Although the 2024 season didn’t end as well as initially expected, Bruce Bochy still owns a spot in Texas Rangers lore.
In his first year with the team, the manager helped the club secure its first World Series victory. Here are 10 things to know about Bochy:
1. A World Series pedigree
It’s already a well-known fact: Bochy is a winning manager. People started taking notice during his 13-year stint with the San Francisco Giants, where he led the club to three World Series championships.
After taking a brief break from the game, Bochy immediately found success with the Rangers. The manager was pivotal in helping Texas into the postseason with a 90-72 regular-season record in 2023, then he led the club on a historic run as road warriors toward its first championship.
Under Bochy, the Rangers posted an MLB record 11 postseason road wins en route to their first World Series banner.
2. Playing career
Bochy had a respectable seven-season playing career in the bigs, serving primarily as a backup catcher over 358 games with the Astros, Mets and Padres.
He posted a career slash line of .239 /.298/.388 and finished his career with 192 hits and 26 homers.
3. Run-in (literally) with Pete Rose
Bochy was on the receiving end of the legend Pete Rose’s second-most-famous plowing-over of a catcher at home plate.
The first, of course, being when Rose steamrolled catcher Ray Fosse in the 1970 MLB All-Star Game, fracturing and separating Fosse’s shoulder, which caused Fosse issues for the rest of his career.
Bochy may have gotten off easily, in that respect. Rose shouldered (and elbowed) Bochy on his way into home in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the 1980 NLCS, scoring on the play and giving the Phillies an extra-innings lead they wouldn’t lose. Philadelphia went on to win the series 3-2.
4. He managed Rangers GM Chris Young in 2006
Bochy managed Rangers GM and former pitcher Chris Young when they were both with the Padres a decade and a half ago. Young set a career high for innings pitched that season. Young was 11-5 that season in 31 games with a 3.46 ERA, and followed up with an All-Star selection in 2007.
5. Awaited return
Bochy retired in 2019 after a successful 13-year stint with the Giants, citing health- and stress-related reasons. He underwent an angioplasty in 2015, missed a game with an irregular heartbeat in 2016 and underwent two heart ablations in 2017.
But rumors of his return had swirled since his retirement. Taking a few trips to Bochy’s Nashville home during the 2022 offseason, Young and the Rangers were able to convince the manager to return to the game.
Bochy’s decision was also helped by an epiphany at a Rolling Stones concert.
“I’m watching [Mick] Jagger, never seen him before; there is this guy, almost 80, sprinting up and down the runway,” Bochy says. “And I said, ‘wait a minute; he’s not retired, he still exists. He didn’t leave.
“And I understand that [the urge] doesn’t go away,” he adds. “But the opportunity does. The fact of the matter is I’m getting older and the window to manage is short. If I didn’t manage now, I probably wouldn’t again.”
6. Actually, Bochy already had a return to baseball
In July, Bochy announced he’d manage France in the World Baseball Classic qualifier. Bochy, born at a U.S. base in Landes de Bussac, France, wanted to coach in the WBC back in 2020 but the pandemic put everything on hold. Two-and-a-half years later the opportunity returned. The tournament is expected to run as normal next year.
7. Twenty-five years of experience
To be a manager in the big leagues for 25 straight years is no small feat. He was with the Padres from 1995 through 2006 before joining the Giants until he retired in 2019. He was the winningest manager for both squads and amassed over 2000 wins in the process.
Bochy is also the first manager in franchise history to have been born outside the United States.
8. Milestone approaches
Bochy is statistically one of the most successful managers in the history of baseball, going not only off of World Series rings, but also off of win totals.
Bochy is currently at 2,171 victories for his managerial career, putting him in the all-time top 10 for wins by a major league manager.
The Rangers’ skipper officially passed Joe McCarthy on the top 10 in June 2024 after Texas took down the LA Dodgers 3-1. Here’s a look at where Bochy currently stands on the list of all-time wins:
| Ranking | Manager | Win total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Connie Mack | 3,731 |
| 2 | Tony LaRussa | 2,902 |
| 3 | John McGraw | 2,763 |
| 4 | Bobby Cox | 2,504 |
| 5 | Joe Torre | 2,326 |
| 6 | Sparky Anderson | 2,194 |
| 7 | Dusty Baker | 2,183 |
| 8 | Bruce Bochy | 2,171 |
| 9 | Bucky Harris | 2,158 |
| 10 | Joe McCarthy | 2,125 |
9. Post-World Series struggles
Bochy knows it better than most. Winning a title is hard; repeating is almost impossible.
None of Bochy’s defending champion squads have made the playoffs the year after winning the World Series. The Giants won titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Although the team looked like a dynasty in the 2010s, they missed the postseason each of the following years.
The trend continued with the Rangers as Texas missed the 2024 postseason, going 78-84 to place third in the AL West.
10. Big head, big brain?
Bochy has a self-proclaimed massive head, apparently wearing a size 8 ⅛ cap. Former Ranger Kevin Mench, according to legend, had the biggest head in Rangers history with a size 8 ¼ cap. Bochy’s dome comes quite close.
“There’s a lot of empty space in there too,” Bochy once said in an interview with The New York Times. “When I signed with the Houston Astros, they realized they didn’t have a helmet big enough. They had to special-order one. My nickname was “Headly.” When I was traded to New York and San Diego, I made sure my helmet went, too.”
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