Management 14th Edition by Leslie Rue,Lloyd Byars ,Nabil Ibrahim

Exercise 23

A Successful Baseball Manager
Bobby Cox, former manager of the Atlanta Braves, retired following the 2010 season. During his illustrious career he led Atlanta to a record fourteen consecutive division championships, five National League championships and a World Series title. One sportswriter stated: "Bobby Cox spent the last 51 years in the game of baseball. It truly was his life, his passion … He had an amazing career and will go down as one of the greatest managers, if not the greatest, of all time." Another writer commented: "Cox will be remembered mostly as a player's manager. He's always been the kind of manager to take up for them."
His team included highly talented players such as David Justice, Ron Gant, Greg Maddux, Steve Avery, Tom Glavine, Pete Smith, John Smoltz, Otis Nixon, and Chipper Jones. Why did such brilliant players want to play hard and win for him? What made Bobby Cox such a successful team manager?
"He's one of the greatest-not only managers, but people," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "He's a Hall of Famer." Another admirer is umpire Ed Rapuano, who stated: "What you can always say about Bobby is that he always gets the best out of his players and that he's a class act. You could toss him, but the next day all was forgotten."
Cox had three rules: Be on time, play hard, and play the right way. According to Tom Glavine, a former Braves player and the second most successful pitcher in the National League, Cox had the gift of making his players take pride in their team. He was skillful in making everyone "want to go out there and play hard for Bobby." Terry Mulholland, a Braves pitcher, said, "Bobby believes in his players. … You can't help but want to play for Bobby Cox." When asked what Cox did for him, Greg Maddux said: "He relaxed me…He was the same whether it was Opening Day or Game No. 120. That consistency you saw in him day in and day out bled down to us." David Justice agrees: "You never saw panic in him. You never saw fear. We always felt like we were going to win." Otis Nixon, outfielder and veteran of nine other teams said, "Bobby lets you go out and play, and he'll let you use your particular abilities."
Cox never criticized a player to the press or other players or managers. Greg Myers, catcher and veteran of five other teams said, "Even if it's not in the paper, in other clubhouses you might get a sniff that a manager doesn't like a certain player. You don't hear that around here. Bobby pretty much treats everyone the same." Bobby Cox was also known to support and publicly praise his players even when they did not deserve it. "Sometimes I'll give up a bunch of hits," Tom Glavine said, "and read the next day where Bobby said I threw really well, and I'll think, 'What game was he watching?'"
Why did players like to play for him?
Sources: "Cox Gets One-year Extension," at sports.espn.go.com retrieved on May 30, 2012; "Is Former Atlanta Braves' Manager, Bobby Cox, Interested in Managing Again?," at rantsports.com retrieved on June 1, 2012; Charlie Miller, "Bobby Cox Honored," atathlonsports.com retrieved on May 31, 2012; Mark Bradley, "Bobby Cox Loved His Players But Wasn't Keen on Role-playing," at blogs.ajc.com retrieved on May 31, 2012; and Anthony Roberson, "Bobby Cox, A Legend," at anthonyroberson.mlblogs.com retrieved on May 30, 2012.