The World Series is in full swing as the San Francisco Giants are taking on the Kansas City Royals. It’s been 29 years for Kansas City but this is the third trip to the Fall Classic in the last five years for the Giants.
Bruce Bochy has guided the Giants during this time, and may have ultimately opened the door to his own enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. And by the time he retires, Bochy will be in Cooperstown.
Here are five reasons why he’s headed there.
Win Four and You’re In
After capturing his fourth National League pennant, Bruce Bochy has moved into an elite class. All 22 managers that have won four or more league pennants are in the Hall of Fame. That list includes nine guys that were player/managers around the start of the 20th century…including Connie Mack and John McGraw. If the Giants can finish the job and give Bochy his third championship ring, he would be only the tenth manager in history with three or more titles. Casey Stengel and the aforementioned McGraw lead the way with ten flags each.
Sure, Bochy’s career record or 1618-1604 (a .502 winning percentage), would be the worst of any of those managers, but that winning percentage is bound to rise as there’s no reason to think that he won’t manage the Giants for another five, ten or even fifteen years. If management keeps getting him the pieces, Bochy is going to keep winning ballgames. It’s entirely possible that he may also have more than 2,000 wins when he retires, which would put him in the top ten of all-time.
Hang In There Until It Gets Better
Bruce Bochy has been very loyal in his two decades as a manager. In return for that loyalty, his players have responded. He took the San Diego Padres to the World Series in 1996 and followed that with five straight losing seasons. Seriously. I did a double take. Could you imagine that happening now with any other club other than the Padres? He would have been fired. Anyway, after the losing seasons, came three straight winning campaigns and two division titles for the Friars. Then, for some reason, they let him go to San Francisco which was the opposite of loyalty.
Going through those rough years in San Diego helped Bochy in his early years with the Giants. As the Barry Bonds era wound down, he patiently waited for new parts knowing that general manager Brian Sabean would help build the team he wanted. In five of the last six years he’s had a winning record and by no,w you’re well aware of his trips to the postseason. When given good talent, Bochy can take it to another level.
Every Player Gives the Maximum
I can’t think of another manager currently in baseball that gets the most out of his players the way Bruce Bochy does. Here he is, in the midst of guiding another team to a World Series title and people are scratching their heads. How does he do it? It’s pretty simple, really. He treats his players like men. There is no doghouse in Bochy’s world. Yes…players screw up. A lot. But the same player that makes an error in the early innings may be the one to come through later on. I’m looking at you, Travis Ishikawa.
There’s no better example than the rosters for each of the three recent Giants World Series teams. There have been three different starting left fielders, center fielders and second baseman. Two different guys at first, short, third and in right field. The only thing that hasn’t changed? Buster Posey.
Postseason Picasso
Entering the 2014 World Series, the Giants have won nine straight playoff series. During that time, the team has posted a 30-11 record which is good for a .732 win percentage. Over 162 games that averages out to 119 wins. Scary. When the lights get brighter and the competition gets tougher, the Giants excel. Not only do they beat teams…they do so at a record pace.
Of course, the Giants wouldn’t be on this pace if it wasn’t for Bruce Bochy’s in-game managerial skill. From the beginning, the philosophy has been to treat every game like it’s the last. Now that’s not to say he uses the Game Two starter in Game One. What it means is he’s not afraid to pull the trigger on a move. There is no “by the book” managing when it comes to Bochy and the postseason. There is only what it takes to win the game today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
We’ve seen more than one manager in this year’s playoffs not use a reliever because it “wasn’t his inning”. You’ll never hear those words from Bochy. Not during October. In four trips to the postseason with San Diego, Bochy Bochy went 8-16. All those lumps as a young manager, fighting the likes of Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre, helped mold the mastermind we now see at work. The man took notes. He’s not afraid to give a pitcher a quick hook or make a double switch in the third inning if that’s the case. Bochy doesn’t deviate from a script because he doesn’t have one.
Evolution
One of the reasons Bruce Bochy has been so successful is his willingness to change and roll with the punches. When the Giants wanted to retain pitching coach Dave Righetti from Felipe Alou’s staff, Bochy could have blanched at the idea of keeping some of the same coaches. He didn’t. When it seemed as if Bochy would only trust veterans…guys like Posey and Joe Panik come along and he lets them play. The Giants didn’t used to be a team that shifted on defense, now they are among the league leaders in defensive adjustments.
It takes a guy without a huge ego to be able to do all these things. It’s never been about “Bruce Bochy, the manager” for him. He understands that accolades and memories will come as long as he keeps winning. The players play their guts out for him and leave everything on the field.
Bochy may have to wait until long after he retires to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but his ticket has already been punched.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eric Nathanson writes about the San Francisco Giants over at 2-Out Hits. He’s also been a senior staff writer at Around the Foghorn and is an occaional contributer to The Torturecast podcasts. You can follow Nathanson on Twitter at @2outhits.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
