Bobby Cox Tribute

As most of you know that follow my blog...I am a HUGE Braves fan!. I'm not sure if I love the Braves because of Bobby Cox (the manager) or if I love Bobby Cox because he manages the Braves, but either way, well you get the picture. Many have asked me why I love the Braves so much since I grew up in Wyoming...they assume I would be a Colorado Rockies fan. But when I grew up Colorado didn't have the Rockies and one of the few stations we got on the tv was TBS, which happened to carry most of the Braves games. In our house growing up, if you wanted any quality time with my Dad, you learned to love sports. He still loves football the best (I think), but he always loved baseball too, so I learned to love the game. Then Jarod started playing tball at the age of 5 and shortly after that, Cleo started coaching him and I was the Little League secretary for quite a few years, so our summers were always spent at the ball fields. To this day, I love nothing more than watching a baseball game.

This year, because of the generosity of our friends the Carlsons mostly, we were able to enjoy quite a few Braves games and most recently this past Saturday we were able to go to the game and see the tribute to retiring manager Bobby Cox. It was a beautiful day and awesome weather for the festivities, but much to my dislike, we did not win the ball game. We did win on Sunday and due to the Padres losing the Braves have made the playoffs for the first time since 2005...YAY!!! I can't say thanks enough to you Libby and Jack for the tickets and mostly for your friendship...y'all ROCK!!

Bobby Cox will be sorely missed next season, but hopefully we can get some post season wins to send him off with a Bang (can they make it all they way?? who knows, but I'm gonna sit back and enjoy the ride!). He has the most ejections in Major League history and some would say that means he's just a hot head...I say it's because he ALWAYS has his players backs. He believes in them and knows how to get the most out of each of them. He knows how to make them achieve their full potential, he NEVER tolerates being late, he always expects you to play hard and give it your all and treats the rookies just like the veterans. I know a lot of people in this world who could learn a lesson or two about life from this guy.
They had #6 in front of both dugouts in Coxs' honor

Cleo and I...we arrived pretty early so got to watch them set everything up and just soak it all in!

Some of the coaching staff getting ready for the tribute

Hank Aaron was on the stage to present the painting of Bobby to him...pretty cool! A lot of former Braves players were in the seats in front of the stage as well as family members of Bobby. Chipper Jones sat on the stage next to Bobby and his wife Pam.

It was standing room only and the biggest crowd in Turner Field History...man was it loud!

Hero...I'm not really sure what constitutes a hero, but in my book the man is quite simply Amazing. I'm sure gonna miss going to the games next season and not seeing him in the dugout or on the field yelling at the umpires, but life goes on and so will the Braves. I just hope this year is the start of something really spectacular for the Braves.