Off of soccer, answer this....quantify Bobby Cox's managerial lifeline

Ain't gonna happen.

Cox manages til he retires (or keels over, god forbid. Honestly don't know which will happen first, though.)

Schuerholz stays til he retires (or goes back to KC, god forbid.)

Braves then start losing 100 a year, as payroll gets smaller due to continued corporate suckitude. CCS, not coincidentally, is the reason they can only get to the first round every year. Teddy Bear woulda opened his wallet for the boys if he was still in charge. I predict that scenario to happen around 2009. Commence long periods of losing at that point, and a long period of reminiscing for the good ol' days of 1991-2005.

And that's how it's gonna be.

 

If Tom Kelly went out on his terms with the Twins with more World Series titles, but a less successful career as a whole, aint no flippin way Cox goes out on anything but his own terms.

 

If the fans won't fill Turner Field when the Braves are winning, how bad will it get once they suck?

 

Problem is, how many other sports keep coaches who are perennial playoff teams but can't win the big one? And isn't that what professional sports is all about?

Wasn't Joe Torre once a Brave? Get him. Better still, give the Gerbil another shot at the big time.

 

They did win a World Series with Cox managing, so it's not like he's oh-fer. And with the exception of some curious pitching decisions he made in 1991, it ain't like he got outmanaged.

 

See Stadium, Fulton County, circa 1987

 

I was talking to someone the other day and made the comment that this kind of feels like 1989 or 90. Lotta young talented players, in need of the one or two veterans to push them to the top. May not be a great analogy, but it kind of feels like that.

As for Cox, with the level of success he's had -- add to his Atlanta run a pretty impressive streak in Toronto -- it would be anathema to show him the door. It's clear the man knows what he's doing, although Driver 8 is right on point. Seems like he gains five pounds every time they fall another game back in the standings.

 

I hope Roger McDowell knows CPR.

 

BRRRR-RING ... BRRRRR-RING ... "Hello, Atlanta Braves." "Hi, um, what time does the game tonight start?" "Well, what time can you get here?"

 

I think it was Gerald Perry who said that there were nights when he would look around the stadium during a game and think "this'd be a good night to paint the seats."

 

I'm more than happy to see the Braves' run end, but to see what happened to him last Sunday? To have Kevin Bleeping Youkilis prove to be a backbreaker? I'm a Sox fan, and even I was stunned at how far they've fallen.