Wiedmer: Cox can’t find the answers for ‘lackadaisical’ Braves

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox didn’t direct the Braves to 14 straight division titles because he didn’t understand the modern athlete.

Other than Joe Torre, he just might be the best handler of multi-millionaire baseball players the sport has ever seen. And Torre had far better talent during most of his seasons with the New York Yankees.

But when it comes to making 25 disparate personalities one cohesive unit, Cox may have met his match this season. For perhaps the first time in his tenure, Brotherly Bobby no longer oversees a locker room filled with young professionals who share his appreciation and respect for the game.

Instead — other than Chipper Jones and Brian McCann among the everyday players — no one appears to put team above self once the game begins. Among the pitchers, well, let’s just say John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux have all now left the building and not one of them is walking back into Turner Field’s home locker room.

All of which brings us to Sunday’s pathetic 11-2 loss at Baltimore and something Cox said about shortstop Yunel Escobar after the manager benched him during that defeat.

After Escobar made two mental mistakes in the first two innings against the O’s to earn a spot on the bench, Cox said in exasperation, “I’ve talked to him an awful lot since he’s been here.”

Though Escobar usually requires a translator to answer questions, Cox’s comment needed no middle man. Having also watched Escobar hand Pittsburgh a 3-2 win on Wednesday with a mental mistake, Cox has seen at least one too many brain cramps from his shortstop.

“I thought we should have turned a double play in the first inning ... and it wasn’t heads up on the (second inning) rundown, either,” said Cox, who has more fingers on either hand than he has public reprimands of his players. “I’m not saying it cost us the game, but it cost us three runs in the first.”

It also cost them third place in the National League East. The Braves’ fourth loss in five games coupled with the Florida Marlins’ win at Toronto leaves Atlanta 30-32 overall and six and a half games behind Philly and a half games behind the third-place Fish.

Of more immediate concern heading into Tuesday night’s game at Cincinnati, however, may be Chipper’s 0-21 streak at the plate, the ongoing saga of outfielder Jeff Francoeur — who could apparently be traded at any time — and a bullpen that’s as reliable as a Yugo.

As if that’s not enough, starting pitcher Derek Lowe endured the second shortest outing of his career on Sunday, falling to 7-4 on the season after failing to escape the third inning.

If Cox wasn’t considering leaving before this season began, he surely is now, especially with general manager Frank Wren parting company with both Smoltz and Glavine, who had long been Cox’s favorites.

This isn’t to say Cox should retire or be forced out, which is becoming a Wren specialty. On the other hand, the Braves are now headed for a fourth straight season outside the playoffs. In almost every sports franchise imaginable, four straight seasons without a postseason pretty much guarantees unemployment.

Nor is the schedule giving Atlanta a break. The Braves play their next six on the road, then come home to face the Yankees and Red Sox, who won’t just have better players, but bigger cheering sections at the Ted. Look ahead to July and Atlanta has a 10-game road trip just before the All-Star break.

It’s too early to bury the Braves, but these next three weeks are hardly set up to give Atlanta momentum heading into the second half of the season.

Yet none of that is as telling as a remark Cox made to the media after Sunday’s loss.

“We pride ourselves,” he said, “on doing things right and being in the game (mentally) and don’t do things lackadaisically.”

At least they did for 14 straight seasons. Since the start of 2006, not so much.