J. Brent Cox (born May 13, 1984) is an American former

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Career

Cox attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. With the

Texas Longhorns baseball The Texas Longhorns baseball team represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I College baseball, intercollegiate men's baseball competition. The Longhorns currently compete in the Southeastern Conference. The University of Tex ...

team, Cox set the record for the most appearances in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

with 13 and in 2005 tied the UT record with Charlie Thames for most saves in a single season with 19.Former Horns star Cox still finding a way to impact Texas baseball
www.statesman.com Cox was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2nd round of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory. ''SourceMajor L ...

. Cox had a 6-2

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

and a 1.75

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

for the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the D ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

Eastern League in 2006. That year, Mark Feinsand of ''

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports colum ...

'' wrote, "Some are projecting him as the eventual replacement for all-world closer

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

." In 2006, Cox was named to the Olympic Qualifying Team roster. He pitched in three games for the U.S. national team, allowing one run in 5.2 innings. In 2007, Cox was listed as the eighth best prospect in the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

organization and owning the best slider in the farm system. The Yankees invited Cox to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2007, but rescinded the invitation after he broke a bone in his pitching hand in a bar fight in December 2006. He had elbow surgery and missed the entire 2007 season. After a bad game in June 2009, Cox left the Thunder without permission. He returned to Texas to complete his college degree. Noticing that his arm was beginning to feel better, he returned to professional baseball in 2010. In September 2010, he got into an altercation with Thunder

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Tony Franklin after Franklin removed him from a game. He retired after the season. Cox was hired as a volunteer student assistant for the Texas Longhorns after retiring from playing.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, J. B. 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Bay City, Texas Baseball players from Texas Texas Longhorns baseball players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Trenton Thunder players Tampa Yankees players