Cuando Bobby Cox vino a jugar con Cardenales de Lara (1967-68 y 1968-69) y Leones del Caracas (1969-70), teniendo buenos n\u00c3\u00bameros ofensivos con los p\u00c3\u00a1jaros rojos adem\u00c3\u00a1s de comandar a los antesalistas de la liga venezolana en promedio defensivo en la 67-68, nadie se imaginaba que pudiera establecerse como manager de Grandes Ligas. Y cuando vino a dirigir a Lara (1974-75, 1975-76 y 1976-77) mucho menos se pensaba que llegase a ganar 2143 juegos en Grandes Ligas (cuarta mejor marca de todos los tiempos), un t\u00c3\u00adtulo de Serie Mundial, 5 banderines de la Liga Nacional, y 15 t\u00c3\u00adtulos divisionales (14 con los Bravos de Atlanta 1 con los Azulejos de Toronto).<\/p>\n
Ahora cuando anuncia que la de 2010 ser\u00c3\u00a1 su campa\u00c3\u00b1a postrera como dirigente de Grandes Ligas abundan los comentarios de personas que han vivido de cerca su gesti\u00c3\u00b3n como manager. Desde que lleg\u00c3\u00b3 a Atlanta en 1978 impresion\u00c3\u00b3 por su estilo aguerrido tomado en parte de Billy Martin cuando trabaj\u00c3\u00b3 para \u00c3\u00a9l en el verano de 1977 como coach de primera base de los Yanquis de Nueva York.<\/p>\n
Clarence Gaston trabaj\u00c3\u00b3 para Cox en sus a\u00c3\u00b1os con los Azulejos y lo que m\u00c3\u00a1s recuerda de este es su estrategia y sensibilidad, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Era muy bueno dirigiendo pero tambi\u00c3\u00a9n manten\u00c3\u00ada unidos a los coaches y los llevaba a cenar despu\u00c3\u00a9s de los juegos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
Bill Acree el a\u00c3\u00b1ejo director de viaje de los Bravos que ha estado con el equipo desde que se mudaron para Atlanta en 1966, todav\u00c3\u00ada trabaja para Bobby y recuerda que al comienzo, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Si perd\u00c3\u00adamos 3 o 4 juegos seguidos, me ped\u00c3\u00ada que no lavara los uniformes. Tambi\u00c3\u00a9n hab\u00c3\u00ada momentos cuando alrededor de la media noche me llamaba para decirme que necesitaba el terreno a las 9 de la ma\u00c3\u00b1ana para una pr\u00c3\u00a1ctica completa. Ahora no ataca de frente. Lo hace m\u00c3\u00a1s en el estilo de rodear y conquistar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
El laureado nudillista Phil Niekro qui\u00c3\u00a9n jugara para Bobby entre 1978 y 1981 todav\u00c3\u00ada reconoce a Cox como el hombre que orquest\u00c3\u00b3 la escalada del equipo hacia la corona de la Divisi\u00c3\u00b3n Oeste de la Liga Nacional en 1982. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bobby construy\u00c3\u00b3 ese equipo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, dijo Niekro. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c3\u2030l construy\u00c3\u00b3 esa organizaci\u00c3\u00b3n. Pienso que nunca habr\u00c3\u00a1 un manager que haya tenido un impacto sobre una organizaci\u00c3\u00b3n como el que \u00c3\u00a9l ha tenido en los Bravos\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
Luego de guiar a los Azulejos a su primer t\u00c3\u00adtulo divisional, Cox regres\u00c3\u00b3 en 1986 y pas\u00c3\u00b3 5 a\u00c3\u00b1os como Gerente General de los Bravos, reestructurando el sistema de b\u00c3\u00basqueda y desarrollo de peloteros, los frutos de este esfuerzo se empezaron a ver cuando \u00c3\u00a9l regres\u00c3\u00b3 a dirigir a los Bravos a mediados de la temporada de 1990, a partir del pr\u00c3\u00b3ximo a\u00c3\u00b1o ganar\u00c3\u00ada el primero de 14 t\u00c3\u00adtulos divisionales seguidos.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Estuve en el entrenamiento primaveral el a\u00c3\u00b1o pasado por una semana y sigo pensando que Bobby no ha cambiado ni una pizca en 31 a\u00c3\u00b1os\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, dijo el antiguo relevista Gene Garber.<\/p>\n
Cuando Garber gan\u00c3\u00b3 una de las minibatallas que escenific\u00c3\u00b3 ante Cox durante la temporada de 1978, de inmediato se dio cuenta de que este manager novato reconoc\u00c3\u00ada la importancia de entender lo que era primordial para los jugadores.<\/p>\n
La noche del 01 de agosto de 1978, Garber mantuvo en blanco a los Rojos de Cincinnati en el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo y octavo innings y estaba determinado a salir para el noveno y completar el relevo de tres episodios para adem\u00c3\u00a1s terminar con la seguidilla de 44 juegos seguidos que ten\u00c3\u00ada Pete Rose.<\/p>\n
