ATLANTA - Ever the competitor, Braves pitcher Derek Lowe pleaded to face one more San Francisco batter in Monday night's seventh inning. Ever the player's manager, Bobby Cox relented.
If a single moment summed up all that was mostly good and occasionally bad about Cox's remarkable 21 straight seasons as the Braves skipper, it was that exchange. Given a reprieve, Lowe walked the bases full with the next batter, then went to the bench and watched a 2-1 Atlanta lead become a 3-2 deficit.
And that's how the Braves' season officially drew to a close in the National League Divisional Series. The trait that made so many want to play for him and win for him, Cox's loyalty possibly got the better of him, his greatest strength becoming his greatest weakness.
"Normally, when Bobby comes out, that's it," Lowe said as he prepared to clean out his locker. "But I said, 'Please, tell me I can stay in this game.' So he did. When people say he's a player's manager, that's it. Unfortunately, it didn't work out this time."
No, this time it possibly ended Cox's certain Hall of Fame career at least one game, if not one series earlier than it might have.
Not that the season really ended Monday. That was just the state funeral, carried out before 44,532 mourners - about 8,000 fewer than those who witnessed the patient's death Sunday evening by the same 3-2 score.
"We came within a pitch of winning a huge ballgame, and we let it slip away," Cox said Monday afternoon, his words seared with pain, hurt and anger as he revisited the previous evening.
"No, I didn't sleep very well last night."
The vast majority of blame for that loss always will rest at the spikes of 30-year-old utility infielder Brooks Conrad, whose three errors were pretty much directly responsible for two of the Giants' three runs.
Cox was so angered by those mistakes immediately after Sunday's loss that when asked what he'd said to Conrad, the manager answered, "Not much."
But by Monday the encouraging Cox, the Cox so beloved inside the Braves clubhouse, had returned.
Maybe it was the fact that his own decisions regarding his bullpen contributed to the defeat. Maybe it was the simple addition of perspective, which was difficult to grasp Sunday evening. Maybe it was even the belief that Conrad's hitting skills might still be needed if the Braves are to advance.
Whatever the change, a calmer and cooler Cox said of Conrad, "You know, he's been the darling of the fans here all season long, and this shouldn't happen to anybody in the game of baseball. But it's happened to Brooksy and he needs a day off."
So he gave him one, at least as a starter, hopeful that the rest might exorcize the fielding demons that caused Conrad to cough up eight errors in his last seven games.
But true to his word to the player to "keep your head high, maybe pinch hit and win a game for us," he had Conrad lead off the top of the ninth, then watched him pop out.
Said Conrad of that decision, his voice cracking, his eyes watering: "It's a cut-throat game. To have a guy back you no matter what ... [long pause] ... it's pretty cool."
It has all been pretty cool for a very long time. Ever since the miracle finish of 1991 ended one run shy of a World Series title. The classic uniforms. The no-nonsense locker room, devoid of blaring music. The complete "lack of drama," as former pitcher Tom Glavine recently put it.
And if most of the rest of baseball rarely tried to emulate Cox's methods, it nevertheless admired them, which might be one reason why the Giants, upon winning, stood quietly on the field, faced the Atlanta dugout and saluted Cox.
"He's a man I've always looked up to," said winning manager Bruce Bochy. "Not just how he manages the game, but his team, how professional they are. This year's remarkable what he did. I know how banged up they were all year. Got off to a slow start. Shows what a genius he is."
The numbers speak for themselves. Cox won 67 postseason games, the second most ever behind Joe Torre. His 2,504 regular-season wins are fourth all-time. His 14 straight division championships are first all-time.
But it was always about the players first.
Asked to sum up Lowe's effort, the retiring skipper said, "I can't say enough about Derek Lowe. He's going to be a 20-game winner next year, I think, if he gets any support at all."
If Cox had led with his head instead of his heart Monday, Lowe might have gotten a postseason win this year. Then again, the old skipper's heart is probably the only reason the Braves got this far.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.