A manager can see a lot of weird things if he’s been in baseball for as long as Giants skipper Bruce Bochy has. And, if only for today, that extends right to Bochy’s own Baseball-Reference page.
Several corners of the Twitterverse have noticed that Bochy enters Tuesday with a career managerial record of 1995-2019. Why does that matter? Well, that happens to exactly match Bochy’s tenure as a big league manager -- 1995-2019 -- a perfect slice of strange baseball symmetry across Bochy’s 25 seasons at the helm of the Padres and Giants.
We can only enjoy this stat for a few more hours, of course; someone has to win Tuesday’s Pirates-Giants matchup, and someone has to lose. But Bochy’s record also illustrates how close he is to history. A 2,000th win would make him just the 11th manager to reach the milestone; the other 10 names can be found in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Plaque Gallery in Cooperstown.
And, for those who noticed Bochy’s sub-.500 career win percentage, that’s not necessarily a barrier either. Managing legends Connie Mack (3,731-3,948) and Bucky Harris (2,158-2,219) are both in the Hall of Fame, despite losing more games than they won. Bochy’s three World Series championships and four National League pennants should help him punch his ticket to Cooperstown.