Cox was signed by the Dodgers in 1959. After 6 seasons as a 2B/3B in the minors, he was drafted by the Cubs in November 1964. After only 1 season in the Cubs’ system, he was traded to the Braves for outfielder Billy Cowan.
Cox was in the Braves' system for 2 seasons, then was traded to the Yankees in December 1967 for backup catcher Bob Tillman. (One year earlier, the Yankees had traded their 3rd baseman (Clete Boyer) to the Braves.)
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After Mike Ferraro started the first 13 games in 1968, Cox was installed at the hot corner in Yankee Stadium, which had been a revolving door since Boyer departed. He started 129 of the remaining 151 games at 3rd base. Although showing little offensive punch for a 3rd baseman (7 homers) and batting only .229, Cox somehow retained the starting job for the entire season, and was named to the Topps All-Rookie team for 1968.
Cox was essentially a one-year wonder, as in 1969 another Bobby (Murcer) returned to the Yankees after a 2-year stint in the US Army and was handed the 3rd base job. After starting all but 1 of the first 32 games at 3rd base, Murcer was moved to the outfield on May 13th. This left Cox and rookie Jerry Kenney to platoon at the hot corner for the rest of the season, with Cox getting 55 starts to Kenney’s 74.
That was it for Cox’ playing career. After batting only .215 in 85 games, he was ticketed to the minors for all of 1970.
Bobby’s managing career began right away, as he piloted various teams in the Yankees’ farm system from 1971 to 1976. In 1978 he became the manager of the Atlanta Braves for 4 seasons, then moved on to manage the Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985.
Cox returned to the Braves’ job midway through the 1990 season, and stayed on through 2010. Along the way, he won the NL pennant in ’91, ’92, ’95, ’96, and ’99, and won the World Series in 1995.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, along with fellow managers Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre.
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