Is Cox the greatest manager ever?
The Guru, Bill James, says even nicer things about Bobby than I did. (Thanks, Andrew.) I don’t know that I’d say he’s the best manager ever, but I do think Bobby has been wildly underrated. In many ways the manager he most resembles is Joe McCarthy, derided as the “push-button manager” but successful not only in New York but with the Cubs and Red Sox as well. And anyone who thinks this Braves team underachieved needs to try to figure out how a team with no credible MVP candidate and Keith Lockhart, Vinny Castilla, and Javy Lopez (backed by Henry Blanco) in the starting lineup won 101 games.