Braves Stats of the Day: The Greatness of Bobby Cox

by Jacob Peterson on Sep 30, 2010 8:42 PM EDT

I figured I'd get Bobby Cox Weekend started off a little early with some fun comparisons between Bobby and his most successful contemporaries. Below, I look at the six active managers other than Bobby (counting Lou Piniella as "active") with at least 1,000 wins, and see what they'd have to do to match Bobby's phenomenal record. Remember, these are some great managers--two surefire Hall of Famers and several borderline candidates. And Bobby blows them away, by and large.

You probably know that Bobby has 2,503 wins (4th-most all time). What you may not know is that he's sitting on 1,999 losses. Wouldn't it be great if the Braves won out and kept him from reaching the 2,000 mark? Bobby also has a great winning percentage of 0.556, which is better than all active full-season managers except for Joe Girardi (0.564).

Without further ado, here's how Bobby stacks up with Tony LaRussa, Joe Torre, Lou Piniella, Jim Leyland, Dusty Baker, and Bruce Bochy.

Bobby vs. Tony LaRussa (2634-2293, 0.535)

LaRussa needs to win 237 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 1.5 seasons).
LaRussa does have 131 more wins than Bobby, but he also has 294 more losses.

Bobby vs. Joe Torre (2324-1996, 0.538)

Torre needs to win 175 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 1.1 seasons).
To match Bobby's W-L record, Torre has to go 179-3 (a 0.984 win% for 1.1 seasons).

Bobby vs. Lou Piniella (1835-1713, 0.517)

Piniella would need to win 310 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 1.9 seasons).
To match Bobby's W-L record, Piniella would have to go 668-286 (a 0.700 win% for 5.9 seasons).

Bobby vs. Jim Leyland (1492-1515, 0.496)

Leyland needs to win 405 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 2.5 seasons).
To match Bobby's W-L record, Leyland has to go 1011-484 (a 0.676 win% for 9.2 seasons).

Bobby vs. Dusty Baker (1402-1283, 0.522)

Baker needs to win 204 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 1.3 seasons).
To match Bobby's W-L record, Baker has to go 1101-716 (a 0.606 win% for 11.2 seasons).

Bobby vs. Bruce Bochy (1272-1298, 0.495)

Bochy needs to win 353 consecutive games to match Bobby's win% (about 2.2 seasons).
To match Bobby's W-L record, Bochy has to go 1231-701 (a 0.637 win% for 11.9 seasons).

I love that all these guys would have to win at least a season's worth of games in a row just to match Bobby's winning percentage. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but Bobby Cox is just a ridiculously good manager. I'm hoping to have at least one more post celebrating Bobby this weekend (this one with graphics).

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Comments

Love Bobby

There’s no question he’s been one of the top managers of the past 20+ years. I’m not sure if he’s a better manager than some of these guys, specifically because he was fortunate to have four — maybe five — hall-of-famers on his roster for a lengthy amount of time. However, it isn’t like the rest of them didn’t have a bunch of talent too.

He gets a lot out of his players, which is one of the most important facets of being a manager in the Majors.

Twitter: @Ben_Duronio

by BenDuronio on Sep 30, 2010 8:45 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, but...

how many HOFers has LaRussa had? Torre? They weren’t exactly begging for good players. Granted, Bobby was lucky to have 3 HOF starters at the same time, which is basically unheard of, but all these guys have had great players, and Bobby did the most with them.

Also, you can’t ignore the other side of the issue, namely that it’s possible those guys would not have become HOFers without Bobby. Granted, Maddux would’ve been regardless. But does Smoltz develop into an ace under another manager? Does Glavine win 2 Cy Youngs? Does Chipper turn into the icon that he is? I wouldn’t be able to answer those questions, but I know all those guys would credit Bobby with part of their success.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Oct 1, 2010 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

I think Smoltz, Glavine, and some of the other pitchers who 'resurrected' their careers in Atlanta - their greatness is due more to Leo Mazzone, who I think is one of the best pitching coaches.

Btw, who is the Braves’ pitching coach now?

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken." -Yogi Berra

by iamthesgt on Oct 1, 2010 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Who is

Roger McDowell.

Braves trivia for 400, Alex.

-C

It’s rough to sit through these games and not have someone that can’t hit a Ball?

by cthabeerman on Oct 1, 2010 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

This weekend is going to emotional for me.

This article was nice on the AJC: Saying Goodbye to Bobby

My avatar says it for me...
"Curve: The loveliest distance between two points." ~ Mae West

by NCChopper on Sep 30, 2010 9:43 PM EDT reply actions

The image that went with it, got me.

(by Curtis Compton)

My avatar says it for me...
"Curve: The loveliest distance between two points." ~ Mae West

by NCChopper on Sep 30, 2010 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Great Article!!

Absolutely fantastic idea for an article and you did a great job crunching the numbers for those managers that have a shot at coming close to Bobby’s magnificence (it’s clear from the numbers that they don’t have a shot at it). Just want to appreciate your work as I know it probably took a lot of your time to do it!
Bobby might make us scratch our heads with his decisions sometimes, but he has done it so well for so long that he just might know what he is doing.

by wareaglechop on Sep 30, 2010 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

so basically

Cox is the greatest manager of all time

Mathew 19:26 "With God, all things are possible"

by southman on Sep 30, 2010 10:51 PM EDT reply actions

Well, I wouldn't go quite that far

John McGraw, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, and Walter Alston would all have an argument. McGraw won 260 more games and lost 50 fewer than Bobby. McCarthy had an unreal 0.615 W% (for the Yankees, but still) and won 7 titles in 9 WS. Stengel also won 7 titles, though his regular season numbers aren’t great. Alston won 4 titles in the modern era (i.e., post-integration) and had a slightly better W% than Bobby.

But I will say this. I think Bobby is the best regular-season manager since Alston, and I don’t think it’s that close.

"Yeah, and I have an enchanted jock strap." -- Karl Karlson

by Jacob Peterson on Oct 1, 2010 12:00 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah you're probably right

Mathew 19:26 "With God, all things are possible"

by southman on Oct 1, 2010 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

We have to do this for him.

Not make the playoffs. Win the whole damn thing.

"(Kelly's) got a veteran team that is the favorite to win the Pac-10. His choice of Thomas reflects only one belief: He’s our best QB today."-Ted Miller

by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Sep 30, 2010 11:23 PM EDT reply actions

The best manager of our generation deserves to leave the game as nothing less than the best.

Win the whole f—in’ thing.

The birth of Jason Heyward was God’s punishment for the sins of the people in New York and Philly.

by TonyAlmeyda on Oct 1, 2010 1:51 AM EDT reply actions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCaHxZuf94

by nuftjedi on Oct 1, 2010 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

1,999

thanks for making the point that the milestone associated with one more regular season loss would be an excellent milestone for Bobby to never reach.

so, all our team needs to do is smite down the loathesome Phillies with a three game, pay-back sweep.

GO BRAVES!!!

by fandave on Oct 1, 2010 6:14 AM EDT reply actions

I ,for one...

think that Bobby Cox’s greatness has little to do with the Wins or Losses. Great knowledge of people, and a respect for the game,as well as a keen eye for talent..This is truly the end of an era in Brave Baseball

by mikie baseball on Oct 1, 2010 8:21 AM EDT reply actions