Comment: Bruce Bochy's Place in Baseball History

Like many MLB managers, Bruce Bochy is a former backup catcher who put his time sitting on the bench to good use learning game strategy and what makes a baseball team tick.  His last stop as a MLB player was with the San Diego Padres where he was a backup catcher to Terry Kennedy on their pennant winning team of 1984.  He played his last season at age 32 in 1987.  He went on to manage in the minor leagues as well as coach at the MLB level for the next 7 years before taking over as Padres Manager in 1995 at age 40.

Bochy was successful in his 12 year tenure as the Padres manager, guiding them to the most successful stretch in franchise history.  Under his management, the Padres made 4 postseason appearances and won 1 NL pennant.  He was named Manager of the Year in 1996, the only time he has won the award.  Bochy gained a reputation as being an excellent manager of pitchers, particularly the bullpen which was always a strength of his Padre teams.  At the same time, 2 specific incidents may have caused a negative perception of his overall ability as a game tactician and his ability to relate to and utilize young players.

In the 1998 World Series against the Yankees, there was one game, which seemed to be winnable, where he seemed to get outmaneuvered into giving up his DH.  Whether that occurred as a result of an unfamiliarity with AL rules or a tactical mistake or just how the game played out, may never be fully settled.  Later in his tenure, he stubbornly insisted on playing a rapidly aging Vinny Castilla at 3B over the younger Sean Burroughs who the Padres front office saw as their third baseman of the future until the Padres traded Castilla, essentially so Bochy could not play him anymore.  In retrospect, it is clear that Castilla was done, but also clear that Burroughs was not the Padres long term answer at 3B.

Despite 2 consecutive postseason appearances in 2005 and 2006, new Padres executive Sandy Alderson decided he wanted new blood in the manager's chair and allowed Bochy to interview for the Giants job to replace Felipe Alou with the distinct implication that the Padres wanted him out and would be relieved of having to fire him if he accepted a Giants offer.  The Giants, by this time were in the post-Bonds era and in dire need of rebuilding.  Many Giants fans, including I, thought that Bochy might not be the right choice for that particular time preferring someone with experience managing in the Giants minor league system who might be more patient and nurturing of young players.

Bochy's first two years with the Giants were rough as they lost 90+ games back-to-back.  Bochy came under intense criticism from many corners who saw him as a symbol of a rebuild that was much too slowly paced for fan's satisfaction.  Nicknames like "Melonhead", "Botchy" and "Bork" became part of the standard Giants fan's internet lexicon.  But while the talent challenged team struggled, you could see some qualities that make Bochy a good manager.  He brought order to the chaos that Felipe Alou had left the bullpen in, installed Brian Wilson as the closer,  and he maintained a positive attitude in the clubhouse, at least by all appearances, despite all the losing.  Things were looking up in the talent front too as Matt Cain emerged as a solid MLB starter and Tim Lincecum won his first Cy Young.

By 2009, things had started to turn around.  Cain was establishes as a solid MLB starter.  Tim Lincecum had arrived and 2009 was his second Cy Young season.  Pablo Sandoval came up mid-season and darn near carried the team to the playoffs.  They won 88 games.  We all know what happened in 2010 with the mid-season arrival of Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner to expand the homegrown core and bring home the first World Series Championship in San Francisco Giants history.  With his second World Series win in 3 years, suddenly Bochy is the toast of the town as well as all of major league baseball.  Yesterday, I counted at least 6 separate articles trumpeting his Hall of Fame credentials!  During the post championship celebration, Brian Sabean declared him to be a no doubt Hall of Famer.

From a statistical standpoint, Bruce Bochy has now managed 18 seasons, 2898 games with a .502 winning percentage, 6 postseason appearances, 3 NL Pennants and 2 WS titles.  I thought it would be interesting to run down some of the managers who are already in the Hall of Fame to get a better idea of just how Bochy's record might stand up.  Here is a list by year of induction:

2010  Whitey Herzog, 18 years, 2409 games, .532, 6 postseason, 3 Pennants, 1 WS.

2008  Dick Williams,  21 years, 3023 games, .520, 6 postseason, 4 Pennants,  2 WS.

2000  Sparky Anderson, 26 years, 4030 games, .545, 7 postseason, 5 Pennants, 3 WS.

1997  Tom Lasorda, 21 years,  3040 games, .526, 8 postseason, 4 Pennants, 2 WS.

1996  Earl Weaver, 17 years, .583, 6 postseason, 4 Pennants, 1 WS.

1994  Leo Durocher, 24 years, .540, 3 postseason, 3 Pennants, 1 WS.

1983  Walter Alston, 23 years, .558, 7 Postseason, 7 Pennants, 4 WS.

That's right, Whitey Herzog and Earl Weaver only won 1 WS apiece!   Durocher and Alston managed before expanded playoffs so if you went to the postseason, you were in the World Series.  As playoffs have expanded, it has become easier to build up postseason numbers. This can be seen in the records of 3 recently retired managers who are widely considered to be can't miss Hall of Famers:

Bobby Cox, 29 years, 4508 games, .556, 15 postseasons, 5 Pennants, 1 WS

Tony LaRussa, 33 years, 5097 games, .536, 11 postseason, 6 pennants, 3 WS.

Joe Torre, 29 years, 4329 games, .538, 13 postseason, 6 Pennants, 4 WS.

There are at least 4 managers with 2 WS titles who are not in the HOF and may never get there:

Tom Kelly, 16 years, 2385 games, .478, 2 postseason, 2 Pennants, 2 WS.

Danny Murtaugh, 15 years, 2068 games, .540, 5 postseason, 2 Pennants, 2 WS.

Ralph Houk, 20 years, 3157 games, .514, 3 postseason, 3 Pennants, 2 WS.

Cito Gaston, 12 years, 1731 games, .516, 5 postseason, 2 Pennants, 2 WS.

Kelly had that sub .500 winning percentage and no postseason finishes except for the 2 years the Twins won it all. Murtaugh's career was interrupted several times with health problems.  Houk won all 3 Pennants in his first 3 seasons managing the Yankees and those wins are widely credited more to the organization than him.

Where does all this put Bruce Bochy?  Well, if his managing career ended today, it would compare favorably with several Hall of Fame managers, but I do not believe it would be a "slam dunk".  Some voters might well look at his overall winning percentage and hold that against him.  At least 3 managers who will likely preceed him in being voted into the HOF have clearly stronger resumes and his resume is not clearly stronger than several managers who are not in the HOF and may never get there.

On the other hand, Bochy is widely perceived to have won with teams whose talent was not expected to get them that far, which boosts his stock in some minds.  He also still has several years left to manage in which he has the possibility of going to more postseasons, winning more pennants and WS  and increasing his winning percentage.

At the very least, it is way past time to put away the name calling meme's and acknowledge that Bruce Bochy is a very good manager who deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame even if his career ended today.