Braves’ Cox a hit in Little Rock in ’65

LITTLE ROCK — Last fall, Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox announced he likely would retire after the 2010 season, regardless of the results on the field.

Obviously, the solidly rebuilt Braves have emerged from a four year lull. After 92 games, they started this week with a 54-38 record and a five-game lead in the National League East Division over the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.

Atlanta won 14 division titles from 1991-2005, so one more couldn’t excite Cox much unless it leads to the World Series. The Braves haven’t made that trip since 1999.

I started paying attention to Bobby Cox’s career in 1965, when the Arkansas Travelers played in the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. Cox was an infielder on the Salt Lake City club, sponsored by the Chicago Cubs’ organization.

Left-hander Grant Jackson, then a 22-year-old Phillies prospect, started for the Travelers. Jackson was headed for 18 years in the majors with various teams, mostly as a reliever, and that evening, he was overpoweringly effective against the Salt Lake City lineup.

I happened to be breaking in that evening (in what then was still called Travelers Field) as a rookie official scorer.

In the second or third inning, Arkansas shortstop Bobby Malkmus ranged as far to his left as possible to cut off a grounder, but the Salt Lake player beat his throw to first. I signaled “hit” to the fellow operating the scoreboard. Nobody booed.

Jack Keady, veteran sports editor of the Arkansas Democrat, was seated nearby. He grinned and said, “You know the first hit is supposed to be clean, don’t you?”

Oh, yeah. According to a popular unwritten rule among scorers of that era, the first hit ought to be a loud line drive against the fence. But I didn’t start getting nervous until Jackson mowed down about 10 or 12 consecutive batters.

By the seventh or eighth inning, that scratch single was the only obstacle between Grant Jackson and perfection.

Then Cox hit a home run over the scoreboard. I waved gratefully toward the field and muttered something like, “Thank you, Bobby Cox, whoever you are.”

I casually followed his career after that. He spent 1968-1969 as a semi regular for the New York Yankees, batting .229 and .215.

He managed six years in the minors. His first big-league managing job was a generally unsuccessful stint with the Braves, 1978-1981, followed by a successful stint with the Toronto Blue Jays, 1982-1985. He served as the Braves’ general manager five years before returning to the field as Atlanta manager with 97 games remaining in the 1990 schedule.

From 1991-2005, the Braves won 14 division titles, reached the World Series five times but won only in 1995, against the Cleveland Indians.

They had a 106-56 record in 1998, but lost in the National League Championship Series to the San Diego Padres, who were then swept in the World Series by the 114-48 Yankees.

The 103-59 Braves of 1999 qualified for the World Series, but were swept by the 98-64 Yankees. Although they continued to win divisional titles from 2000-2005, they reached the League Championship Series only in 2001, with a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.

I never met Cox until 1991, the season he hustled the Braves from last to first in the National League. During a Braves-Los Angeles Dodgers series at Atlanta late in that season, he listened politely to the story of my scoring dilemma 26 years earlier.

“I remember that game,” he said. “I know I hit a home run in Little Rock. It was easy to keep track because I didn’t hit that many home runs. And I do remember we won that game.”

Actually, Grant Jackson beat Salt Lake City by a runaway margin that night.

I didn’t correct Cox’s memory of which team won. For getting me off the hook, I figured I owed him at least that much.