1977
TED COX   3B

William “Ted” Cox was born on January 24, 1955 in Oklahoma City, Okla. At Midwest City High School, he played multiple sports and excelled at pretty much all of them, like former Oklahoman prep standouts Bobby Murcer and Darrell Porter.

Scouts from multiple pro teams noticed his talent, but it was the Boston Red Sox who took him in the First Round of the 1973 Amateur Draft. He was the 17th overall player taken in the draft and was drafted ahead of Fred Lynn, whom the Sox picked in the Second Round.

He reported to the Elmira Pioneers of the Low-A New York-Penn League. He didn’t hit any home runs in his 58 games with the team, but he did hit .293 while adjusting to minor-league life.

After struggling early on in his career, Ted showed that he was able to overcome those challenges, starting in 1975 with the Winston-Salem Red Sox. He demolished AAA pitching in 1977 with the Pawtucket Red Sox and was promoted to the major leagues that September, after Pawtucket was knocked out of the International League playoffs.

He made his debut as a DH in September 1977 in Baltimore for the Red Sox. He singled off Mike Flanagan in the first inning. He walked to lead off the third inning. He singled to left in the fifth inning and hit an RBI single off reliever Scott McGregor in the sixth. He finished his day with a double in the ninth inning to complete a perfect 4-for-4 day. The very next game against the Yankees, he singled off Ed Figueroa in his first two at-bats before he grounded out to first in the fifth inning. Ted reached safety in his first 7 plate appearances, with 6 straight hits. That’s never happened before or since.

He appeared in a total of 13 games for the Sox in 1977. He had hits in 10 of them and multiple hits in 8, ending the year with a .362 average.

Even after a sensational start to his career, the Red Sox really had no place for him in the lineup. He was stuck behind the likes of Jim Rice, Dwight Evans or Butch Hobson at pretty much every position, and there were thoughts that he might go back to the minors to play every day.

Instead, the Red Sox and Indians pulled off a major trade at the end of spring training in 1978. Ted, along with Bo Diaz, Mike Paxton and Rick Wise were sent to Cleveland for Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall.

Following the end of his playing career, Ted returned to Oklahoma, coaching and running Grand Slam Sports, an indoor baseball and softball training facility. He later became the state director for the U.S. Sports Specialties Association, which oversees hundreds of youth league teams.

Ted Cox was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in November and died on March 11, 2020 at the age of 65 at Hospice Quality Care in Midwest City, OK