Thanks Bobby!

Well, it sure didn’t end the way I was hoping but Bobby Cox has managed his finial game of his career. The Braves played a tough series against the San Francisco Giants but came up short on Monday losing 3-2. It was a close series all around with every game going down to the wire and every game being won by only one run. As sad and upset I am about losing in the playoffs, I am more upset about the fact that Bobby won’t be in the dugout next season. His career is amazing and even though he only has one World Series title, he managed his ball club to 14 consecutive division titles and 5 NL Championships. Those are records that won’t be broken and that alone should put him in the Hall of Fame. But then you throw in the fact that he is the 4th on the all time wins list (2504), he was named manager of the year 4 times (3 in the National League and 1 in the American League), managed 5 All Star games and was ejected from a game 158 times in his career (1st on that list). Those statistics will ensure that he will make it in the Hall.
I could go on and on about his accomplishments but even those records and numbers don’t make up the man. I personally have never met Bobby Cox but I feel like I know him very well. He has been a fixture in my life as a Braves fan and it is going to be hard to replace him. In this day in age, managers only seem to last for a short time with an organization; Bobby was in the Braves organization for 25 years and could be credited with turning the team for the laughing stock of MLB to a constant contender. He is well respected in baseball by both coaches and players while the players on his team loved him and would fight to the end for him. Even after his finial game was over, he still only wanted to talk about the toughness of his team.

After more than 50 years in baseball, he is looking forward to spending more time with his family and already has a cruise booked for April of next year. That is after the start of the next baseball season. But don’t think he is going to walk away completely; he has taken on a consultant role with the Braves and will be involved with player development. So I am sure we will see him again.

All I can say is you will be missed and Thanks Bobby!