Chipper Jones called Bobby Cox “the leader of men and a second father to so many Atlanta Braves [through the years]” after learning that the Hall of Fame manager died at 84. The tribute landed near Truist Park with the weight of a career shaped by Cox, who drafted Jones and then managed him from his 1993 debut through 2010.
Jones and Cox at Truist Park
Jones wrote, “I can’t stay quiet in this time of loss” and said, “I’m struggling to tell all what Bobby Cox meant to me and so many others in Braves Country.” He added, “He’s probably the number one reason I played my entire career for the Braves.”
The bond began in the 1990 MLB Draft, when Cox selected Jones with the No. 1 overall pick. Jones said, “He gave me the opportunity to play baseball by drafting me,” a line that tied the tribute back to the first move Cox made in his direction.
Bobby Cox’s Braves Run
From Jones’s 1993 debut to the end of Cox’s managerial career in 2010, the two stayed linked through one of the franchise’s longest stretches of success. Under Cox, the Braves won 14 consecutive division titles, five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series.
That run turned Cox into more than a dugout voice for a generation of Braves players. It also made his death a legacy moment for the team, with one of its defining stars now speaking for the era Cox helped build.
Tom Glavine on Cox
Tom Glavine also remembered Cox’s edge and urgency, saying, “The minute he came down in that dugout, in full uniform with his spikes on and ready to go, there was just a passion to win the game and fight for every inch of advantage he could get for his players.”
Jones brought that same dugout image into his own tribute, saying he watched his sons play baseball on the day Cox died and, “I can’t help but shout the same things he did from the corner of the dugout.” He added, “Come on kid, [you] got this!” and later wrote, “My boys won both of their games,” followed by, “Bobby had a hand, I have no doubt!”
