A ‘great ride’ ends for Bobby and his Braves, and we applaud
We'll never see his likes again. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
The great manager said it after Game 3: “We’re not the best team in baseball, OK?” But you know what these Braves were?
Pound for pound, they were the most entertaining aggregation we’ve seen around here. And you know what the great manager also called this band of Braves? “The hardest-working team I’ve ever had.”
It ended for both parties Monday, for Bobby Cox and his final ballclub. It ended because these diminished Braves weren’t good enough to deliver big hits or field their positions in the crucible of October. It ended not because they didn’t give it the ol’ professional try after the abject disappointment of Sunday’s Game 3. On the contrary, it ended because a true professional pitcher talked the departing manager into letting him go a batter too far.
Seventh inning, one out. Working with a one-run lead, Derek Lowe walked Aubrey Huff, then yielded a swinging-bunt single to Buster Posey. It was just the second hit the Giants had mustered, a point Lowe surely made to Cox when the manager paid a visit. Indeed, Lowe had begun lobbying when Cox was still on the infield grass. After a short dialogue, the manager patted his pitcher on the flank and let him stay.
And Lowe walked Pat Burrell on five pitches to load the bases.
That was it for Lowe, and that one final walk was enough to lose the game. Such was this team’s margin for error. Speaking of which …
Alex Gonzalez threw high to second on Juan Uribe’s RBI grounder, enabling the bases to stay loaded with the game tied. And then, after Jonny Venters struck out Aaron Rowand, the No. 8 hitter Cody Ross — considered a target of interest for the Braves back in July — drove the go-ahead single into left field.
Being the Braves, they tried to give us a finish, as Ernie Johnson Sr. would say. Rick Ankiel walked with one out in the ninth. Then Eric Hinske, who was very nearly the hero of Game 3, walked. The winning run was aboard. But Omar Infante struck out, and it was down to Melky Cabrera, which tells us something about this season and this roster. Cabrera grounded to Juan Uribe at third, and this fighting club was finally finished.
And then something wonderful happened. Even as the Giants were celebrating at the center of Turner Field, the crowd started chanting, “Bobby! Bobby!” And the great manager, his heart surely breaking, emerged from the dugout to tip his cap and acknowledge the cheers, and then you looked back at the happy Giants and you saw them …
Standing and applauding Bobby Cox.
Said Chipper Jones, who has seen many things: “That was classy.”
People on the outside don’t understand the reverence in which this manager was held in this game. His critics see him as the guy who only won one World Series, but there can be different levels of success — yes, even in professional sports. And Bobby Cox’s last act was his greatest.
He took a team that lost Chipper Jones, Martin Prado, Kris Medlen and Jair Jurrjens along the way and led the National League East for 99 improbable days. He squeezed 91 victories and a wild card out of one of the weakest rosters ever to grace a postseason diamond. And he made the Giants work like crazy to win three games by one skinny run apiece. If you don’t think that’s managing … well, I don’t know what to tell you.
But his team knew, and the winning team in this Division Series knew, too. These Braves weren’t the best team in baseball or even, in terms of aggregate talent, the 12th-best, but they got to October and they gave it a go, and they gave us 26 wins in the final at-bat along the way.
Afterward Cox addressed his final team, or he tried. Said Chipper: “There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Out of all the teams he’s had, he’s got a soft spot for this club.”
And what did Cox actually say? “Maybe 10 words. He couldn’t get it out. He started to break down.”
Before the game, I was talking with Reid Johnson, a fan from Smyrna, and he called this whole season “a great ride.” And that’s what it was, from Jason Heyward’s Opening Day home run to the final out of Game 4. It was a great ride, a wild ride, a sentimental journey with the best manager we’ll ever see. That it ended Monday night changes nothing. It was, and will forever be, a season to remember and cherish.
Thanks, guys. Thanks, Bobby. Go in peace.
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785 comments Add your comment
Rick_ATL
October 11th, 2010
11:16 pm
Mark, thanks for a great column on a great guy. I’ve watched The Braves play ever since WTCG, channel 17, was brought into the little community where I lived in the early 70’s. I almost cried myself, during the post-game press conference. It’s so easy to see how proud he was of the team this year. Bobby is responsibile for a lot of joy, excitement, and civic pride. I wish him and his family the best, happiest, and most enjoyable next stage of their lives. Thanks again Number 6. I can’t wait to witness your induction into The Baseball Hall Of Fame.