Despu\u00c3\u00a9s que los Bravos anotaron 5 carreras en el octavo para tomar una ventaja de 16-4, Cox le dijo a su veterano relevista que su trabajo hab\u00c3\u00ada terminado. Cuando Garber protest\u00c3\u00b3 y proclam\u00c3\u00b3 que \u00c3\u00a9l lanzar\u00c3\u00ada el noveno inning y adem\u00c3\u00a1s estar\u00c3\u00ada dispuesto a abrir el juego del d\u00c3\u00ada siguiente, sinti\u00c3\u00b3 la intensidad de la mirada de su joven manager.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Me mir\u00c3\u00b3 por un buen rato hasta que dije \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAh,ah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, dijo Garber. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Entonces dijo \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcGarb, anda y dom\u00c3\u00adnalos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. Pienso que se dio cuenta cuan importante era para m\u00c3\u00ad salir para el noveno. Garber, qui\u00c3\u00a9n ponch\u00c3\u00b3 a Rose para terminar aquella hist\u00c3\u00b3rica noche de agosto en el Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, rapidamente tuvo el presentimiento de que aquel aguerrido joven manager ten\u00c3\u00ada toda la voluntad de apoyar a sus peloteros. D\u00c3\u00a9cadas despu\u00c3\u00a9s, los jugadores de todas las Grandes Ligas todav\u00c3\u00ada reconocen la lealtad y la paciencia de Cox como razones por las cuales les gustar\u00c3\u00ada jugar para \u00c3\u00a9l.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Es terriblemente paciente con los peloteros\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, dijo Garber. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Entonces lo era y pienso que a\u00c3\u00ban lo es. No ha olvidado que para los jugadores este es un juego muy duro. Ellos no necesitan que se les recuerde que dejaron de hacer esto y dejaron de hacer aquello\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
Quiz\u00c3\u00a1s en ello haya tenido algo de influencia la dura prueba de haber vivido las exigencias de la afici\u00c3\u00b3n venezolana, sobre todo en un enfrentamiento Caracas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Magallanes.<\/p>\n
English Version<\/strong><\/p>\n When Bobby Cox came to play to the Venezuelan winter ball for the Lara Cardinals (1967-68 y 1968-69) and the Caracas Lions (1969-70), he had good offensive stats with the red birds and led the third basemen of the league in defensive average during the 67-68 season, nobody could imagine that he would be a successful manager in the Big Show. Then when he came back to manage the Lara team (1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77), not even a guy with a glass ball could imagine that Cox would win 2143 games in MLB (the fourth best performance in MLB history), 1 World Series Title, 5 National League pennants, 15 division titles (14 with the Braves, 1 with the Blue Jays).<\/p>\n Now when Cox announces that the 2010 season will be his last as MLB manager, there are many people who worked around him as skipper who remember how Cox was a field manager. Since he arrived to Atlanta in 1978, Cox impressed for his fierce style of managing, taken partially from Billy Martin after working for him in the 1977 summer as first base coach of the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n Clarence Gaston worked for Cox in his years with the Toronto Blue Jays. What he always remembers of Cox is his strategy and sensibility. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was a very good skipper but he also kept together his coaches by taking them to dinner after games.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Bill Acree the long time travel director who has been with the Braves since they moved to Atlanta before the 1966 season, still works for Bobby. He recalls that in the beginning of Cox tenure as manager \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we lost 3 or 4 games in a row, he asked me not to wash the uniforms. Some days around midnight he called to tell me he would need the field at 9 am for a workout with the whole team. Now he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t so straight forward. Now he prefers the tactics of surround and conquer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n The great knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who played for Bobby between 1978 and 1981 still recognizes Cox as the man who orchestrated the raise of the team to the West Division Title of the National League in 1982. