there every day. Specifically Andruw batting .124 and striking out every other AB.I just think it’s time to go.
He has gotten to where he always plays it safe, what I mean there’s 2 outs with your fastest man at first, why not try to steal second, you have nothing to lose if your thrown out but if you make it you could get a run on a single. I’M pretty conservative, but there are times when the only logical thing is to do the illogical.
Herschel Talker
September 15th, 2009
9:36 pm
CURTIS JONES – Keep at him!
SCHULTZIE – So you’re saying the although Wren put Norton on the roster, Cox is in no way at fault for playing him night in and night out? Laughable. If Cox were the steward that people think he is, he would let Norton rot on the bench until Wren capitulated and released him. If I may ask, who was it that finally got fed up with Frenchy (far too late, if you ask me), and thus he was traded that week. Oh yeah, Booby Cox. So to say that he has no say in a player’s future, and to imply that Cox is just playing the hand he is dealt is naive at best, ludicrous at worst.
junebaby
September 15th, 2009
9:41 pm
when BOBBY COX retires…, i hope TERRY PENDLETON has sense enough not to accept the managers job(if offered). he’d be in for a world of hate, and ill-will. even if he took the team to the world series(and won it) in the 1st year post cox. the things people say about him now would pale in comparison to the things they’ll say later(ref. obama). just one man’s opinion! good luck to BOBBY COX, whatever he decides. absolute hall of famer!!!!
Sonny Clusters
September 15th, 2009
9:43 pm
Jeff, we was reading some of these comments and some of these folks are giving you a pretty bad time. We was always trying to be nice when we blogged with the newspaper writers. Sometimes they would get a little testy but for the most part they was nice, too. We was not sure it was okay to say booger in a blog but we guess it’s okay. That blogger is right, though, that nose picking doesn’t make you look very smart. Coach never picked his nose in the dugout and we never had to worry about boogers on the railings. If we was playing pro ball we would never want to be in a dugout where the manager was a nose picker.
Jack G.
September 15th, 2009
9:44 pm
My last post was to illustrate that all that history dont play with todays team, and shouldnt. I believe the expression that counts is “What have you done for me lately”. The answer for Cox is he aint done nothing lately. All that he has done and accomplished in the past is history. Like the man love him or hater him all that matters now is he is not doing a good job of managing. He has not earned the right to be a permenant manager of the Braves, just as no ball player has earned the right to stay on a team just because he has played for them for years, As I said it all goes back to what have you done for me lately.
Wayne
September 15th, 2009
9:45 pm
Cox let the best talent in Baseball during the 90s come and go. We got one series win. He and Terry Pendleton screwed Francouer up so bad it was shameful. One of the best talents to come down the pike in a long time and we lost him. Cox should have left a long time ago.I wont even comment on pendleton. What a joke.
Sonny Clusters
September 15th, 2009
9:47 pm
We heard on television that Chipper has a groin tug. Is that worse than a tweak? Jeff, can you give us a little more information on tugged groins? Will Chipper be day to day with a tug like he was with a tweak?
YoungerThan ThatNow
September 15th, 2009
9:49 pm
Greg
September 15th, 2009
7:43 pm
If Bobby doesn’t retire at the end of this year, I am going to retire from watching Braves’ baseball. That’s not a “we’ll see” that’s a promise.
Well, good f’ing riddence!! You just told us all that you’re not a fan of the Braves, and you’ve told me all i’ll ever need to know about you!!
A manager makes a move on a big stage many times every night, and if he misses one we’re ready to crucify him. The moves that he makes that work out, you never hear about.
Bobby Cox is a man’s man and a player’s manager and has accomplished more tonight, September 15th, 2009, than anyone on this blog ever will. He deserves respect, honor and a great big thank you from anybody who has ever claimed to be a Braves fan or a baseball fan in general. He should retire when HE is good and ready and how HE wants to do it.
Bobby Cox… I’ll be in Cooperstown on the day that you’re inducted into the HOF and I’ll be more than proud to say that I’m a Braves fan and have been since 1966!!