Bruce Bochy
Bruce Douglas Bochy
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 210 lb.
- School Brevard Community College
- High School Melbourne High School
- Debut July 19, 1978
- Final Game October 4, 1987
- Born April 16, 1955 in Landes de Bussac, France
Biographical Information[edit]
Bruce Bochy played nine years in the majors, and then managed for much longer - in 2019, he managed his 25th season and reached 2,000 victories as a manager, then took a three-year break before coming back. In all those years as a manager, he was with only two teams - he won a pennant with the San Diego Padres in 1998 and he won three World Series with the San Francisco Giants. He added a third team, the Texas Rangers, when he decided to come back to the dugout.
Never a regular in the majors, Bochy was a catcher for three teams during his career. He started off with the Houston Astros in 1978 and went to the World Series with the Padres in 1984. After concluding his major league career, he was a player/coach for the Las Vegas Stars in 1988 before beginning his managing career the following season. In 1989, he played for the Orlando Juice of the Senior Professional Baseball Association and hit .216 in 31 games with the team.
Bochy was a Padres coach in 1993 and 1994 and was the club's manager for a dozen years, starting in 1995. As Padres manager, he won more than twice as many games as any other manager in team history and led the team to the World Series in 1998, where they were swept by the New York Yankees. He was part of a controversy in 1998 when he had Manny Aybar remove a cap with the numbers "123" inscribed in memory of Jose Oliva; Aybar's manager Tony LaRussa got back by invoking a little-enforced rule when Bochy's third base coach Tim Flannery was outside the coach's box. After the 2006 season, he became skipper of the San Francisco Giants.
When Bochy recorded his 1,035th win as a manager, he passed Felipe Alou for most wins by a manager born outside of the United States; Bochy had previously replaced Alou as manager of the Giants. In 2010, he led the Giants to their first World Series title in San Francisco, defeating the Texas Rangers 4 games to 1 in the World Series. The Giants got hot late in the season after trailing San Diego most of the year in the NL West; they caught and passed them in September, then defeated the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS and the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. The Giants were again World Series champions in 2012, when they swept the Detroit Tigers in the Fall Classic. Their hard slogging was in the two earlier rounds of the postseason: in the NLDS, they lost the first two games at home to the Cincinnati Reds before mounting a remarkable comeback, then they trailed 3 games to 1 in the NLCS before coming back to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals. Bochy made it three World Series wins in five years when the Giants won again in 2014, defeating the Kansas City Royals in seven games in the Series.
After Bochy's star catcher Buster Posey suffered a serious injury in a collision at home plate in 2011, Bochy became a strong proponent in a campaign to ban such collisions. The campaign succeeded when owners approved the principle of a rule at the 2013 Winter Meetings.
Just before the opening of spring training in 2015, Bruce underwent a procedure to have stents inserted in arteries leading to his heart in order to reliever heart trouble. The operation was a success and he was able to join his team after a few days of rest while bench coach Ron Wotus directed the first couple of days of workouts. In 2016, Bochy joined Sparky Anderson as the only two managers to ever win 800 games with two different teams. He kept up the Giants' run of success in even-numbered years when they qualified for the Wild Card Game that year, in spite of slumping badly during the second half. They upset the New York Mets in the game, thanks to a great performance by Madison Bumgarner, and gave the Chicago Cubs a run for their money in the Division Series before bowing out. It was a last hurrah, as the Giants sank like a rock in the standings in 2017, falling to last place in the NL West, and then having another poor season in 2018.
