Sep 04 2009
Bobby Cox Ejected Again
Bobby Cox was ejected again last night, bringing his All-Time Record number of ejections to 149. He is now 18 ejections ahead of the previous record holder, legendary John McGraw.
The reason that Bobby was ejected was for arguing balls and strikes. For those of you who don’t know, that’s one of the categories that will pretty much earn you an automatic ejection.
So why has Bobby Cox been ejected more times than anyone else? Is he just an angry old man?
I don’t think so. While I’m sure that his number of ejections have slightly gone up over the latter part of his managerial career, I don’t think he’s a super angry kind of guy.
Anyone who’s watched a few Braves games has heard Bobby Cox chirping along in the dugout. “Come on Chip!” “Get’em Mac!” He’s at it all game long. He’s a really passionate manager and when he doesn’t agree with a call, he says something.
Most of the time though, when Bobby gets thrown out of a game, it’s because he’s got his players back. Cox knows that his team can get along better without him better than without Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, or whoever’s pitching that day. So if one of his players is upset and starts jawing with the ump, Bobby races out of the dugout to get in the way.
These aren’t Lou Piniella rants, he’s not jumping up and down or uprooting and heaving a base, or anything like the shameful actions of the minor league Braves manager thrown out last year. But Bobby is a master at the redirection of attention.
To protect his players, Bobby gets in the umps face and starts making a fuss so that another coach or player can move the upset player out of the umps way. The umpire gets fed up with Cox and tosses him. The umpire feels better and the player can get back to playing the game. Seems like a good plan if you ask me.
