Bruce Bochy is signed through the 2005 season.

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 17, 2004 — Most major league teams would fire their manager after five consecutive losing seasons.

The Padres did just the opposite, picking up Bruce Bochy’s option for 2005 on Tuesday and saying it wasn’t his fault they went into an ugly free-fall after playing in the 1998 World Series.

“It’s not fair to judge Bruce on his won-loss record the last few years when we didn’t have a good product on the field,” general manager Kevin Towers said in announcing the move, which came three days before pitchers and catchers are due to report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz.

“When we’ve had a quality product on the field, he manages it as well as anybody,” said Towers, a long-time friend of Bochy.

Bochy, whose low-key style is popular with players, was pleased the option was picked up. But he said he was more concerned with getting the revamped Padres ready for their first season in Petco Park. They were an NL-worst 64-98 last year.

“I think what’s important is that we get focused on this spring and get back to the basics and let’s win some ballgames,” Bochy said from Peoria.

Bochy is 694-746 (.482) in nine seasons as manager. He’s in his 22nd consecutive year with the organization, as a player, minor league manager, big league coach and manager.

“He’s got some talent to work with this year, and I see him managing as well as anybody in the game,” Towers said. “He’s had an arm tied behind his back the last several years and was trying to make the best with what he had to work with.”

Said Bochy’s agent, Tony Attanasio: “They should give him a Congressional Medal of Honor.”

	Bruce Bochy is a player’s manager.

Bochy said he’s tried to do the best he can with the players he’s been given.

“I don’t try to concern myself with payroll or who we could have had or things like that,” he said. “If you think about that, then you’re spinning your wheels and wasting a lot of time.”

Bochy will make $1.3 million this season, the final year of a four-year extension he signed in 2000, and the same amount in 2005.

Towers said he’d like to begin working on another extension for Bochy once the season ends.

“The consensus in the organization is that we all hold him in the highest regard,” Towers said.

Towers and Bochy were teammates in Triple-A in 1988. The following year, Bochy made his managing debut in Single-A ball and Towers was his pitching coach.

Bochy worked his way up to manager of the Padres in 1995 season, and Towers became the GM after that season.

Bochy was 335-295 (.532) in his first four years as Padres manager, winning the NL West in 1996 and 1998, and reaching the 1998 World Series, where San Diego was swept by the Yankees.

Just after the ‘98 Series ended, voters overwhelmingly approved a new ballpark, which originally was to open in 2002. The Padres almost immediately began slashing payroll, and the $458 million ballpark was delayed for two years by numerous lawsuits and a federal investigation into owner John Moores’ stock dealings with a city councilwoman.

The Padres then went 359-451 during five consecutive losing seasons, including three last-place finishes in the NL West.

Bochy played on the 1984 Padres team that reached the World Series and has the most wins of any manager in franchise history. With six more victories, he’ll become the 75th major league manager to reach 700.

The Padres know the time for excuses is over.

“I feel very strongly about the product we have and he does as well,” Towers said. “The game has changed with this new ballpark, and it’s time for him and I to have some success. If we don’t, we’ve failed.”

Awards and honors: NL Manager of the Year (1996). ... The Sporting News NL Manager of the Year (1996, 1998).

THE NUMBERS
year team         g   w   l   pct  pl  ew  +/-  pt
1995 Padres     144  70  74  .486  3W  64   +6   0
1996 Padres     162  91  71  .562  1W  76  +15   3
1997 Padres     162  76  86  .469  4W  84   -8   0
1998 Padres     162  98  64  .604  1W  80  +18   4
1999 Padres     162  74  88  .457  4W  90  -16   0
2000 Padres     162  76  86  .469  5W  79   -3   0
2001 Padres     162  79  83  .488  4W  80   +1   0
2002 Padres     162  66  96  .407  5W  79  -13   0
2003 Padres     162  64  98  .395  5W  73   -9   0
2003 Padres     162  87  75  .537  3W  70  +17   1
  10 seasons   1602 781 821  .482  --  --   +8   8

How well the manager fared against expected wins is the plus/minus number. For example, Bochy was expected to win 80 games in 1998. He exceeded that number by 18 wins or +18.

Manager points (pt) recognizes six types of accomplishment in a season:
1) Posting a winning record — 1 pts
2) Winning the division — 2 pts
3) Winning the pennant — 3 pts
4) Winning the World Series — 4 pts
5) Finishing 20 games over .500 — 1 pt
6) Winning 100 games — 1 pt

In the show: Astros (1978-80), Mets (1982), Padres (1983-87).
Career stats: cnnsi.com | baseball-reference.com

The Bruce Bochy Library