Bobby Cox reaches end of line with few baseball cards
By Chris Olds | Editor
Bobby Cox has managed his final game as his Atlanta Braves lost to the San Francisco Giants on Monday evening, capping a career that was short as a player but 29 seasons long as a successful manager.
Cox broke into managing in the bigs in 1978 — with the Braves — and recorded a 2,149-1,709 record in the regular season, winning five pennants and a World Series title with the Braves.
And despite all those years in baseball — a career that included four Manager of the Year awards (including one with the Blue Jays in 1984 and four with the Braves) — he appears on a total of just 240 baseball cards.
His Rookie Card can be found in the 1969 Topps set (No. 237; above) and can most often be had for $20 (or less). For the autograph collectors, there are just 13 Cox certified autograph cards to chase, while there have been 21 Cox memorabilia cards made during his career (and 10 of those are signed).
Only three of Cox’s autographs existed before Topps landed him for 2010 Topps Tribute (right). His first autograph can be found in the 2001 Topps Base Hit Autograph Relics set, a $100 card, while his appearance in this year’s Tribute set typically can be had for $50 or less for the less-rarer of his Autographed Relics in the set.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
