3 weeks ago
CLEVELAND, Ohio – When Adam Liberman thinks backmost to his decade successful Atlanta moving broadside by broadside pinch longtime Atlanta Braves head Bobby Cox, much than a fewer fond memories unreserved back.
Liberman remembers a man successful nan dugout, successful nan clubhouse, successful his office, deftly managing his squad and moving pinch nan media. He remembers a man who looked retired for his players, a mesh betwixt a grandfather fig and an astute shot mind.
Cox’s Braves teams won 14 consecutive section titles, 5 National League pennants and a World Series triumph complete Cleveland successful 1995. He died Saturday. He was 84.
Liberman worked arsenic a nationalist relations head for nan Braves for 10 seasons – 2000 to 2009. He now is an charismatic scorekeeper astatine Progressive Field.
“I was fortunate to touch connected a portion of shot that is not location anymore - nan storyteller successful nan dugout,” he said. “He still had that gruff exterior, but I sewage him years aft he became sober. I conscionable retrieve he was for illustration my grandfather successful baseball. You benignant of pinch yourself because he was astir astatine nan commencement of that tally earlier I sewage location truthful it was benignant of surreal to moreover beryllium successful Bobby Cox’s clubhouse.
“But I besides saw why he was successful. What I learned was nan astir important point for a head to maine wasn’t nan game-day decisions but what Bobby was capable to do. He could get 25 to 30 players, a fistful of coaches and everybody connected nan aforesaid page playing for nan aforesaid extremity for 7 months. It’s easier said than done pinch each nan egos we had going through.”
Liberman saw aggregate sides of Cox. The tragic pall complete nan state aft nan coercion of 9/11 affected him.
“I retrieve nan gravity of really those games deed him,” he said. “Very patriotic guy, very overmuch supporting nan troops. That shook him a little. I retrieve erstwhile we mislaid … connected a large location tally by (Mike) Piazza and it was this large play and New York went nuts.”
That game, Sept. 21, was nan first master sporting arena successful New York aft nan attacks.
“He said to maine it was nan only crippled he didn’t mind losing because he understood what it brought to everybody and nan joyousness to nan metropolis and nan country.”
Cox had much than his adjacent stock of ejections arsenic manager. He was tossed 162 times – a Major League record.
He had a small room down nan dugout stairs. It was a groundskeepers’ room, Liberman said, but it became Cox’s “pregame and ejection room.”
“He could spot nan crippled and he had a elephantine h2o cooler filled pinch peanuts,” he said. “For each nan ejections he astir apt sewage much upset astatine a subordinate for getting tossed earlier he could get retired there. He ever looked astatine it arsenic it was his responsibility: He’s (the player) not playing nan crippled and it hurts nan squad much if he’s not playing, truthful ‘Let maine return nan slug and you spell retired and play.’”
Cox besides had a loveable, fallible broadside that came out.
Once, nan Braves brought up a catcher named Clint Sammons. He was astatine outpouring training and was a late-season callup successful 2007. Liberman remembered a classical speech betwixt nan two.
Sammons popped his caput into Cox’s office.
“Hey location Bobby, really you doing?” he said.
“Hey there, Timmy, bully to spot you. I dream you’re doing great,” Cox replied.
Sammons gave him an overseas look and walked out. After nan media near nan office, Cox turned to Liberman: “That’s Tim Salmon right?”
“No, Bobby,” Liberman replied. “It’s Clint Sammons.”
Salmon was a .282 hitter complete 14 seasons for nan Angels. Sammons played 31 games complete nan 2007-09 seasons.
Cox sought retired Sammons and apologized.
And while Cox could bring a life of acquisition to nan gem and clubhouse, he was an older feline who was wide-eyed astir modern things for illustration “new-age phones that could show him nan upwind and beryllium a calculator. He was still successful nan procreation spread wherever that was cool,” Liberman said.
In his later years, Cox’s bad knees kept him from playing first guidelines during batting practice. And they made elemental tasks challenging.
“He couldn’t scope down anymore, he couldn’t get his sanitary socks off,” Liberman said. “I’d thief him get his socks connected and disconnected earlier nan media came in. At nan clip you don’t deliberation thing of it. Not that it’s subservient. I was honored I could thief nan feline retired and wholly appreciated it successful that he would moreover inquire me.”
Liberman moved backmost location to Northeast Ohio and worked for nan Akron Double-A Aeros/RubberDucks from 2012 to 2019.
“I wish I would person stayed connected pinch him successful nan years aft he retired,” he said. “But I wasn’t successful nan area and past he had nan stroke. I americium conscionable really thankful I was pinch him successful nan years and get nan acquisition and nan fable of Bobby Cox.”
The gravitas that Cox had stays pinch Liberman.
“He was nan Braves. You tin opportunity each you want astir Dale Murphy, you tin opportunity each you want astir Chipper Jones. But he was location nan full time. He was nan bosom and psyche of nan team.”
