Inside Rangers' Courtship of Bruce Bochy
Nashville. Music City. Home of the Grand Ole Opry. Birthplace of a Texas Rangers resurrection?
Well, we’ll see.
Bruce Bochy’s path to becoming the Texas Rangers manager started in Nashville just a couple of weeks ago. He and his wife, Kim, decided to settle in Nashville after Bochy stepped aside as San Francisco Giants manager in 2019 so they could be closer to their grandchildren.
Being a special advisor to the Giants didn’t require much travel. Neither did managing the French national team, an offer extended to Bochy in part because he was born in France while his father was serving overseas.
Bochy had it good. Life as a grandfather. Likely induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Plenty of night life.
And then Chris Young knocked on his door.
Bochy’s former player back in 2006 with the San Diego Padres was now the general manager of the Texas Rangers. In fact, after the firing of president of baseball operations Jon Daniels in mid-August, Young was now making the first major decision of his career. He had to hire a manager. By season’s end he had already put together a list of candidates and interviewed interim manager Tony Beasley, who went 17-31 after taking over for Chris Woodward.
Young said on Monday that Bochy was his top choice. But it required a couple of trips to Nashville — and some convincing.
“I don't know if there was a fire in Bochy to go back to managing or not,” Rangers owner Ray Davis said on Monday. “But if there was, I think Chris fanned it.”
That fanning happened when Young paid Bochy a visit in Nashville, a visit reported on Oct. 14. At the time, it wasn’t certain if it was a formal interview or just a discussion.
Either way, it lasted seven hours.
“I was grateful that they let me overstay my welcome to Nashville and Boch and Kim didn't kick me out after a seven-hour visit,” Young said.
Young knew what he was getting. He saw Bochy’s leadership style and respected it during his one season in San Diego. But Bochy had questions for Young.
“More than anything else I just want to know their vision,” Bochy said. “Again I know the year didn't go like they had hoped but I do know the investment they made last year to get these core players and that was important to me — what they thought they were, what they thought they needed and how passionate they were. That was important to me to see the direction and what they thought and, like I said, you just feel it when you talk to CY.”
The second visit came between Young’s trip to Nashville and Bochy’s hiring last Friday. That was when Davis came into the picture. Davis accompanied Young on the second trip. It was time for the owner to sign off on a potential hire.
Davis had his own questions. But, first, he joked he had to get over 2010, when Bochy’s Giants beat the Rangers in the World Series.
“My first question to him was, ‘Why do you want to do this? You got skins on the wall?’” Davis said.
That was a fair question. Bochy is the most accomplished manager the Rangers have ever hired. Bochy has a record of 2,003-2,029 with the San Diego Padres (1995-2006) and Giants (2007-19). He was the National League Manager of the Year in 1996.
He had his most significant success with the Giants, leading the team to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Bochy ticked off the reasons he was interested. He had been out of the game three years. With Young having stoked the fire, it was becoming increasingly clear to him the Rangers were a team worth being interested in.
“I miss this game,” Bochy said. “There's so many things about the game I miss, in the dugout, the competition, being on the team. But besides that, I said that if I was going to jump back into the fire, it had to be the right fit.”
Bochy missed the game. Young wanted his former boss. Davis determined the three-time world champion was the right fit.
Even the children and the grandchildren were “all in,” as Bochy described his commitment on Monday. There was just one hurdle left.
Kim Bochy.
“I will say my wife, Kim, I had to convince her a little bit more,” Bochy said. “But after conversations with Chris and Ray and the group, she's here and so I can't thank her enough for getting on board and being excited about this.”
With that, Bochy accepted the Rangers’ three-year offer as manager.
What happens next is up to the new manager.
“You know, when you step back from the game for a little bit, that gratitude meter shoots way up when something special like this happens,” Bochy said.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
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