Tag: Bobby Cox

MLB The Show podcast Charlie O: Former Braves manager Bobby Cox dead at 84; Former Braves owner Ted Turner dead at 87; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox (left) has his say with home plate umpire Rick Reed (right) in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth inning in an interleague game at the Sky Dome in Toronto on Jun 13, 2001 (AP News file photo)

MLB The Show podcast Charlie O:

#1 At 84 years old former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox passed away on Saturday. Cox won more than 2500 games as manager and went into the Hall of Fame in 2014. Cox was ejected over hs career as manager 158 times MLB record for a manager. Cox led the Braves to 14 straight divison titles from 1991 to 2005. He led the Braves to a World Series title in 1995. Cox as a player played two seasons for the New York Yankees and hit just .255.

#2 Former Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks owner Ted Turner who passed away at age 87 this past week died at age 87 last Wednesday at his home in Tallahassee Florida as announced by a family spokesperson for Turner Enterprises. Turner was battling dementia and showed signs of having Parkinsons disease. Turner bought the Braves in 1976 and purchased the Hawks in 1977. In 1977 he created 24 all news cable station CNN. He sold the Braves and Hawks to Time Warner for $7.3 billion in stock in 1996. On May 11, 1977 Turner managed the Braves for just one game after previous manager Dave Bristol was fired. Then MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn ordered Turner to stop managing as owners are prohibited from managing. Turner was famouly married to actress Jane Fonda for ten years from 1991-2001.

#3 Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper left Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies due to a mirgrane headache. Harper had played in all of the Phillies 40 games so far this season was replaced by after fielding a ground out hit by the Rockies Mickey Moniak for an unassisted out. Harper was hitting .282 with nine home runs and 23 RBIs.

#4 Former San Francisco Giants catcher and current Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt is ready to help former Giants catcher Patrick Bailey get his swing back after Bailey was dealt to Cleveland on Saturday. Bailey was struggling at the plate hitting just .146, with one home run, five RBIs and 12 hits. Cleveland genreal manager Chris Antonetti said that the Guardians had an interest in Bailey for some time and the opportunity came up this week. Vogt whose worked with players and brought their game up is confident he can do the same with Bailey.

#5 The Sacramento A’s are starting to get some notice as they’ve been consistenly winning. The A’s have won six of their last ten games and were on a three game winning streak through Saturday night. The A’s were leading the second place Seattle Mariners in the AL West by 2 games and they were getting key hits from their line up of Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker and Carlos Cortes to name a few.

Charlie O does the MLB The Show podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Dusty Did it His Way

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (right) greets Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (left) before game 1 of the ALCS at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Sun Oct 15, 2023. Baker announced his retirement from baseball after game 7 of the ALCS on Mon Oct 23, 2023 (AP News photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Dusty Baker announced he is retiring after concluding the seventh game of the American League Championship. His team lost in seven games to the now-American League Champion Texas Rangers.

As a player, Dusty had a stellar career as an outfielder during 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics; he hit 242 home runs with 1,981 hits with a .278 batting average. In 1986, he retired as a player with the Oakland A’s, the team that showcased the Rookie of the Year that season in José Canseco.

Dusty, a gracious man whom I would often interview in Spanish many times, was always thinking baseball, and It did not surprise me when he launched a managerial career. I never met a player that said anything that wasn’t complimentary about Dusty Baker, the ultimate player manager.

I had the privilege of covering and traveling with Dusty Baker’s San Francisco Giants, the first major league team he managed from 1993 to 2002. I remember many conversations we had and interviews pre and post-game, especially during the first years of his managing with the Giants. He told me that “minority managers want that first interview, the opportunity to show what they can do.”

He won the 2002 NL pennant and took the team to the World Series against the Anaheim Angels, who won it all that year. He would continue as skipper with stops in Chicago with the Cubs, Cincinnati with the Reds, Washington with the Nationals, and finally, the last four years (2020-2023) with the Houston Astros, culminating with a World Series title in 2002.

During this 2023 season, he took the Astros to game seven of the ALCS and lost to the streaky Texas Rangers. In one Spring Training with the Cincinnati Reds as manager, Dusty introduced me to a young pitcher from Cuba named Aroldis Chapman who was then throwing at a velocity of 105 mph.

Dusty was an “old school” manager; not many left these days. After announcing his retirement from managing just hours after the Rangers beat his Astros, he is now free from the grind of managing, and his baseball on-the-field duties are done during a successful Hall of Fame career. Dusty ended #7 on the list of all-time winning managers with a record 2,183-1,862.

Only Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa, John McGraw, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Sparky Anderson ended ahead of Dusty Baker. All these managers ahead of Dusty are in the Hall of Fame. If elected to the HOF, as he should, Dusty Baker will be the first African-American manager in Cooperstown.

Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker will not have to deal anymore with some 25 year-old in the front office telling him about the science of baseball, known now as Sabermetrics; the analysis of baseball through statistics. We might see Dusty talking baseball on television, maybe MLB Network and such, but I do believe he will not return to managing, he has a lot of life left to live with his family, after all Baseball was his life, but not all of life is Baseball.

Felicidades Dusty!

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com