Bruce Bochy adds another accolade to illustrious career, eclipses MLB icon Joe McCarthy on all-time wins list
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy added another feather in his illustrious managerial cap on Thursday. That's because Bochy's Rangers registered a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber game to clinch the series.
The success against the Dodgers ended their streak of consecutive series losses. What makes the win even more remarkable is the fact that the Rangers defense restricted the Dodgers to just three runs in the last two games after conceding 15 in the series opener.
The win at Dodger Stadium meant that Bochy has overtaken former New York Yankees skipper Joe McCarthy as the manager with the ninth most wins in MLB history.
Bochy has 2,126 wins and is 32 wins away from tying Hall of Famer Bucky Harris. He could scale former Astros manager Dusty Baker (2183 wins) in seventh place before the season concludes.
Bochy, 69, started his managerial career with the San Deigo Padres in 1995. He stayed with them for 12 seasons, winning 951 games and was named the NL Manager of the Year during the 1996 season.
However, it was his stint with the San Francisco Giants that established him as one of the greats of the game. Bochy was at the helm of the franchise for 13 seasons, helping them to three World Series titles.
He added a fourth World Series title in 2023 with the Rangers after coming out of retirement, making him one of only six managers to win at least four World Series rings.
Bruce Bochy heralds David Robertson after his milestone win
Veteran Rangers manager Bruce Bochy has ace David Robertson to thank for his record-breaking win on Thursday. Robertson became the first pitcher to strike out the Dodgers' star trio of Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in the same inning.
Robertson replicated the same feat of Thursday after fanning out the star trio in the eighth inning. While the veteran pitcher remained humble after his unique accomplishment, Bruce Bochy was all praise for the 39-year-old.
“It's a huge deal,” Bochy said. “Yeah, I mean, two nights in a row, they just saw him and he's got to go through them again. He just nailed the location.
The reigning World Series champions made a slow start to the season and have been up and down recently. However, considering Bochy's experience, the team believes in making another deep postseason run with the possibility of going back-to-back.