Bobby Cox took over as Braves manager 30 years ago Monday

It was a Friday afternoon when the news broke. The Braves were 25-40. Once again, they were not very good.

But they were supposed to be better. They had signed Nick Esasky and traded for Jim Presley and Charlie Liebrandt. It was, however, the same ole Braves.

So, general manager Bobby Cox made a decision. Manager Russ Nixon needed to go. He had served his time through a tough rebuild, and Nixon could only do so much with a limited roster; it was one that had young players getting their feet wet and fill-ins until others were ready.

Braves president Stan Kasten encouraged Cox to return to the dugout. Everyone knew Cox would manage again one day. He did a magnicificent job in a suit and tie, but his love was in being in uniform.

Cox went back down to the dugout on that Friday night in June. His Braves had a tumultuous final three-and-a-half months. More rookies, like Steve Avery, came up and struggled. Cox traded Braves legend Dale Murphy to the Phillies. And the Braves went 40-57 the rest of the way.

And then, next year happened. The 1991 season, according to Cox, was the most special of all the great seasons for the Braves in the 1990s. Yes, they won the World Series in 1995, but that worst-to-first season in 1991 started it all.

Cox was the perfect man to take over his own creation. He was a manager more than a general manager, and his was a great GM. He built the organization from nothing and handed over a talented core to his replacement in the front office, John Schuerholz, who then added the veterans to surround the young talent.

Cox won 2149 games in his career with the Atlanta Braves, and he had 355 more victories with the Toronto Blue Jays. His 2504 victories as a manager are fourth-most in MLB history.

Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.