Bobby Cox has now hung up his spikes, leaving behind an unparalleled tenure as one of the most successful managers of all time. Known throughout baseball as a player’s manager, the legendary skipper has endeared himself to all who love the game. His constancy has been an anomaly in this fickle sports era, and In the Time of Bobby Cox is Lang Whitaker’s heartfelt exploration of the lessons he’s learned sitting at the master’s side . . . or, more accurately, sitting on his couch in front of the television. The number of players who’ve hit the field for Cox is astonishing—and this book includes a list. From David Justice to Greg Maddux to Chipper Jones to Jason Heyward, Cox managed every kind of player, and almost always got the most out of each one. He did it with patience, persistence, and faith. He did it by adapting, communicating, and, more often than any other manager, getting himself ejected. Whitaker didn’t think much of it at first, but, as the years rolled by, he realized he’d learned at least as much from Cox as players such as Andruw Jones had. In the tradition of Frederick Exley’s 1968 classic, A Fan’s Notes, and Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, sports commentator, editor, columnist, and blogger Lang Whitaker weaves memoir with his obsessive super-fandom, providing the perfect blend of sports, humor, and insight for Braves fans and for everyone who enjoys America’s favorite pastime. In his second incarnation as Atlanta Braves manager, from 1990 through 2010, Bobby Cox, now retired, was so predictably successful�14 straight division titles, 14 seasons of 90 wins or more�as to operate almost under the radar of many baseball fans. Whitaker, executive editor of SLAM magazine and super Braves fan, pays tribute to Cox and the teams he managed. There�s some analysis here�Whitaker�s take on future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux is especially keen�but readers will more likely appreciate the author�s undying connection to his team, which includes an apparently complete, annotated list of every player on the Braves during Cox�s second tenure and, more important, the life lessons Whitaker drew from Bobby Cox, among them patience, adaptability, resilience, and a dedication to improving the performance of those he managed. Essential reading for Braves� devotees and a fascinating baseball story for fans of all kinds. --Alan Moores “That fond couch potato planted yonder on your sofa, watching sports day after night... it turns out there's a sensitive man inside. With In the Time of Bobby Cox , Lang Whitaker shows eloquently how baseball is so much more than just a game to its devoted fans.”—Mike Sager, Esquire , author of Wounded Warriors "Atlanta Braves fans will read Lang Whitaker's book to the final page."-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution "A strangely compelling mash-up of memoir and obsession. . . . You don't have to love baseball to be a fan."-- Atlanta Magazine INTRODUCTION Sundays with Bobby I ’m worried. I’m really, really worried. It is a balmy Wednesday night toward the end of July 2007. My wife is asleep. I am with my dog, Starbury, in my apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The window is open, but the curtains are drawn; the apartment is dark, and I am sitting on the left side of the couch, same spot as always, my bare feet resting on the IKEA coffee table with the gently warped top exactly where my wife doesn’t like me to rest my feet because it’s also where we place our dinner plates. The Atlanta Braves are on my TV. The Braves are almost always on my TV. If I’m home during the baseball season, I’m watching the Braves play. If I’m not home when they’re playing, I’m recording the game so I can watch it later. I especially love it when the Braves go out West. The games start late at night, East Coast time. I can put my wife to bed, then crash out on the couch and watch until the wee hours of the night. Tonight, for instance, the Braves are playing the Giants out in San Fran at whatever the current name of their park is, the one with the bay beyond right field. First pitch is around 10:05 p.m. in New York, which means the game won’t end until close to 1:00 a.m. Tonight’s game has a nominal national relevance, because Barry Bonds is only three home runs away from breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time career record, though I’m past caring about that, and so, seemingly, is the rest of the country. I guess one of the side effects of the steroid era is public ambivalence. What matters to me tonight is that the Braves are 3 games back of the New York Mets with about 50 games left to play. And, like I said, I’m worried. I’m really, really worried. Our first basemen have combined to post the worst batting average at any position in the major leagues. Will Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Brian McCann get the start behind the plate tonight? Has McCann’s left ring finger healed completely? Willie Harris is no Willie Mays, but he’s still been slumping lately; we need him to get going again. We