Remembering Bobby Cox as a player...

Bobby and I go back a long way. I never met the man and chances are I never will. But we still go back a long, long way.

Last week, Bobby Cox retired from active duty as the manager of the Atlanta Braves. It's been a long haul for him...and for me that matter. Bobby is 69 years of age and I'm 65. But I still remember the man when he played for the Yankees in 1968. I was 23 and I guess, if my math is correct, Bobby Cox was a 27-year-old major league player with his whole baseball life ahead of him. I would love to meet him and spend just one hour at his home...in his den, surveying all the memorabilia that is pasted on his walls and throughout all his trophy cases.

I have lived a life with baseball, while Bobby Cox has lived his in baseball. My goodness, he played on the field and along side Tom Tresh, Greg Nettles, Joe Pepitone, Mickey Mantle and even, in 1969, the great catcher Thurman Munson -- just to name a few. Bobby took his spot at third base and watched such guys as Mel Stottlemyre and Bill Monbouquette throw the pea.

See, I told you, Bobby and I go back a long way.