LOS ANGELES — Baseball took a backseat Saturday.
The hearts and minds of Braves players were on Bobby Cox on a sunny evening at Dodger Stadium before the middle game of a three-game series against the Dodgers — a game that meant very little, considering the news of the day.
Hours earlier, the Braves announced Cox, the organization’s legendary manager, had died. He was 84.
“What an honor to have been a part of his legacy, really. He was one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever been around,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “He was the best I’d ever been around at creating loyalty amongst the group because of the way he treated people, the way he encouraged guys.
“Bobby always made you feel like you were playing better than you actually were. You always felt like he was in your corner.”
Weiss played for Cox from 1998-2000. Cox would go on to manage the Braves for 10 more seasons, part of a 20-year tenure (his second in a managerial role) leading the club.
The last of those managerial campaigns was in 2010, when a rookie first baseman named Freddie Freeman played in 24 regular-season games at the end of the year. Freeman, now with the Dodgers, said he received a text message Saturday morning from Eddie Pérez, a Braves coach and former Braves catcher, about Cox’s passing.
Freeman detailed his favorite memory of the late manager: when Cox met Freeman’s six-month-old son during spring training in 2017, and Cox’s eyes lit up when first seeing the baby. Freeman has a signed Bobby Cox jersey that reads, “To Freddie: Keep on hitting.”
“It’s sad. I mean, he lived a great life. Everyone loves him in baseball. Braves Country loves him,” Freeman added. “I think a lot of people have heavy hearts, but they’re also having a good time thinking about all the wonderful memories and impact that Bobby had on their lives today. He obviously meant a lot to so many people.”
Braves players who never played for Cox felt the same sorrow as the many Braves fans who grew up watching the team play on TBS. Cox was the only manager the Braves had during the childhoods of Atlanta natives Kyle Farmer and Matt Olson.
Olson laughed about Cox’s 162 career ejections, how it was something Braves fans cheered on from their living rooms or at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium or Turner Field. Farmer pointed out how when watching Braves games on television, viewers could pick up Cox’s voice on the broadcast shouting, “C’mon, Frenchy!” or “Atta boy, Larry!”
Saturday’s game between the Braves and Dodgers was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Fitting, as the Braves took the field on this night honoring and remembering their own No. 6.
“It was just a different culture with Bobby at the helm,” Weiss said. “I’ve tried to continue some of the traditions to honor him, from the way we wear the uniform, the way we conduct ourselves, the respect for the Braves brand. All that stuff comes from Bobby. ‘Snit’ (Brian Snitker) continued to honor that, I will continue to honor that as long as I’m here, and we should. This is one of the greatest of a generation. What a legacy he’s left behind, not only with the Braves, but in the game.”
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