Bobby Cox

Originally posted at The Bravesologist

This season, the Atlanta Braves are in first place despite getting close to no offensive production from their shortstop and center-field positions.

Their rookie right fielder, while productive for the first two months, has been a weak spot since the beginning June when Jason Heyward first injured his thumb.

To top it off, the right-handed portion of their left-field platoon has been injured for a majority of the season.

The end of the 2010 season will also mark the end of the managerial career of Atlanta Braves skipper Bobby Cox.

Cox has spent a total of 25 years as the manager of the Braves over two separate stints and has announced that this season will be his last.

Since 1990, Cox and the Braves front office have been the model of consistency among professional sports franchises.

Cox is fourth on the all-time list for managerial wins and has been named Manager of the Year four times, most recently in 2005.

When the Atlanta Braves signed Troy Glaus this past offseason, they hoped for an offensive spark that has been lacking at first base in recent years; they got much more than they bargained for. 

Glaus has been stellar this year, and last night was no exception.  Glaus hit a home run off Robinson Tejada on an 0-2 count to give the Braves a 5-4 victory over the tough-luck Royals Saturday night.

It's June 1st and I have an alarming stat for Braves fans—this year's primary starting pitchers (Hanson, Hudson, Kawakami, Lowe and Medlen) are having a more successful year at the plate than the starting centerfielder, Nate McLouth. Through 51 games (nearly a third of the year!) the pitchers are hitting .184 and McClouth is hitting .179 with no signs of coming out of his slump.

Does anyone else remember the hype machine surrounding Jordan Schafer from about, say, 2007 up until 50 games into the 2009 season?

The sky was the limit for this kid.

He was (and still is) a superb glove in center and has the potential from a speed/contact standpoint to turn into something resembling an above-average Major League talent.

Pretty amazing what a 50-game suspension and a broken wrist can do to a career isn't it?

If Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox does not start Brooks Conrad at third base for tomorrow's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he may have lost his mind.

Admittedly, I am still heavily under the influence of the euphoria that ensued after Conrad hit an opposite-field, game-winning grand slam in a 10-9 victory over the Cincinnati Reds today, which capped an eight-run Atlanta rally Thursday.

However, it's not crazy to at least entertain the idea of putting today's ninth-inning hero in the starting lineup at the hot corner.

This is not the storybook ending to the Bobby Cox era that the Atlanta Braves had envisioned.

In fact, it is a nightmarish beginning to the end of the illustrious Braves manager’s 29-year career.

Cox, in his 25th season with the Braves and in the final year of his brilliant managerial career, just watched his club endure an 0-7 road trip, their worst since 1949.

His team has lost nine straight games to drop them to an embarrassing 8-14 on the season.

I feel like the baseball season is halfway over already.

I know, the Braves are only 14 games into the year, but doesn’t it seem like so much has happened?

First there was Opening Day—Derek Lowe being Derek Lowe, a packed crowd at Turner Field, and of course, the monster homerun hit on the first swing of Jason Heyward’s career.

It's a new season. A new beginning. A fresh start.

It's also the final opening day for one of the greatest managers to ever grace the dugout, Bobby Cox.

Cox has what is possibly his most talented team since the early 2000s.

The Braves have plenty of starting pitching. They have a lineup that has the potential to become quite dangerous. They have a bullpen with one of the all-time greatest closers.

There are still question marks within those units.

Will Troy Glaus continue his torrid pace from spring training (he hit over .400)?

The Washington Nationals made one of the best moves of spring training on March 20^th, they sent down Stephen Strasburg.

Having made the decision that the young phenom would start the season in Double A, the Nationals designated him for assignment, which caused the hype surrounding Strasburg to deflate like a punctured beach ball.