LOS ANGELES — An autographed jersey from Bobby Cox still hangs in Freddie Freeman’s Atlanta residence, illustrating the bond between player and former manager.
The message is a simple testament to how much that manager believed in the budding superstar: “To Freddie. Keep on hitting.”
Freeman remembered Cox, who died Saturday at age 84, as more of an impactful leader who exuded loyalty than as a baseball strategist.
Cox’s death came during a weekend when the Dodgers were playing host to the Braves for a three-game series.
“I think a lot of people have heavy hearts, but they’re also having a good time thinking about all the wonderful memories and impact that Bobby had on their lives,” Freeman said. “He obviously meant a lot to so many people.”
Freeman played just 20 games for Cox at the end of the 2010 season when he was called up for the first time. But an impact had already been made on a player who would go on to wear an Atlanta uniform for 12 seasons.
“I mean, not many people get to be managed at all by a Hall of Fame manager, and I got to have my first one in the big leagues be a Hall of Fame manager, and a manager who relentlessly had our backs,” Freeman said. “I was a 19-year-old kid in my first big league spring training (in 2009) and he gave me 80 plate appearances.
“Over the course of the years, I don’t know how many writers and coaches have come up to me and told me what Bobby was saying behind closed doors, about how much he cared about me and how much he believed in me.”
Dodgers first base coach Chris Woodward played for Cox in 2007, and Dodgers president Stan Kasten served as president of the Braves during the first 14 seasons of the 21 in Cox’s second tenure with the club.
Freeman recalled his first major league game as a September call-up in 2010 when he was 20.
“I saw my name in the lineup hitting sixth, and I almost threw up,” Freeman said. “I was walking in, I sat at my locker staring forward into my locker, nerves all over the place. Bobby comes walking by. He goes, ‘Gosh dang it, Free, what took you so long to get here to the big leagues?’ He said some other choice words, but all the nerves immediately went away just because of how he went about it.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he had limited interactions with Cox, but he remembered the winner of 2,505 games as a titan of the sport.
“Bobby was a Hall of Famer. He did it the right way,” Roberts said. “He loved his players, loved the game. I loved the way he wore spikes as a manager, that’s pretty cool. … So guys like Tommy (Lasorda), Bobby, I looked up to. And we lost a legend. We lost a great one.”
Freeman said the way he continues to present himself as a player was inspired by Cox.
“I can’t wear a hat backwards. My sunglasses … you won’t see them go across my LA (on the cap). They’ll be on the back of my hat,” Freeman said. “That’s Bobby. Bobby’s still in me. Just a wonderful man that teaches you lessons, teaches you camaraderie, unity, doing things as a unit, that no one’s different. That’s how I came up, and that’s what Bobby taught over there, and I appreciate it still to this day.”
The Dodgers held a moment of silence in honor of Cox before Saturday’s game.
ON THE MEND
To get left-hander Blake Snell back on the active roster to make his season debut, right-hander Brock Stewart went back on the injured list, this time with a bone spur in his left foot.
Stewart missed the first six weeks of the season while recovering from an offseason shoulder procedure. He returned Thursday to pitch a scoreless inning against the Houston Astros on Wednesday and had another scoreless inning Friday against the Braves.
Stewart, who made his major league debut with the Dodgers as a starter in 2016, returned to the club at the trade deadline as a reliever last season in a deal with the Minnesota Twins. But he has made just six appearances since returning.
ALSO
Mookie Betts (oblique) played his second and final rehab game with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday and was scheduled for a travel day Sunday. He is expected to play in Monday’s opener of a four-game home series against the San Francisco Giants. … Right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who went on the injured list Friday with lower back spasms, is scheduled to have a throwing session Sunday and is expected to have a short stay on the IL. … Utility man Kiké Hernandez (elbow) will continue his rehab assignment at Oklahoma City and is on track to return later this month, Roberts said. … The Dodgers claimed left-hander Charlie Barnes off waivers from the Chicago Cubs and transferred utility man Tommy Edman (ankle) to the 60-day injured list. It means Edman will not be able to return before the last week of May, but he wasn’t expected to be back by then anyway, after an offseason surgical procedure. Barnes has just 14 games of major league experience, while also starting 94 games in South Korea over a four-year stretch (2022-25).
UP NEXT
Braves (RHP Bruce Elder, 3-1, 2.02 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 5-0, 1.25 ERA), Sunday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM, 1020 AM