At first glance, Bobby Cox looks like a calm old bastard. Make a borderline call involving balls and strikes, however, and Cox blows up like a time bomb. Cox blows up to the tune of 131 ejections, tying the Major League record for career ejections by a manager. Cox tied the mark set by John McGraw in the early 1900’s, a record that has stood for nearly 80 years. Impressive stuff.

I can’t fault Cox for getting tossed yesterday. His Braves team was once at the top of the division and competing with the Mets for the best record in the NL. Now, his team is one game over .500 and the Braves have scored one run in four games. One freaking run. Tack that on to the new controversy swirling around Chipper Jones regarding him returning from injury too soon and you have a powder keg of tension in the ATL. And you have to wonder what Cox runs out there saying each time he does get run. For being ejected 131 times, he can’t be going out there dropping the same bombs he always drops on the umpires. It’d get old. I bet Cox has the most creative mouth in baseball.

I don’t think its a point of argument that Cox will eventually be in the Hall of Fame. Rattling off 14 straight division titles will earn you that distinction. For eons, Cox’s Braves have been the class of the National League. Now, they’re struggling to stay afloat and Cox’s blood pressure is rising with his age. At least Bobby has the ejection record, that’s something to put in your pocket and store away for a rainy day. The way Atlanta has struggled as of late, don’t be surprised to see that record number increase at a fairly rapid pace. That’s just how Bobby Cox rolls.