TML
October 11th, 2010
11:16 pm
bobby…me…and my mom…and my grandmother
…and my dad and uncles have cussed you on occasion over the years…but its because we LOVE you! thank you for making it hard to be a braves fan (since 1991)! praise to you and i look forward to seeing your #6 on the left field overhang very soon 
.
http://www.stinGTees.com
JoshTown
October 11th, 2010
11:16 pm
Very nicely written, Mark. Hats off to a wonderful season, and a brilliant manager.
Whopper Dawg
October 11th, 2010
11:16 pm
What a great ride, from 91 until now it was a bunch of fun. The best thing to say is really,
Mr. Cox, thanks, simply thanks. You take care.
Herschel Talker
October 11th, 2010
11:17 pm
MB:
I applaud him from 1991-1997. Starting with Danny Bautista in 1998, he blew it, and you are shameful for not calling him out ever on his idiocy. We will be better for him moving on. Last night’s meltdown was fitting. Good riddance to this silly old man!
HT
#6
October 11th, 2010
11:17 pm
To the greatest ballplayer manager ever. Miss you 6!
Thank You
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Thanks Bobby for the best 20 yearsof baseball a boy turn into a man can watch….12 years a boy(1991) 32(2010) May your retirement be just as fulfilling…go enjoy that cruise on those mighty seas!!!!!!! We will miss you.
Love Atlanta Fans
mattie
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Thanks Bobby for all the years we got to watch you do a good job.
ak47
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Thank you Bobby. Braves nation does and always will love you. This season was a helluva ride. Braves fans showed their heart in this series too.
chris
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Best wishes Bobby. Sad night but a great season and we wont forget 2010 for a long time. Bring on 2011, drop the dead weight, keep the nucleus and lets move forward. Lowe has changed into a different pitcher in September, let’s build around him and Huddy for next year. Fredi G is a great choice for mgr and someone who will bring much of Bobby’s style of management and temperament that will help. If we can get some bats to hit for these pitchers who pitched their hearts out this year we will be back here next year..let’s hope for better results. Bobby, all the best. No one will ever forget what you’ve meant to the Braves the city of Atlanta and baseball in general.
Peter Casas
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
God bless you Bobby – from a long time Giants fan, we always feared (and respected) you…
Okay
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Stay classy folks! Mark wrote a beautiful piece so please let’s not spoil it..
Thank You Bobby Cox!
ward
October 11th, 2010
11:18 pm
Great jo Braves i applaud, and will be cheering for you next year!Great job Bradely covering the games.Braves will be back!!!!! Time for some football!!! Go!!! Braves fun season and fun year. Go!!! New York Giants!!!!! see you next year during winter meetings!!! for every season there is a turn, turn a time laugh, and time for the Braves to return.
Educated Idiot
October 11th, 2010
11:19 pm
No matter what the naysayers will write on this page,
Bobby is the best.
We’ll miss you Bobby. Nobody can take that away from the true fans.
Ray Parker Jr.
October 11th, 2010
11:19 pm
Go in peace? He is just retiring right?
Ginger
October 11th, 2010
11:19 pm
Bobby Cox……One of the greatest ever !!!
Thank you…..Thank you…Thank you
Hawaii Brave
October 11th, 2010
11:20 pm
Bobby, Skip, and Larry Munson all gone. Shucks, I must be getting old.
Kevin
October 11th, 2010
11:20 pm
Are you kidding me. This is the same guy who pulled his so called “closer of the future in game# 3. And then tonight left Lowe in after giving up a walk in the 7th. Talent helps, but when you have chances to make game winning decisions the good managers make the right ones. Giants win 1 game , Braves win 1, and Bobby, well u decide.
smoltzfan
October 11th, 2010
11:20 pm
Thank you Bobby, I grew up in Atlanta watching the best manager in baseball history…..thank you.
Stanley Crowe
October 11th, 2010
11:21 pm
Great career, Bobby — go in peace and enjoy that cruise!
