Bruce Bochy

Bruce Bochy
Bochy with the Giants in April 2011
San Francisco Giants – No. 15
Catcher / Manager
Born: (1955-04-16) April 16, 1955 Landes de Boussac, Bussac-Forêt, France
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 19, 1978 for the Houston Astros
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1987 for the San Diego Padres
Career statistics (through December 29, 2013)
Batting average	.239
Home runs	26
Runs batted in	93
Games managed	3,070
Win–loss record	1,530–1,530
Winning %	.500
Teams
As player Houston Astros (1978–1980) New York Mets (1982) San Diego Padres (1983–1987) As manager San Diego Padres (1995–2006) San Francisco Giants (2007–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× World Series Champion (2010, 2012) 3x National League Champion (1998, 2010, 2012) 3x MLB All Star Game Manager (1999, 2011, 2013) NL Manager of the Year (1996)

Bruce Douglas Bochy (/ˈboʊtʃi/; born April 16, 1955) is the manager of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to joining the Giants, Bochy had been the manager of the San Diego Padres for twelve seasons. Bochy is the only former Padres player to serve as the team's manager. He has participated in all five postseason appearances in Padres history, as a backup catcher in 1984 and as their manager in 1996, 1998, 2005, and 2006. In 1998, he led the Padres to their first National League pennant in 14 years, where they lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. He reached the World Series for a second time in 2010, this time in a winning effort, and brought the first ever World Series Championship home to the city of San Francisco and the first for the Giants since 1954. He reached the World Series for the third time in 2012, also with the Giants. The Giants won the 2012 World Series in the 10th inning 4-3 over the Detroit Tigers in a 4 game sweep. He is both the first foreign-born manager to reach the World Series (1998) and the first European-born manager to win the World Series (2010). On July 23, 2013, he became the 21st manager with 1,500 wins. He is often credited for bringing the San Francisco Giants out of their losing years and becoming a playoff contender.

Early life

Bochy is one of just eight Major Leaguers to be born in France (Landes de Bussac (Bussac-Forêt), Charente-Maritime), where his father was stationed as a U.S. Army officer at the time. However, Bochy grew up in Virginia and in Melbourne, Florida. He graduated from Melbourne High School, where he was baseball teammates with Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame.^[1] He attended Brevard Community College and Florida State University. Bochy was then drafted in the first round (24th overall) by the Houston Astros in the 1975 Supplemental Draft.^[2]

Playing career

As a catcher, Bochy played with the Houston Astros (1978–80), New York Mets (1982) and San Diego Padres (1983–87). In 802 career at-bats, he hit .239 with 26 home runs. He was the backup to Terry Kennedy when the Padres won their first NL pennant in 1984, and played in one game in the 1984 World Series, which the Padres lost in five games to the Detroit Tigers. Bochy was behind the plate on September 11, 1985, when Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds collected his record-breaking 4,192nd major league hit off Padres pitcher Eric Show.

Managing career

Bochy ejected from game, 2007

In 1996, Bochy was named the NL Manager of the Year. He has the most games managed in Padres history and with that, the most wins and losses. Bochy led the 1998 Padres to the World Series where they were swept in four games by the New York Yankees.

In 2006, new Padres CEO Sandy Alderson preferred to have a younger manager, so he allowed Giants General Manager Brian Sabean to interview Bochy for his job opening.^[3] Bochy agreed to a four-year contract to replace Felipe Alou and become the Giants' new skipper on October 27, 2006.^[4] He led the Giants to victory against the Texas Rangers in only five games in the 2010 World Series, and again brought the Giants to beat the St. Louis Cardinals for the NLCS title in 2012, and to a World Series title in 2012 besting the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 0. He became the 21st manager with 1,500 wins on July 23, 2013.

Bochy also managed the 2004 and 2006 MLB All-Stars in the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series.

Personal

In May 2011, Bochy won the Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement, which he accepted at Positive Coaching Alliance's National Youth Sports Awards.^[5]

Bochy’s son, Brett Bochy, was drafted by the Giants in 2010.^[6]

Bochy is known for having one of the largest cap sizes in Major League Baseball at over size 8.^[7] When he joined the Mets in 1982, they did not have a helmet that would fit him, and they had to send the ones he was using in the minors.^[8]

References

General

• The editors of the Sporting News, ed. (1992). Baseball A Doubleheader Collection of Facts, Feats, & Firsts. St. Louis, Mo.: The Sporting News Publishing Co. ISBN 0-88365-785-6. .

Inline citations

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bruce Bochy.

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Bruce Bochy managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com