On a night to honor Bobby Cox and Ted Turner, magic happens in Braves win

You just couldn’t make this up.

Following the deaths last week of two franchise icons, Braves fans gathered Tuesday night at Truist Park to honor the lives of former manager Bobby Cox and former owner Ted Turner at the team’s game against the Chicago Cubs.

The memorial was well done, including a video tribute before the game, a moment of silence, a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace” and then video clips between innings from past Braves stars extolling the iconic owner and Hall of Fame skipper.

Among Cox’s many qualities that was celebrated was his ability to encourage and instill belief in struggling players.

It was the trait that manager Walt Weiss, the torch carrier for Cox’s legacy, cited as the one that he particularly tried to emulate after playing for him for three seasons.

“He was a great encourager,” Weiss said before the game. “He had a knack for always making you feel like you were playing better than you actually were. Even the times when you struggled, he went out of his way to make you feel like maybe it wasn’t as bad as you thought.”

And then the game turned on fifth inning home runs by two Braves players who started the game hitting .213 (Austin Riley) and .200 (Mike Yastrzemski).

Braves 5, Cubs 2.

In a season spitting off vibes like sparks off a campfire, of course.

Take a wild guess who Yastrzemski credited after the game for sticking by him.

“That gives you confidence as a player when your manager keeps throwing you out there and writes your name in the lineup as often as possible,” Yastrzemski said of Weiss.

Signed as a free agent this past offseason for his left-handed pop, Yastrzemski had not homered in his first 38 games this season. But in his second at-bat Tuesday, he turned on a Colin Rea slider and sent it 380 feet into the right-field stands for a two-run home run that broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth.

It followed a leadoff homer by Riley, himself lodged in a season-long slump.

Before Tuesday, Yastrzemski had averaged one home run for every 23 at-bats in his career. This season, though, he had made it 115 at-bats from the start of the season without a homer.

But it didn’t stop Weiss from expressing his belief in the 35-year-old veteran, not to mention Riley.

“Walt is, even though he’s managing, he’s incredibly knowledgeable with the swing,” Yastrzemski said. “So we’ve had a lot of talks about mechanics, about the mentality of hitting, about approaches. So I think it was just encouraging to have him voice some confidence to me where it’s like, he’s not going in there trying to change anything. But he’s checking in, making sure that the head space is right.”

As much as anything done in Cox’s memory Tuesday night, Weiss’ steadfast confidence in Yastrzemski and Riley paid homage to the manager who led the Braves to a record 14 consecutive division titles.

It was an application of lessons learned playing for Cox (1998-2000) and then serving eight seasons (2018-2025) as bench coach to former Braves manager Brian Snitker, who had been mentored by Cox.

Perhaps no one did it as well as Cox, who understood how difficult the game is and how slumps can test the confidence of even gifted major leaguers. A former Brave, Jeff Francoeur, gave his own testimony before the game.

In 2006, his first full season in the majors after a standout rookie year, Francoeur started the season in a spiral.

After the team returned home from the season-opening road trip, Cox assured him that he was going to be his everyday right fielder for the entire season and bat fifth or sixth in the lineup.

“Just go out there and relax and play baseball,” Francoeur said, quoting Cox. “It’s what you’re good at, it’s what you do. Don’t listen to talk radio. Don’t listen to anybody that’s got it. Just go have fun and play baseball.”

Francoeur said the pep talk freed him up. That night, he reached base on a bloop single. The next night, he hit two home runs.

“He knew how to encourage and when to encourage,” Francoeur said.

The baton has been passed to Weiss.

“Look, I said this when I got hired,” Weiss said. “I was proud that in some way, a small way as it relates to me, that Bobby’s lineage continues. I think that’s really important here. It’s been foundational to the Braves’ success over the last few decades. So I’m proud of that.”

Now 29-13 and maintaining their hold on the best record in baseball, the Braves have given off a fistful of signs that something special is brewing inside their clubhouse.