As for all the Bobby-haters on these posts — no, the man wasn’t perfect, he made mistakes and misjudgments, he had his bad luck and his good luck. But the players play the game, not the manager, and these guys played hard all year. It’s fitting that Bobby’s last mistake was leaving Derek Lowe in to pitch one man too long, but Derek, in September, had earned the right to have a go, and it’s a credit to Bobby that he respected that. When Bobby lifted Kimbrell on Sunday night in a similar situation, Bobby’s critics were all over him for THAT decision. The problem with managing is that sometimes we don’t know whether a decision’s good or bad until you see the results. over the span of a long career, Bobby’s results are just fine.
coach smith
October 11th, 2010
11:21 pm
Who remembers watching “Andy Griffith” and “Sanford and Son” at 6:05 and 6:35 before Braves games on TBS (and in rain delays)? Bobby Cox has been here since then! He will be missed. Very nastaligic thoughts tonight!
just a fan
October 11th, 2010
11:22 pm
For those of you who choose to detract from this moment in Bobby Cox’s life, I suppose that’s why you are sitting there blogging and not in the Braves’ locker room changing out of your coach’s or manager’s uniform…..because you are so freakin’ smart.
chris
October 11th, 2010
11:22 pm
Sad night but a great season. We’ll miss ya Bobby. This team over achieved and came into the playoffs beat up and came within one run in these 3 losses of advancing. Let’s build on this for next year with the pitching staff and a Fredi Gonzalez manager-led team. Keep Lowe and Huddy, get some bats to score some runs like we did in 2003 and lets get back here next year!
Bluestreak
October 11th, 2010
11:22 pm
Bobby is the greatest manager of our lifetime. Thank you Bobby. I hope you get to stay associated with the Braves as long as you want.
And I hope that what the fans did for the past two games, as in turning out in droves and chopping and chanting the way they did carries over into next year. This team deserves that kind of support.
Thank you ‘10 Braves.
william cranman
October 11th, 2010
11:23 pm
Thanks Bobby. Me and my father will truly miss you. Thanks for the memories.
homer
October 11th, 2010
11:23 pm
golf claps for all the braves
Skeezix
October 11th, 2010
11:23 pm
Bobby: You will be greatly missed. Only a manager of your caliber could have taken this ragtag team and lead it into the playoffs. They got this far because they were motivated to fight hard for you, but in the end there were too many obstacles to overcome–an avalanche of errors, bad calls by umpires, no Wagner/Chipper/Prado/J.J., and an impotent offense and weak defense (not your fault that Wren doesn’t have a clue how to put a team together). Best of luck and thanks for all the wonderful memories and 14 straight division championships.
savannahdawg
October 11th, 2010
11:24 pm
Thanks Skip!!!!! Enjoy some retirement now………….play more golf or do some fishing or just stay home and enjoy being a grandpa!!!! You have earned it sir!!!!!
Tron5000
October 11th, 2010
11:25 pm
I’ll miss the skipper, and I hope he remains with the Braves organization in some capacity. Even if he doesn’t, his imprint is unmistakable on the Braves from the big league team down to the instructional leagues. This organization is run with class, and that is thanks to the greatest manager I’ve known.
Tyler
October 11th, 2010
11:25 pm
So long Bobby, you were great but I’m sure we can lose without you.
P. Bull Terrier
October 11th, 2010
11:25 pm
Congratulations “LakeDawg” for being the 28th person to comment on the article and the first idiot to have something negative to say about Cox. There will be even bigger morons posting even dumber comments than yours, but you live forever as the first to show your ignorance. Enjoy your moment.
Turtsnap
October 11th, 2010
11:26 pm
Great article Mark. A classy tribute to a classy Manager.
coach smith
October 11th, 2010
11:27 pm
Who remembers watching Andy Griffith and Sanford and Son on TBS at 6:05 and 6:35 before the 7:05 Braves games on TBS (and during raind delays)
Booby Cox has been here since then LOL! Feeling very nastaligic now like I just lost something from my youth I could tie back to those times and count on I was only 10 when he took over and I am 30 now! Impressive guys, thats impressive
TheAntiMe
October 11th, 2010
11:27 pm
I feel sorry for the Bobby bashers. Although it’s a given that they will continue to bash any manager that doesn’t take the Braves to a World Series Championship every year, now they can’t use those tired old irrational diatribes that they had memorized for the past 10 years.
