Major League Baseball Hall of Fame “That Would Be Icing On The Cake”

As our own Alan Carpenter told us the news early that Atlanta Braves former Manager Bobby Cox has officially entered into the Hall of Fame, Mr. Bobby Cox himself sat down with 680 The Fan to discuss baseball, the Braves and the Hall of Fame.

Bobby, we are just so happy for you to be elected into the Hall of Fame, can you relive that moment today when you got the phone call that you were in?

“I got the phone call at 8:30am this morning, I was in having coffee with Ned Yost, Fredi Gonzalez and Pat Corrales and the phone rang.  I walked out, answered it and they said ‘you’re in the Hall Of Fame’.  And I got goosebumps at the time, I haven’t thought a lot about it, it’s always in the back of your mind but until the words come it hits you pretty hard.  It’s been a great day”

Who had the most influence on creating Bobby Cox the manager?

Dec 9, 2013; Orlando, FL, USA; Bobby Cox speaks after being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during the MLB Winter Meetings at Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. Cox was voted in unanimously with former managers Tony La Russa and

. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

“Well there are a lot of people but the person who comes up first would be Ralph Houk who managed me with the New York Yankees in the late 1960’s.  I played for a lot of managers and you take something from each one but I took a lot from Ralph Houk.  He took me in the right direction and thanks to him I was able to manage because he thought I would do good in the minor leagues.”

What we appreciate the most is all the winning you did in Atlanta, fourth all time in wins, 25 years in Atlanta as the Manager, what a great run.  How do you sum it all up?

“Just a great organization, from the scouting department to the field development people, just great leadership at the top.  We were a pretty good powerhouse baseball club for those years.  We had good players and when you have good players you can ride that horse a long time.  I just feel grateful that the right people were in the right spots throughout the system and developed not the Braves way but sorta the Braves way.”

Could young managers starting out today, do it the Bobby Cox way?  Like, read a book or get the pointers from you or has all the sabermetrics and things like that now kind of changed what the manager does on a daily basis?

“Well there is more information, no doubt about that but basically it comes down to being as prepared as you can do go after each team.  I would tell a lot of managers a lot of things (HAHA).  Basically, they have to do what I did and take some from here and some from there, throw out some things you didn’t like and collect the good stuff and number one, be yourself.”

Bobby, we will learn at the beginning of the year if Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux get into the Hall of Fame but wouldn’t that be an awesome day when you find out that Tom and Greg will be in there with you?

“Boy, it will be for me.  I’ve got my fingers crossed.  What an honor that would be to have two guys who got me as far as I did  on the same stage.  That would be the icing on the cake guys.”

Bobby of course has many fans out there and some sent tweets to congratulate the new Hall of Famer