Here is some of what former players, front-office personnel and announcers have said about former Braves manager Bobby Cox this year, the 25th anniversary of the Braves 1995 World Series championship.
“To have been able to work for 17 years shoulder to shoulder with one of the greatest people I’ve ever known in my life, Bobby Cox, still puts a smile on my face to this day. Imagine having the opportunity to join a man of that caliber and that ability in partnership. We worked hard, and we had fun. We weren’t frivolous, but we enjoyed putting good teams together and winning games and putting together a 14-year (division title) streak that hasn’t been matched by any team in any sport. Being in partnership with that man, for me personally, was absolutely remarkable.”
> Former Braves general manager John Schuerholz
“I was real passionate about this, I talked about it when I wrote my book, that all the grief and criticism Bobby used to take a lot of it was unfair and done on our behalf. What was so interesting about 1995 what was part of the criticism about Bobby ended up become part of his credit. You know, the business-like attitude was something some said was always going to cost us, a reason why we didn’t win. And it was the business-like attitude that in the end was credited to us for winning a World Series. And Bobby was the center of that.”
> Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz
“He had the players’ respect. They didn’t do anything that might disappoint Bobby, they didn’t want to let him down. That’s respect. When you’ve gained that from the players, when you’ve set it up in such a way they want to bust their ass for you every night – and he expected you to do that – that’s the utmost respect. That’s what he brought to the table. Could he drop the hammer on you? Hell, yeah. But you didn’t want that to happen. That’s why everybody did what they could to win for him.”
> Braves announcer Joe Simpson
“One of Bobby’s greatest attributes was his even-keeledness. Bobby got fired up during the course of a game. He’d get fired up about the situation in a game or in trying to fight for his player or his team trying to get every inch of advantage he could get. But the Bobby that maneuvered through a 162-game schedule was different than that. He was very much about today and what we needed to do today, not what happened yesterday, not what we’re going to try to do tomorrow. It was about today. He was the epitome of that cliché in baseball where you don’t get too high and you don’t get too low. You just try to stay on an even keel.”
> Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine
“I thought of Bobby as that favorite grandpa. You have one grandpa who’s stern and always, not real friendly, and then you got the other grandpa that every time you shake his hand there’s a $20 bill in his hand. Bobby was that guy. Now the reward might not be a $20 bill but it could be a story that means something to you, it could be a life lesson that you really take something from and we had so many of those conversations over the course of our career. One thing about Bobby, he’s got very few rules. Show up on time, you play the game right. And that’s basically it. He never checked curfew. Respect the uniform, respect the game and you’re going to be one of Bobby’s favorite players. If you don’t do that, he would not hesitate to put his foot in your rear end. And I think that’s what people respected about him. There’s a reason why people wanted to come to Atlanta just to play for Bobby Cox.”
> Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones
“I loved playing for Bobby. He was definitely a player's manager and people loved playing for him. Had watched him and the Braves from afar for years and really began to appreciate him more once I started playing for him.”
> Former Braves outfielder Marquis Grissom
“Bobby was great because he always allowed you to do your job. He always tried to put you in position to be successful. And he didn’t give up on you easily. He didn’t really have a lot to say, but yet you knew if you did your job and worked hard and obeyed the couple runs he had, he’d have no problem with you and he’d always be pulling for you.”
> Former Braves reliever Greg McMichael
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