Baseball / Daily Report : Around The Majors : Brave Manager Cox Denies Hitting Wife

Atlanta Brave manager Bobby Cox, who was jailed briefly after his wife called police to their home, appeared with her at a news conference to deny he had assaulted her.

Cox said he planned to continue managing the club. General Manager John Schuerholz, who attended the news conference, said he agreed it was not necessary for Cox to take time off.

Pamela Cox sat next to her husband of 18 years at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and supported his account. She said police over-reacted to her request that officers break up an argument Sunday night. She said she did not sign an arrest warrant and that Cox was jailed despite her request he be allowed to remain home.

“There was no hitting of any sort,” Bobby Cox said, adding that redness in his wife’s face noted by police was because of crying.

Cox called the incident “just a domestic dispute that has been brewing a little bit for the last five, six months” because he hadn’t been paying enough attention to what was going on at home.

Police in Cobb County, in Atlanta’s northwest suburbs, charged Cox with simple battery for allegedly punching his wife and pulling her hair. Cox faces a court hearing May 26.