Bobby Cox first record above .500 since 1974. However, Cox was undone by the 1981 baseball strike when the Braves finished fifth and owner Ted Turner fired him. Asked at a press conference who was on his short list for manager, Turner replied, "It would be Bobby Cox if I hadn't just fired him. We need someone like him around here." The Braves won the National League West division title in 1982 and finished second in both 1983 and 1984 under Cox's successor Joe Torre. Cox finished with a record of 266 wins and 323 losses in the regular season. Cox joined
Billy Smith (baseball, born 1930) development of the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League, serving in that post for four seasons before returning to uniform as a Blue Jay coach under Bobby Cox and Jimy Williams from 1984–88. Billy Smith (baseball, born 1930) Billy Franklin Smith (born January 14, 1930 at High Point, North Carolina) is a retired American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, manager and coach. He threw and batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed during his active career. Smith compiled a lifetime batting average of .312 in minor league baseball but he never climbed higher than the Double-A level. Smith graduated from