ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bruce Bochy got his 2,195th career win to break a tie with Sparky Anderson for the sixth-most by an MLB manager when the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros 1-0 on Thursday night.
Bochy, who turned 70 last month and is in his 28th season as a manager, has a record of 2,195-2,206 in regular-season games with Texas, San Diego and San Francisco. He has won four World Series titles, three with the Giants and the only one ever for the Rangers in 2023 in his return to the dugout after a three-season retirement from managing.
“I told the players I’d like to honor Sparky. I grew up a Reds fan. My dad was, he got me on the Reds,” said Bochy, also a former big league catcher. “A Big Red Machine fan, Johnny Bench was my guy. He probably inspired me to play this game as much as anybody.”
There was a Champagne toast in the Texas clubhouse after the game, and included what Bochy said were “some beautiful words” from Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations. Young pitched for him in San Diego, and was the general manager when the Rangers hired Bochy in October 2022.
The five managers ahead of Bochy on the career wins list, and Anderson, are all in the baseball Hall of Fame. Next ahead of Bochy in fifth place is Joe Torre's 2,326. Connie Mack is the career leader with 3,731 wins, followed by Tony La Russa, John McGraw and Bobby Cox.
Anderson had a 2,194-1,834 record and three World Series titles, two with Cincinnati from 1970-78 and another with Detroit from 1979-95.
“I was lucky enough to get to know Sparky. He retired a year before I started managing, but we became friends and I get to spend some time with him. Played in his golf tournament a couple times,” Bochy said. “He’d always come by and we’d talk. Such a wonderful man, so this is a special moment for me.”
Bochy, now in third season in Texas, is 192-177 with the Rangers. He was 951-975 with the Padres from 1995-2006, and had a 1,052-1,054 record from 2007-2019 with the Giants when his three World Series titles there came in a span of five seasons from 2010-14.
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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
