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By Colin Stephenson/The Star-Ledger
September 23, 2009, 8:10PM
Braves manager Bobby Cox announced Wednesday he will manage the Braves one more season and then retire after 2010.The Atlanta Braves wanted Bobby Cox to come back, and the veteran skipper wanted to come back. But at the same time, Cox understood he had to stop managing sometime. So Cox and the Braves announced Wednesday that they have reached agreement on a contract extension for one more year, and that Cox will retire following the 2010 season.
"That’s the only way, I think, that I’m every going to walk away from the game, is to go ahead and say I’m going to, and then I’ve got to,'' Cox said before his team took on the Mets in the final game of a three-game series. "There’s turning back now, win, lose, or draw. Whatever happens next year is going to be it.''
Cox, 68, said for the last few years he has been deciding on a year-to-year basis whether to return. One of the key things that made him okay with finally deciding to quit managing is that the Braves will keep him in the organization in an advisory position, and he will get to spend time with the organizations minor league teams, all of which are near Atlanta.
"I’m a lifetime baseball guy and it doesn’t matter if I’m watching a minor league game or a major league game. It’s all baseball. It’s always fun, so I’m grateful they’re allowing me to do that,'' he said. "I’m almost 70 years old. I’m going to manage at 69 next year – I’ve got to come to terms with that sometime – it’s time for somebody else to come in.''
Mets manager Jerry Manuel, when told Cox was leaving, joked that "I’m from Georgia. So I might be headed there next year'' and then turned serious in calling Cox "an icon'' in the managing profession.
"He’s quite an icon in the sport in what managers look to try to attain that level of status that he has,'' Manuel said of Cox. "I think that’s unfortunate for the Braves; probably fortunate for everybody else in the division.''
September 23, 2009, 8:10PM
Braves manager Bobby Cox announced Wednesday he will manage the Braves one more season and then retire after 2010.The Atlanta Braves wanted Bobby Cox to come back, and the veteran skipper wanted to come back. But at the same time, Cox understood he had to stop managing sometime. So Cox and the Braves announced Wednesday that they have reached agreement on a contract extension for one more year, and that Cox will retire following the 2010 season.
"That’s the only way, I think, that I’m every going to walk away from the game, is to go ahead and say I’m going to, and then I’ve got to,'' Cox said before his team took on the Mets in the final game of a three-game series. "There’s turning back now, win, lose, or draw. Whatever happens next year is going to be it.''
Cox, 68, said for the last few years he has been deciding on a year-to-year basis whether to return. One of the key things that made him okay with finally deciding to quit managing is that the Braves will keep him in the organization in an advisory position, and he will get to spend time with the organizations minor league teams, all of which are near Atlanta.
"I’m a lifetime baseball guy and it doesn’t matter if I’m watching a minor league game or a major league game. It’s all baseball. It’s always fun, so I’m grateful they’re allowing me to do that,'' he said. "I’m almost 70 years old. I’m going to manage at 69 next year – I’ve got to come to terms with that sometime – it’s time for somebody else to come in.''
Mets manager Jerry Manuel, when told Cox was leaving, joked that "I’m from Georgia. So I might be headed there next year'' and then turned serious in calling Cox "an icon'' in the managing profession.
"He’s quite an icon in the sport in what managers look to try to attain that level of status that he has,'' Manuel said of Cox. "I think that’s unfortunate for the Braves; probably fortunate for everybody else in the division.''