For this reason alone they will probably miss Bobby Cox more than any of us who appreciate what an all-time great manager he truly was. Thanks again, Bobby. Good luck to you always.
big ed
October 11th, 2010
11:28 pm
Bobby Cox was a great regular season manager. His personality was perfectly suited for it. The regular season is about winning 6 out of 10 and the long haul. He knew had to push the right buttons during the season. However, when it came to the post-season it is a different style. Every move can make you or break you when two teams are even. The difference is sometimes one decision. Unfortuneately Bobby didn’t always make the right move. I wish him the best but it is time to move in another direction. If we get the same type of personality which I hear Freddy is then I believe we will stay in the same rut. Time for a new change and new blood except for Roger.
coach smith
October 11th, 2010
11:28 pm
“Bobby” Cox that is…sorry
kevin
October 11th, 2010
11:29 pm
I grew up watching the Atlanta Braves and Bobby Cox ever since I can remember. Bobby and Co. have been a part of my summers/fall and I have lived and died with every pitch since the days of Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux and Avery on TBS. No matter what all the critics and “baseball experts” on ESPN and FOX say, Bobby Cox is certainly one of the best managers to grace this sport and I will always remember his accomplishments as the manager of my one and only Atlanta Braves.
Thank you Bobby for all the fun summer and fall memories. We will all miss you.
hmmmm
October 11th, 2010
11:29 pm
nice job Bradley.
Cyber-Smoke
October 11th, 2010
11:29 pm
Goodbye Bo-Co, you were the best manager the Braves have had in the past 20 years.
sg10
October 11th, 2010
11:29 pm
Of all the losses, this was our best effort of the series. Today’s was the best lineup Braves put up…3 games too late..batting order was also correct. We hit too many hard balls without success. I don’t question Lowe staying in since he had made Burrell look clueless in previous two at bats. Only call I question is Diaz being replaced by Melky while we were trailing and Diaz had just one incredible defensive play.. I would have fancied our chances with Diaz batting in the 9th versus Melky.. Bobby did great work with this team and deserves manager of the year for sure.. For some reason, I feel he is going to come out of retirement in few years..I think we will have super year next year building upon the success from this year. I hope we get rid of Melky and Ankiel and get real major league outfielder..
SC Ace
October 11th, 2010
11:29 pm
One of your best, Mr. Bradley. Really.
Bobby certainly can be faulted for this and that, but he was on his game for the most part this season, and he ought to be manager of the year. Let’s hope this team (well, most of this team – a few we can live without) keeps working for Fredi G
headline
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey goodbye
nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey goodbye
and good ridence, don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
Davidfan
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
See ya Bobby. Thanks for “95″ and sorry about jinxing you and the Braves from there on out…
Q
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
Thanks for the memories Bobby! I will miss you!
Matt
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
With Chipper, Prado and Jurrjens out, these Braves were not going to go all the way. There was something really appealing, though, about watching them win improbable game after improbable game. Bobby, after all, had made a long, successful career of finding more great baseball and wins in players people called castoffs and retreads. The fact that he went so far with such a team this year is fitting somehow.
Personally, I’ll really miss him. Even though I’ve never met the man, he’s been like a friend of the family for almost as long as I can remember. These Braves don’t resemble the ones I grew up with, but Bobby was always there, and could always be counted on. Godspeed, Bobby. Enjoy your retirement.
Mark Bradley
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
I’ve updated the above post with some quotes from Chipper Jones and some locker room reaction. I saw Bobby Cox briefly and shook his hand, if you’re wondering. But he wasn’t saying much. He’s very, very emotional.
hmmmm
October 11th, 2010
11:30 pm
Hershel Talker…go to hell.
JackA770
October 11th, 2010
11:31 pm
I hope we all live to see Bobby Cox inducted into Cooperstown. Then, maybe really only then, will we know, we really had it great all those years in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and at Turner Field.
Players, even our superstar pitchers, left Atlanta and the Braves for more money elsewhere. Bobby Cox was as true blue an Atlanta Brave as anyone who ever put on the uniform.
I hope he’ll do some Braves color commentary on 680 The Fan or on TV next year.
Thanks for spearheading so many great sports moments, Bobby.
Herschel Talker
October 11th, 2010
11:31 pm
hmmmm:
I hope you enjoy your one world series in 14 division titles. You clown.
HT
ward
October 11th, 2010
11:32 pm
Will miss you greaty bobby cox.I watched you manage the Braves in1991 all to 2010, and i pray you will have a great retirement!, and may god bless you and family! Go!!!! Braves!!! can;t wait till next year.!!!!