Early life

Bochy is one of just eight Major Leaguers to be born in France (in Bussac-Forêt, Charente-Maritime), where his father, Sgt. Major Gus Bochy, was stationed as a U.S. Army NCO at the time. Growing up, the Bochy family moved to the Panama Canal Zone, South Carolina, northern Virginia, and ultimately Melbourne, Florida.

Bochy graduated from Melbourne High School, where he was a baseball teammate of Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame. He attended Brevard Community College (later known as Eastern Florida State College) for two years, winning a state championship in 1975, before committing to play baseball for Eddie Stanky at South Alabama, but he decided to turn pro when he was drafted in the first round (24th overall) by the Houston Astros in the 1975 Supplemental Draft.

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. With the Astros, he primarily backed up Alan Ashby. Bochy was traded to the Mets on February 11, 1981, for two minor leaguers. Two years later, he was released by the Mets and signed with the Padres as a free agent. With the Padres, he was the backup to Terry Kennedy from 1983-86 and rookie catcher Benito Santiago in 1987. In 1988, Bochy spent his final season playing in Triple-A Las Vegas where he served as a player-coach, batting .231 in 53 games.

With the Astros, Bochy was behind the plate in Game 4 of the 1980 NLCS versus the Philadelphia Phillies when Pete Rose ran over Bochy to score the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth inning. Bochy was the backup to Terry Kennedy when the Padres won their first NL pennant in 1984, and he played in one game in the 1984 World Series, which the Padres lost in five games to the Detroit Tigers. On July 1, 1985, Bochy hit a tenth-inning walk-off home run off Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros, the only walk-off home run allowed in Ryan's career. Bochy was behind the plate on September 11, 1985, when Pete Rose, now with the Cincinnati Reds, collected his record-breaking 4,192nd major league hit off Padres pitcher Eric Show.

Managing career

Minor leagues

After retiring as a player, Bochy was hired by Padres general manager Jack McKeon to manage in their minor league system. He started the 1989 season assisting the Class-A Riverside Red Wave before leaving to manage the Short-Season Class-A Spokane Indians, leading them to their third consecutive championship. In 1990, Bochy took over as manager of the Red Wave, finishing with a 64-78 record. In 1991, Bochy followed the team to Adelanto, California, where they became the High Desert Mavericks, and led them to a 73-63 record and California League title. In 1992, Bochy was promoted to manager of the Double-A Wichita Wranglers, leading them to the Texas League title that year.

San Diego Padres

After four years of managing for their minor league teams, the San Diego Padres picked Bochy to be the team's third-base coach under new manager Jim Riggleman in 1993. Following the departure of Riggleman after the 1994 season, the Padres named Bochy as their new manager for the 1995 season. At age 39, Bochy became the youngest manager in the National League and helped the Padres improve from 47-70 in 1994 to 70-74 in his rookie year.

In 1996, his second season, Bochy led the Padres to a 91-71 record and their second National League West division title in franchise history, earning Bochy NL Manager of the Year honors. In 1998, Bochy led the Padres to a franchise-best 98-64 record and the second National League pennant in Padres history. The Padres were swept in four games in the 1998 World Series by the New York Yankees.

After the World Series, the Padres dramatically cut payroll and suffered five straight losing seasons. In 2005 and 2006, Bochy led the Padres to consecutive NL West titles for the first time in franchise history, but they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series each year. After the 2006 season, 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. Bochy left the Padres for the Giants after the 2006 season. He finished his Padres career with a regular season record of 951-975 and a post-season record of 8-16. Bochy has the most games managed in Padres history and with that, the most wins and losses. In 12 seasons under Bochy, the Padres had five winning seasons and won four NL West titles and one NL pennant.

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

San Francisco Giants

Bochy agreed to a three-year contract to replace Felipe Alou and become the Giants' new skipper on October 27, 2006. After two seasons of 90+ losses in 2007 and 2008, the Giants rebounded to finish 88-74 in 2009, and remained in the playoff race into September behind a pitching staff with the second-lowest ERA in the majors. After the season, Bochy received a new two-year contract with an option for 2012.

In 2010, the Giants finished 92-70 and clinched their first NL West title since 2003 on the final day of the regular season against the Padres. Underdogs throughout the postseason, Bochy's "bunch of castoffs and misfits" defeated the Atlanta Braves in the 2010 NLDS and the reigning National League champion Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. The Giants defeated the Texas Rangers in five games in the 2010 World Series, bringing the first World Series Championship to San Francisco and the Giants' first title since 1954 when the team was based in New York City. Following the season, the Giants exercised Bochy's 2012 contract option.

