ATLANTA — When you think of the great Atlanta Braves players, there’s Hank, Dale, Chipper and the three big pitchers, but when it comes to manager, there’s only one name: Bobby Cox.
Cox has died at the age of 84, the Braves announced on Saturday.
We’ll have tributes to the skipper and reaction from Braves community and fans, on Channel 2 Action News at 6:00 p.m. and WSB Tonight at 11 p.m.
“We are overcome with emotion on the passing of Bobby Cox, our treasured skipper. Bobby was the best manager to ever wear a Braves uniform. He led our team to 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants, and the unforgettable World Series title in 1995. His Braves managerial legacy will never be matched,” Braves said in a statement.
“Bobby was a favorite among all in the baseball community, especially those who played for him. His wealth of knowledge on player development and the intricacies of managing the game were rewarded with the sport’s ultimate prize in 2014 - enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And while Bobby’s passion for the game was unparalleled, his love of baseball was exceeded only by his love for his family. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we send our sincerest condolences to his beloved wife, Pam, and their loving children and grandchildren."
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 9, 2026
Robert Joseph Cox was a humble man in a high-profile job who managed to control the universal impulse for self-promotion, a cleats guy who took great pride in being able to wear those cleats to work every day.
He was born May 21, 1941, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cox started off as his career a baseball player after graduating from Selma High School in California’s San Joaquin Valley, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959.
The Braves acquired Cox in 1966, but he didn’t make his big-league debut until the Yankees signed him 1968.
“My only claim to fame as a ballplayer actually was I got a chance to play with Mickey Mantle,” Cox said.
When bad knees ended Cox’s playing days, he turned to managing. Ted Turner hired Cox to manage the long-suffering Braves in 1977. Cox started managing the Braves from 1978 to 1981 and returned to Atlanta as the team’s general manager in 1986.
In between stints, Cox managed the Blue Jays for four seasons, finishing second in the American League East behind the World Series-winning Detroit Tigers in 1984 and winning the division the next season.
After four years as the team GM, Cox return the dugout in 1990 as the Braves skipper. He then led the team on a magical run of 14 consecutive division titles from 1991-2005.
That included the Braves’ unbelievable “worst to first” season. In 1991, Cox’s team was below 500 at the All-Star break, but nosed ahead of the Dodgers after the season’s 160th game.
“The city was on fire, it was full of energy. You know, I would ride to the ballpark and people on 75 would be honking their horns, they would recognize me, and this guy would look and his horn would honk, and they would honk and they would honk all the way into the city. I never seen a city energized like that,” Cox said.
In 1995, the Braves won Cox’s only World Series championship, beating the Cleveland Indians at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
“Tom Glavine, Dave Justice, those two -- yeah, those two (laughing). Tommy almost pitched a no-hitter. He pitched a two-hitter and Dave got one out of the ballpark, and that’s all we needed, I remember,” Cox said.
Cox was considered the ultimate players’ manager. He rooted hard for his men from the dugout, and they played hard for him on the field.
“If they’re giving 100 percent, they were always going to be backed by me. If they weren’t, it was going to be a different story and that’s all I asked them to do, was entertain the fans, give 100 percent all the time. Let’s try to win, and when you’re trying it was awfully hard for me to get mad at somebody,” Cox said.
One way Cox supported his players -- getting ejected from the game 132 times, including two World Series games.
At Cox’s 65th birthday party in 2006, Bill Acree -- the Braves’ longtime traveling secretary and one of Cox’s close friends -- offered this toast: “To work for him is to love him.”
When Cox won his 2,000th game on Sept. 29, 2004, he typically tried to deflect the spotlight.
“We’ve had a lot of luck,” he said. “A lot of balls have bounced our way.”
But the longer he managed, the more the belief around baseball grew that he was the one manager capable of taking almost any sort of team and winning a division title with it.
Cox retired from the Braves in 2010. The next year, the Braves retired Cox’s No. 6.
In 2014, Cox received baseball’s highest award. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with two of his big three starting pitchers, Greg Maddux and Tommy Glavine.
“Tommy Lasorda said it best, he said, ‘Bobby -- you, Tony and Joe have reached the top of the mountain,’ and it’s starting to sink in a little bit ‘cause that’s the highest award you can have,” Cox said.
Shortly following Brave opening day at then-SunTrust Park in 2019, Cox suffered a stroke, which left him with partial paralysis at the time sending him to rehab for months.
About five months following his stroke, Cox made his first public appearance, walking out onto the field following the first inning of a Braves game to thunderous applause.
“I was excited that he was coming,” Braves manager and long-time friend Brian Snitker said. “I think he had his hot dog and had a great time. Hopefully, that’s just the beginning of many visits”
Cox remained until the sixth inning.
The last time Cox saw the Braves play was in August 2025 when the organization honored the 1995 World Series team. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this article.
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