Braves' Bobby Cox Sets Ejection Record

ATLANTA (AP) _ After going 7 1/2 weeks without getting tossed, Bobby Cox finally passed John McGraw for the most ejections in baseball history Tuesday night. <br/><br/>The Atlanta Braves manager was thrown

Tuesday, August 14th 2007, 8:55 pm

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ After going 7 1/2 weeks without getting tossed, Bobby Cox finally passed John McGraw for the most ejections in baseball history Tuesday night.

The Atlanta Braves manager was thrown out by home-plate umpire Ted Barrett for arguing a called third strike on Chipper Jones to end the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants.

It was the 132nd ejection of Cox's career, eclipsing the mark that McGraw set during his Hall of Fame career.

Jones struck out with runners at second and third and the Braves trailing 3-0.

After taking a pitch over the inside corner from Jack Taschner, Jones flipped his bat some 80 feet toward the Braves dugout, then flung his helmet nearly as far. He also shouted a couple of obscenities before heading to his position at third base.

Moving quickly to take the heat off his player, Cox began arguing from the dugout and was tossed by Barrett. The manager then trotted onto the field, carrying on an animated conversation with the ump for a couple of minutes before heading back to the dugout _ and on to the clubhouse.

Most fans and media were unaware that Cox had been ejected. An announcement was made in the press box before the start of the sixth inning, but no acknowledgment was made to the crowd.

``It's kind of embarrassing,'' Cox had said as he closed in on the record.

While baseball doesn't count ejections as an official stat, the Society for American Baseball Research came up with 131 ejections for McGraw. The manager known as ``Little Napoleon'' was tossed 14 times as a player, so Cox already held the mark for managers.

He tied McGraw's overall record during a June 23 game against the Detroit Tigers. Cox ran on the field hoping to keep catcher Brian McCann from getting ejected over a disputed strike call in the ninth inning.

They both wound up getting tossed by plate umpire Chad Fairchild.

After that, Cox managed to go 43 consecutive games without an ejection.