Blue Jays' first playoff manager, Hall of Famer Bobby Cox, passes away at 84

A legend of the game is gone. Robert "Bobby" Joe Cox passed away on Saturday (May 9) at the age of 84. While the Hall of Fame manager is widely recognized for his incredible run with the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s through the 2000s, he was also the first bench boss to take the Toronto Blue Jays to the postseason.

Cox managed Toronto from 1982-1985, taking them from a budding expansion franchise to a legitimate championship threat. No other Blue Jays' manager in team history has won as many games in a single season as Cox did when he got the Blue Jays to a 99-62 record during that magical '85 season, which culminated in Toronto's first AL East division title.

Cox would shockingly leave the Blue Jays after that season and eventually rejoin the Braves in 1990, whom he had managed previously from 1978-1981. With the Braves, Cox immediately had an impact. From 1991 until 2010 the Braves made the playoffs 15 times (not counting 1994), winning their division 14 years in a row, with the Braves winning it all in 1995.

But it's one of the greatest "What If's?" in not just Toronto sports history, but baseball history in general. What if Bobby Cox never left the Toronto Blue Jays?

How different are the Blue Jays and the Braves histories if Cox stays in Toronto?

If Cox stuck with the Blue Jays beyond 1985, would the Blue Jays have been champions before 1992? After Cox, Jimmy Williams took over for the next four seasons and had a record of 281-241. While they had some good seasons, they also had some years where they arguably finished under their expectations. They also had a significant, franchise altering collapse down the stretch of the '87 season in which they led the Detroit Tigers by three games for the AL East going into the last week of the season, before losing seven straight and missing the playoffs.

By '89 Blue Jays management had decided to move on from Williams and the teams' hitting coach, Cito Gaston, was pegged as the next guy up. Gaston, who began his tenure with the Blue Jays under Cox, took the team to their greatest heights, as they won the AL East three years in a row from 91-93 and, of course, won back-to-back World Series titles.

Cox likely would have been given the reigns to lead Toronto for as long as he would've liked if he never left for Atlanta. As long as they continued to have success on the field, GM Pat Gillick and the teams front office loved Bobby and had he managed to get the team further than Williams did in the mid-to-late 80s he probably also would have still been around in early 90s as well. Gaston may have still been by his side, he also may have been picked up by another organization by that time.

The fact that the '92 World Series came down to Gaston's Blue Jays and Cox's Braves just felt serendipitous. While the Blue Jays prevailed, it wouldn't be the last time Cox and the Braves reached the World Series. Under Cox, the Braves went to the World Series five times in total, while the Blue Jays missed the playoffs for 22 consecutive years after the 1993 World Series title. Regardless of the outcomes, both teams histories and legacies are intertwined and influence because of Hall of Famer, Bobby Cox.

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