In 2011, the Giants finished 86-76 and missed the playoffs. After the season, the Giants extended Bochy's contract through 2013, with an option for 2014. In 2012, the Giants clinched the NL West for the second time in three years against the Padres, finishing with a 94-68 record. In the postseason, the Giants fell behind the Cincinnati Reds 0-2 in the 2012 NLDS before winning three straight games to stave off elimination. In the NLCS, the Giants fell behind the St. Louis Cardinals three games to one, but again won three straight elimination games to clinch their second National League pennant in three seasons. The Giants swept the 2012 World Series against the Detroit Tigers in four games. After the season, Bochy said the tagline for 2012 was "never say die".

Before the 2013 season, the Giants extended Bochy's contract through 2016. Bochy became the 21st manager with 1,500 wins on July 23, 2013. The Giants finished the season 76-86 and missed the playoffs in 2013. When Jim Leyland retired after the 2013 season, Bochy became MLB's active leader in wins with 1,530. In 2014, Bochy became the 19th manager to reach 1,600 wins on August 27, and also became the all-time NL Western Division leader in managerial wins, passing Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda for that distinction, since the installment of division play in 1969.

With an 88-74 record, the Giants made the 2014 postseason as the second wild-card team. During a low point of the regular season, Bochy told his players they had "champion blood", referring to the Giants' 2010 and 2012 championships. After defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, the Giants beat the heavily-favored Washington Nationals three games to one in the NLDS and the St. Louis Cardinals four games to one in the NLCS for their third NL pennant in five years. Bochy's "group of warriors" went on to defeat the Kansas City Royals to win the 2014 World Series, a series that went the full seven games. Bochy became the tenth manager in MLB history to win three championships, with the previous nine all inducted into the Hall of Fame.

On April 3, 2015, the Giants announced Bochy had signed a contract extension through the 2019 season. On June 10, 2015, Bochy recorded his 700th win as Giants manager, making him the fourth in history to win at least 700 games for two different teams, joining Sparky Anderson, Tony La Russa, and Jim Leyland. The milestone came on the same night that Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for the Giants, the fifth no-hitter by the Giants under Bochy (Jonathan Sánchez in 2009; Matt Cain's perfect game in 2012; and Tim Lincecum in 2013 and 2014). On September 27, 2015, Bochy became the 16th manager to record 1,700 wins. The Giants finished with an 84-78 record and missed the playoffs in 2015.

Managerial record

As of October 4, 2015

Team	From	To	Regular season record			Post-season record
			W	L	Win %	W	L	Win %
San Diego Padres	1995	2006	951	975	.494	8	16	.333
San Francisco Giants	2007	Present	751	707	.515	34	14	.708
Total			1702	1682	.503	42	30	.583
Reference:

Accomplishments

• 3× World Series champion (2010, 2012, 2014)
• NL Manager of the Year (1996)

Personal life

Bochy is the third of four children. His older brother Joe was a onetime catcher in the Minnesota Twins system and later worked as a professional scout for the Padres and Giants.

Bochy met his wife, Kim Seib, while at Brevard Community College in 1975 and they married in 1978. They reside in Poway, California and have two sons, Greg and Brett. Greg Bochy spent several seasons playing minor league baseball in the San Diego Padres system. Bochy’s younger son, Brett Bochy, was drafted by the Giants in 2010. Brett was called up to the majors on September 2, 2014, making Bruce the seventh manager in MLB history to manage his own son. On September 13, 2014, Bruce became the first manager to give the ball to his son coming out of the bullpen.

Bochy is known for having one of the largest cap sizes in Major League Baseball. With Houston, his nickname was "Headly," due to his unusually large head, with a hat size measurement of 81⁄₈. When he joined the Mets in 1982, they did not have a helmet that would fit him, and they had to send for the ones he was using in the minors. On February 19, 2015, Bochy underwent angioplasty to have two stents inserted in a blood vessel that was 90 percent blocked.

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. In 2011, the baseball field at Brevard Community College was named Bruce Bochy Field in his honor.

Bochy has rated Johnny Bench as the first choice on "His Top Five Catchers, All-Time" list, with the following in descending order: Carlton Fisk, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, and Ivan Rodriguez.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]