Former West Haven Yankees Manager Bobby Cox Passes Away At 84
- Dominic Konareski
- May 9
- 2 min read
Early Saturday, it was announced that Bobby Cox had passed away at the age of 84-years-old.
As a player, Bobby Cox played in two seasons for the New York Yankees in 1968 and ‘69, before hanging his glove up for a managerial position in New York’s farm system
Bobby Cox would take the top step of the Quigley Stadium dugout in the inaugural season of West Haven Yankees baseball in 1972. West Haven, Connecticut, would just be a mere stop in route to a hall of fame managerial career for Cox, that would see him win a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1977 as a third base coach and later winning the 1995 World Series as a manager with the Atlanta Braves.
When Cox came into West Haven, the Yankees organization had just relocated their Double-AA affiliate from New Hampshire to Connecticut. New York would bring on an entire new coaching staff for the transition, which led to Cox’s promotion from a Single-A Fort Lauderdale. The 31-year-old Cox was fresh off his rookie season as a manager, along with finishing just a lone game above .500% when he got the call to manage in the Allingtown area of West Haven.
Cox would manage the West Haven Yankees for just a single season in 1972, but he did it in the most impactful way a manager could: By winning a championship at season’s end.
Despite being a new team post-relocation, the West Haven Yankees dominated the 1972 season in the Eastern League. The regular season featured an 84-win season, for an overall record of 84-56, which would rank 2nd-best in West Haven Yankees history. No-other team came close to West Haven in the standings at season’s end due to a Yankees 17.5 game divisional lead once the final regular season out was recorded.
1972 would mark the beginning of a championship-winning mentally in the city. This would be just one of four total championship-winning seasons for the West Haven ball club before their relocation out of Connecticut entirely after the 1979 season.
Cox left West Haven after the ‘72 season to manage the Yankees Triple-AAA affiliate up in Syracuse. He would end up winning 2,195 games in the majors.
In a 2002 interview Cox said, “That team had the talent of a Triple-AAA ball club.” Cox also stated “It was an excellent minor league team with few weaknesses.”
Bobby Cox was elected into the hall of fame in 2014.
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