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bobby built that team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, said Niekro. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He built that organization. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think there will ever be a manager who has had an impact on an organization as he has had on the Braves\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n After conducting the Blue Jays to their first division title, Cox came back in 1986 and spent 5 years as the Braves General Manager. He revamped the scouting and player-development departments. The fruits of this effort began to show when Cox returned to manage the Braves at the middle of the 1990 season. Starting the next year Cox would win the first of 14 division titles in a row.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was in the spring training last year for a week, and I keep thinking that Bobby hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t changed a bit in 31 years\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, said the former reliever Gene Garber.<\/p>\n When Garber won one of the mini-battles he waged against Cox during the 1978 season, he quickly realized that this rookie manager recognized the importance of understanding what was important to the players.<\/p>\n The evening of August 1st 1978, Garber kept scoreless the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh and eighth innings, and he was determined to highlight a three inning-relief stint by ending Pete Roses\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 44-game hitting streak in the ninth.<\/p>\n Once the Braves scored 5 runs in the eighth frame to take an edge of 16-4, Cox told his veteran reliever that his job was done for that evening. When Garber protested and proclaimed he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d pitch the ninth inning and still will be willing to start the next day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game, he felt the wrath of his young manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stare.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He looked at me long enough for me to say, ‘Uh oh,’\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Garber said. “Then he said, ‘Garb, go get ’em.’ I think he just realized how important it was for me to go back out there.”<\/p>\n Garber, who struck Rose out to end that historic August evening at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, quickly gained a sense that this fiery young manager was willing to support his players. Decades later, players across the Majors still recognize Cox’s loyalty and patience as reasons they would like to play for him.<\/p>\n “He’s terribly patient with players,” Garber said. “He was then and I think he still is. He hasn’t forgotten that this is a tough game for players. They don’t need to be reminded that they didn’t do this and they didn’t do that.”<\/p>\n Maybe some of this philosophy was influenced by the fact of being tested by the hard-demanding venezuelan fans, over all in a Caracas-Magallanes game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cuando Bobby Cox vino a jugar con Cardenales de Lara (1967-68 y 1968-69) y Leones del Caracas (1969-70), teniendo buenos n\u00c3\u00bameros ofensivos con los p\u00c3\u00a1jaros rojos adem\u00c3\u00a1s de comandar a los antesalistas de la liga venezolana en promedio defensivo en la 67-68, nadie se imaginaba que pudiera establecerse como manager de Grandes Ligas. Y cuando […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[906,907,903,901,910,914,904,908,912,899,902,917,918,900,905,915,911,909,913,916],"class_list":["post-2443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-acree","tag-billy-martin","tag-bobby-cox","tag-bravos-de-atlanta","tag-clarence","tag-coach","tag-el-verano","tag-good-bye","tag-juegos","tag-leones-del-caracas","tag-los-bravos","tag-marca","tag-nueva-york","tag-phil-niekro","tag-primera-base","tag-serie-mundial","tag-terreno","tag-tomado","tag-toronto","tag-vino"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}