Braves Fire Manager Nixon; Cox Is Named as Replacement

The Atlanta Braves, cellar-dwellers in the National League West, fired Manager Russ Nixon today and replaced him with General Manager Bobby Cox.

Stan Kasten, the Braves’ president, made the announcement at a news conference at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. He also said pitching Coach Bruce Dal Canton will be replaced by Leo Mazzone, pitching coach with Atlanta’s International League farm club in Richmond, Va., and Dal Canton will be sent to Richmond to replace Mazzone.

“There was a tremendous strain on Russ and the players. I wanted Russ to succeed, but obviously it hasn’t worked out,” said Cox, who will serve as manager and general manager for the rest of the season.

“In my own mind, this was something that had to be done,” he said. “But it’s not a good day for me. It’s rather upsetting. When somebody fails below you, it’s the same as if you failed.”

Nixon, 55, said Cox called him this morning to inform him he was being dismissed.

“Heck, I’ve been expecting it,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in Covington. “It’s been evident the last two weeks. One of the bullets was going to get me, they’ve been shooting so many at me.”

There had been speculation for days that Nixon would be fired, and Nixon himself acknowledged earlier this week that his job might be in jeopardy.

“They pulled me off Death Row with that one didn’t they?” he asked after the Braves won the second game of a double-header with the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday night.

Nixon, then a manager in Atlanta’s minor league system, was named manager of the Braves in 1988 after the firing of Chuck Tanner. The club was 42-79 under his direction that year and 63-97 in 1989, finishing in the Western Division cellar both times.

The Braves are in last place with a 25-40 record going into tonight’s home game with San Diego.

Nixon previously had managerial experience with Cincinnati in 1982 and 1983, when the Reds also finished in last place.

Cox, in his fifth season as general manager of the Braves, managed the Toronto Blue Jays for four seasons (1982-85) and Atlanta for four seasons (1978-81).