Heading into spring training in 2019, Bochy announced that he was starting his final season and would retire at the end of the year. Upon hearing the announcement, pitcher Jeff Samardzija paid him a big compliment, saying that most managers are "puppets" who just know how to spout cliché, whereas Bochy is a real human being, who listens to players and knows how to motivate them. No one expected the Giants to be competitive that season, as a major rebuild was needed while there were still no young potential stars on the roster. Early returns confirmed that fans were in for another long season. One of the few highlights of the early parts of the season came on June 4th, when Bochy won his 1,000th game as the team's manager with a 9-3 win over the Mets. In the Giants' long history, only he and John McGraw had reached the mark. The Giants played better in the second half and on September 18th, Bochy recorded the 2,000th win of his managerial career, 11-3, over the Boston Red Sox.
After a three-year retirement, he was announced as the new manager of the Texas Rangers for 2023 on October 21, 2022.
Bruce's brother, catcher Joe Bochy, played several seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization, and his son, Greg Bochy, played three years in the Padres farm system. Another son, Brett Bochy, made his debut with the Giants in September of 2014, making Bruce the 7th major league skipper to manage his son.
He has written a book about the power of walking as a means of relaxation and stress relief.
With a hat size measurement of 8 1/8, Bochy had one of the largest heads in major league history. While playing for the New York Mets in 1982, the team did not have a helmet that fit his head and had to send to Triple A for one that would fit him.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- NL Manager of the Year Award (1996)
- Division Titles: 6 (1996, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2010 & 2012)
- Other Postseason Appearances: 3 (2014, 2016 & 2023 -Wild Card)
- NL Pennants: 4 (1998, 2010, 2012 & 2014)
- AL Pennant: 1 (2023)
- Managed four World Series Champion with the San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and the Texas Rangers in 2023
| Preceded by Jim Riggleman |
San Diego Padres Manager 1995-2006 |
Succeeded by Bud Black |
| Preceded by Felipe Alou |
San Francisco Giants Manager 2007-2019 |
Succeeded by Gabe Kapler |
| Preceded by Tony Beasley |
Texas Rangers Manager 2023- |
Succeeded by current |
Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Barry M. Bloom: "Bochy remains driven as ever for Giants: Skipper maintains motivation after health scare"', mlb.com, July 14, 2017. [1]
- Bruce Bochy: A Book of Walks, Wellstone Books, Soquel, CA, 2015. ISBN 978-0985419035
- Scott Boeck: "Giants' Jeff Samardzija: Bruce Bochy a 'dying breed,' most managers are ‘puppets’", USA Today, February 20, 2019. [2]
- Maria Guardado: "'It's time': Giants' Bochy to retire after this season", mlb.com, February 18, 2019. [3]
- Chris Haft: "Skipper collaborates on 'Bochy Ball!' book: Giants' Bochy joins writers to discuss chemistry, baseball, business, life", mlb.com, February 2, 2018. [4]
- Kennedi Landry: "Bochy named Rangers manager, signs 3-year deal", mlb.com, October 21, 2022. [5]
- Kennedi Landry: "Bochy eager to get started as Rangers' new manager", mlb.com, October 24, 2022. [6]
- Kennedi Landry: "How Bruce Bochy built a winning culture in Texas", mlb.com, October 13, 2023. [7]
- Kennedi Landry: "Bochy's unretirement key to GM's 'perfect storm'", mlb.com, November 2, 2023. [8]
- Sarah Langs: "4,276 wins, four WS titles: An ALCS managerial matchup for the ages: 10 facts and figures behind Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy's postseason meeting", mlb.com, October 13, 2023. [9]
- Sarah Langs: "Bochy an all-timer by taking third club to World Series", mlb.com, October 24, 2023. [10]
- Jon Paul Morosi: "Bochy healthy, stronger heading into 2018: Giants skipper dealt with arrhythmia during '17 campaign", mlb.com, January 19, 2018. [11]
- Bob Nightengale: "Giants manager Bruce Bochy isn't sure how he'll like retirement. But 'it's been some ride'", USA Today, September 27, 2019. [12]
- Jesse Yomtov (USA Today): "Three-time World Series champ Bruce Bochy announced as new Texas Rangers manager", Yahoo! News, October 21, 2022. [13]
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