How do you describe the greatest of all time, when there have been so many great managers in the history of baseball.

John McGraw to Connie Mack.  Casey Stengel to Walter Alston-Tom LaSorda.  Tony LaRussa-Earl Weaver in the modern day class.

We lost a legend on the weekend with the passing of Bobby Cox.

A Hall of Famer, a legend not just as a manager, but a roster builder, and a people leader.

His stats are enormous over the 3-different jobs he held, Atlanta, Toronto, Yankees.  What he did when he was a GM-to lay the groundwork for what the Braves would become, a dynasty for all time.

Baseball history will show Connie Mack had (3,731) wins in the multiple eras he managed the Philadelphia A’s.  Build it, win with it, sell the players off, and do it all over again.

Joe McCarthy had Ruth-Gehrig and 2-decades of Yankees legends enroute to (2,125 wins) and 7-World Series titles.

Casey Stengel won 7-rings, the benefactor of great Yankees ownership, of course he also failed with the Boston Braves and New York Mets.

We know about LaRussa’s run in Oakland and St-Louis and what Weaver did in his span in Baltimore.

But Cox was so different.  Old school rules with the modern day millionaire on his roster.  The record book shows (2,504) wins, 1-World Series, 5-National League titles and 14-division wins in a row.

But there are other words used today to describe memories of Cox.  The Braves Way.  Excellence.  Strictness.  Sold legacy, loyalty, leadership.

To hear players talk about the values he taught and demanded every year.  

It was more than a man who chewed tobacco and wore high stirrups.  It was the positive approach dealing with Smoltz-Glavine-Maddux, all the way to the backup catcher.

It was what he allowed Leo Mazzone to demand and teach his pitchers.

It was parking his ego and merging his intelligence with longtime GM-John Scheurholz.

Baseball lost a legend.  Only those who played for him can fully appreciate the baseball knowledge, the minutiae elements of the game, and the intangible relationships and respect he built.

We know the face.  Hear the voice.  There was so much more you could never put on Bobby Cox’s baseball card.

RIP to a very different MLB-MVP leader.

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