NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION: 1970 BOBBY COX

On the blog today, we have a "not so missing" 1970 card for Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox, who wrapped up a brief two-year playing career in 1969 with 85 games with the New York Yankees:

 

Cox hit .215 in that final taste of the Big Leagues, collecting 41 hits over 191 at-bats while playing both third and second base.

The previous season he appeared in 135 games in his Major League debut, hitting .229 with 100 hits in 437 at-bats, scoring 33 runs while driving in 41.

Turns out that would be it for him as a player, spending parts of the next two years in the Minors before moving on to coaching, then as manager beginning in 1978 at the age of 37 with the Atlanta Braves.

He would go on to manage 29 seasons in the Majors, guiding many powerhouse teams like the 1985 Toronto Blue Jays and the dynastic Atlanta Braves of the late-90's/early-00's.

By the time he retired as a manager, he finished with 2504 wins and five National League pennants, as well as a World Series win in 1995.

He finished in 1st place in his division an incredible 15 times, with eleven of them coming consecutively between 1991 and 2005, topping 100 wins six times.

Just an incredible managerial resume that got him inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2014.

MEET THE NEWEST HALL OF FAMERS! LaRUSSA, COX AND TORRE!

I think a hearty "CONGRATULATIONS" needs to go out to the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame: Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre!
News just broke of all three being inducted into Cooperstown today, and it could NOT have gone any other way.
The three new Hall members represent the third, fourth and fifth highest winning field skippers in Major League history.
Tony LaRussa was the big winner with 2728 wins as a manager, with Cox winning 2504 and Torre getting 2326 wins respectively.
Funny enough, all three started managing Major League ball within three years of each other: Torre in '77, Cox in '78 and LaRussa in '79.
"Cheers" to all three and their winning ways!

Managing Iowa in 1979. The beginning...

Cox at the beginning of his managerial career, with the 1978 Braves.

The beginning of Torre's managerial career, with the Mets.

MANAGING A MANAGER SUB-SET THE RIGHT WAY...1978

I always thought Topps nailed it when it came to their manager cards in the 1978 set. The horizontal orientation, the dual images of both player and manager, and the full playing statistics that, at the time, were not readily accessible in the pre-internet world we lived in.

Up until that point, and sadly, ever since, manager cards were usually run of the mill "throw-ins" that really didn't add much to the set, and you were left wondering if the slots wouldn't have been better served with some players that were left out, or some other sub-set that could garner more interest. 

But for this set, all teams but the Brewers had their managers represented with nicely designed and well thought out cards. 

***Milwaukee hadn't yet named their manager for the upcoming season when cards went to press. However I created a George Bamberger card below to finally "complete" the sub-set.

All told, no less than six of the managers are Hall-of-Famers (either as managers or players): Earl Weaver, Whitey Herzog, Bob Lemon, Dick Williams, Tommy Lasorda and Sparky Anderson. And that number will most assuredly go up by two once Joe Torre and Bobby Cox are inducted as well. Some can even make a case for Billy Martin to eventually get in as well, possibly bringing us to NINE members of the Hall. Not too shabby for a sub-set.

Of these managers, the most accomplished as players were Bob Lemon and Joe Torre. Lemon fashioned a Hall of Fame career as a pitcher for the famed Indians staffs of the '40's and '50s, while Torre was a one-time MVP with the Cardinals in 1971, after a solid career as a power hitting catcher for the Braves in the '60's as a power hitting catcher with the Braves.

However, Alvin Dark and Bill Virdon were no slouches either, with both winning Rookie of the Year awards, in 1948 and 1955 respectively.

Sure, there were some guys that really didn't leave much of a mark in baseball history, but overall, this sub-set was one of the better executed sub-sets of the decade in my eyes. It's a shame that Topps decided to abandon this format for their Manager cards after this set.

Anyway, now onto the cards themselves. Enjoy!

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

***This card was never issued. I've created here to complete the sub-set***

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST 

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST 

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST