Acid Flashback Friday: Bobby Cox as Blue Jays Manager

Believe it or not, aside from meeting in the 1992 World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves have some deep ties.

One of them happens to be the current manager of the Atlanta Braves, and former skipper of the Blue Jays. For this week’s Acid Flashback Friday, we take a look back at Bobby Cox’s tenure as manager for the Blue Jays.

Cast aside from the Atlanta Braves following four straight seasons of finishing fourth or worse in the NL West Division, Bobby Cox came to Toronto hoping to get his second wind. Bobby quickly turned things around for the club and helped them soar to a 78-84 record in 1982.

The two following seasons, Bobby Cox guided the young franchise to consecutive seasons with a winning record. His crowing achievement with the the team was a first place finish in 1985 when the Blue Jays captured the pennant thanks in part to 99 wins.

We all know too well that the Blue Jays ended up losing the ALCS in a heartbreaking seven games to the Kansas City Royals, and maybe no one felt the sting of that more than Bobby Cox.

He may have enjoyed success in Toronto during his four seasons as manager, but it was obvious his heart was with Atlanta and he subsequently returned to the Braves organization as General Manager and would eventually take over as skipper two years later.

In an era of baseball in which managers are all too often painted as the scapegoats for seasons gone wrong, it’s nice to see that the Atlanta Braves organization stood behind Bobby Cox even though he only brought the Braves one World Series ring.

Oddly enough, Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston spent four seasons together on the Blue Jays Coaching staff: Cox as manager and Cito as the hitting coach. However, both will be hanging up their managerial caps for good at the end of the 2010 season. 

Cox helped steer the Braves to 14 playoff appearances in 15 years, and all indications seem to point to a 15th trip to the post season under the guidance of Bobby Cox as his final swan song.

Bonus footage: Don’t ask me how, but I came across this McDonald’s commercial from back in the day featuring Bobby Cox in his full out Blue Jays gear. Enjoy!