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
Neil Cox with the senior players. He gradually progressed through the youth ranks at the club before signing his first professional deal with the club in 1990, being handed a two-year deal, along with fellow youth graduates Graham Alexander and Richard Hall. Cox later revealed that he had been offered deals by other clubs but had remained with Scunthorpe as he was “ a local lad and I just wanted to play for my local team.” Following a downturn in the club's results, Hall and Cox were brought into the first-team by manager Mick Buxton and the pair's performances attracted attention from