Chipper Jones ‘so sad’ after Bobby Cox’s death: ‘A second father’

Chipper Jones paid tribute to his former manager Bobby Cox, who died Friday at 84.

The Hall of Fame third baseman posted on X late Saturday night to mourn the loss of Cox, who managed Jones in Atlanta.

Jones wrote he couldn’t “stay quiet in this time of loss. I’m struggling to tell all what Bobby Cox meant to me and so many others in Braves Country.”

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones, left, listens to former manager Bobby Cox during Jones’ announcement that he will retire following the 2012 season during a news conference before a spring training baseball game against the Miami Marlins in Kissimmee, Fla. on March 22, 2012. AP

The Hall of Famer Cox managed for 29 seasons, 25 with the Braves, and won 15 division titles, five pennants and a World Series.

“He was the leader of men and a second father to so many Atlanta Braves [through the years],’’ Jones wrote. “I’m so sad today, but as I sit here watching my two youngest boys play in their championship games on the day he passed, I can’t help but shout the same things he did from the corner of the dugout. ‘Come on kid, [you] got this!’”

Cox played and coached for the Yankees and also managed the Blue Jays and served as the general manager of the Braves.

Braves manager Bobby Cox, right, gets a hug from third baseman Chipper Jones after defeating the Mets 6-3 for his 2000th career win as a manager on Sept. 29, 2004. AP

Cox was Jones’ manager for almost his entire career in the majors, with Jones debuting in Atlanta in 1993 with Cox in the dugout. The two remained together until Cox retired in 2010 and Fredi González managed Jones in his final two seasons.

“We are gonna miss him so much, but his legacy is forever cemented with the success of this franchise for the last 35-plus years,’’ Jones wrote. “He started it as GM, continued as manager, and passing the torch to others, the Atlanta Braves will continue to be [a] force that Bobby Cox always wanted us to be. We love you Skipper. You were our rock. I love you more than words can express.”

And Jones added he believed Cox played a role in his sons’ games this weekend.

“My boys won both of their games,’’ Jones said. “Bobby had a hand, I have no doubt!”