Bobby Cox showed up to the ballpark early, spikes already on by noon, looking like a man who’d rather be nowhere else. He managed the Atlanta Braves for 25 years, won 2,504 games, and got thrown out of 158 of them — more than any manager in baseball history. All three numbers tell you something about who he was.

Cox died Saturday at 84 in Marietta, Georgia, according to the Braves. He had suffered a stroke in 2019, and heart trouble complicated his recovery.

He took over a last-place team in June 1990 and orchestrated a worst-to-first finish in 1991. That kicked off 14 consecutive division titles — a run no professional team in any sport has matched. Along the way, Cox guided Atlanta to five National League pennants and the city’s first major professional championship, the 1995 World Series, won in six games over Cleveland.

That he only won one ring in five tries irritated him. “It’s a game of breaks when you get down to a four-game, must-win series,” Cox said, according to the AP. “We’ve played well. We’re proud of what we’ve done. They always ask that, though. It is irritating, to be honest with you.”

His players didn’t share the irritation. “The first word that comes to mind is respect,” Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux said. “He had that from players. When Bobby talked, we listened. We wanted to play for him.” Andruw Jones called him “my second father.” Catcher Brian McCann put it plainly: “He is the Atlanta Braves.”

Cox was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, joining the organization’s retired No. 6 jersey. He ranks fourth all-time in wins and first in division titles, playoff appearances, and arguments with umpires that ended with a thumb pointed toward the clubhouse.

He is survived by his wife, Pam. His death came four days after that of Ted Turner, the Braves owner who lured Cox back to Atlanta in 1986 — first as general manager, then as the manager who built a dynasty.

Sources