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.
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.
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).
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).
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).
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).
3 recs | 19 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.
BenDuronio - September 30, 2010
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.
Jacob Peterson - October 1, 2010
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?
iamthesgt - October 1, 2010
Who is
Roger McDowell.
Braves trivia for 400, Alex.
-C
cthabeerman - October 1, 2010
This weekend is going to emotional for me.
This article was nice on the AJC: Saying Goodbye to Bobby
NCChopper - September 30, 2010
The image that went with it, got me.
(by Curtis Compton)
NCChopper - September 30, 2010
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.
wareaglechop - September 30, 2010
so basically
Cox is the greatest manager of all time
southman - September 30, 2010
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.
Jacob Peterson - October 1, 2010
yeah you're probably right
southman - October 1, 2010
We have to do this for him.
Not make the playoffs. Win the whole damn thing.
TennesseeQuackAttack8 - September 30, 2010
The best manager of our generation deserves to leave the game as nothing less than the best.
Win the whole f—in’ thing.
TonyAlmeyda - October 1, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCaHxZuf94
nuftjedi - October 1, 2010
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!!!
fandave - October 1, 2010
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
mikie baseball - October 1, 2010
it's the end of an era in all of baseball
not just the Braves
southman - October 1, 2010
Bobby is better than all these guys
because he is ours!
nuftjedi - October 1, 2010
Was at the airport this morning in Philly....
…..and also got a text from a mate in Atlanta saying that there is supposedly going to be a ton of Phillies fans there this weekend. Just pray they can you know, NOT run on the field, vomit on kids, and/or throw things at players….
Undocorkscrew - October 1, 2010
Haha, and yet another text from Philly....
at the airport waiting for a flight. There’s apparently tons of Phils fans waiting for a few flights to Atlanta. I wish I could make that up. I’m sure there were a ton of ticket sales before the Phils clinched the division.
Undocorkscrew - October 1, 2010
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