Atlanta Braves player reaction to Cox retirement

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Reaction to the news that Bobby Cox will retire after the 2010 season:

Chipper Jones: “I’ll believe it when I see it. Bobby’s as much of Atlanta Braves baseball as Skip Caray or Pete Van Wieren, more so, because he’s been the one constant through the entire run that we’ve had over the last 20 years. It’ll be a sad day when he leaves. … It’ll be a little bit of added incentive [next season], to send him out on a good note. … Bobby might be my only manager. We’ll see. If I have a good year, I will consider continuing to play, depending on who the manager is. [That’s] very important. … Obviously the way things are done around here may change. That could be good, could be bad. Guys around here are used to the way Bobby runs a camp, the way he runs a clubhouse, and the way he runs a game. And something different could be culture shock. … Just got to wait and see who the lucky soul is.”

Brian McCann: “Having him back is great for us. The team we’ve got going into next season is a team that has a chance to really do some good things, and all of us in the clubhouse want him to be the guy who calls the shots. I think if next year is going to be his last year, we definitely want to send him out on a good note.”

Derek Lowe: “First of all, a guy like that, it’s like Joe Paterno – you let him leave when he wants to leave. But I also think, to go out and have a final year is good, to get whatever [appreciation that's going to come for him], and I also think it gives the organization a year to think about who they want to have take his spot. It’s not like, all of a sudden, ‘I’m retiring,’ and spring training’s in two months and it’s this mad scramble to hire his replacement.”

Peter Moylan: “He’s the only manager I’ve ever had, and from what I’ve heard, everybody around the league wants to play for him. … I wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for him, to be honest. He gave me the opportunity in ’06 to come up and prove that I could pitch at this level, after a mediocre year in Triple-A. And the faith that he showed in me in ’07 and then again this year, coming back from surgery – that’s something that you want to be able to pay back to him, but I don’t know how to do it except to go out there and try and pitch as best as I possibly can.”

Jair Jurrjens: “I think that maybe some guys are going to take a little more pride to give him at least one more run to the playoffs and maybe give him a chance to win a ring again. ... It’s going to be like [John] Smoltz and [Tom] Glavine, when Glavine left the first time and Smoltz left. It’s not the same clubhouse without them in there, because you’ve seen them for a lot of years. It’s strange. It’s strange.”

Martin Prado: “I’m glad that he’s coming back. He’s one of those guys who always supported me, supported my work.”

Nate McLouth: “He’s great to play for and it’s good to know I’ll be playing for him next year. … He’s been the face of Braves baseball for a long time. When that changes, it’s going to certainly be weird.”