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Bruce Bochy: I Wasn't Going There For One Championship

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Rangers
By Stefan Stevenson | Last updated 12/27/23

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy has yet to sit down and watch his club's entire postseason run or their five-game World Series championship against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But he's seen bits and pieces while attending holiday parties where friends have recordings playing for him when he arrives.

Bochy spoke with Norm Hitzges during his 13-hour Norm-A-Thon charity benefitting Austin Street Center for the Homeless on KTCK/1310 AM and 96.7 FM on Tuesday on a variety of topics. Looking back and reflecting on the run is something he's trying to do.

"You try to learn from it, too, but also enjoy it, savor it," Bochy said. "It’s been a good offseason."

It was Bochy's fourth World Series title as a manager, including three with the San Francisco Giants. Rewatching games does come with some downsides.

"There are a couple of times when I say, 'Gosh, I could have done that a little bit differently.' But that’s always going to happen. Like anything you do, you can always say, 'Well, I could have done that a little better or different.' Bochy credited his players.

"They found a way to overcome any mistakes I made," he joked.

Bochy called Corey Seager's game-tying, two-run home run in the ninth inning of Game 1 the turning point in the World Series. It wasn't just Seager's two-run blast but the explosion of emotion he showed immediately upon turning on the pitch.

"When he did that, I can’t tell you how much that fired up the team because they saw how much he cared and how much it meant to him for the team, not for himself," he said. "That’s what that [moment] brought. That is a game-changing moment for us in the World Series. Especially, when you look back, they won the second game. We would have been down two games, and we would have had our hands full. It was, to me, the tipping point in that series."

Adolis Garcia, of course, won the game for the Rangers with a walk-off homer in the 11th inning.

Backup catcher Austin Hedges, who was acquired at the Aug. 1 deadline for future considerations when it wasn't clear Jonah Heim would return from a wrist injury, ended up playing a key role in the clubhouse, Bochy said. Hedges signed a free-agent deal with the Cleveland Guardians on Dec. 15.

"You talk about a sparkplug. This guy had so much energy, so much life. Every team needs that encourager, and that’s what he was," Bochy said. "He just kept the guys going. We’re going to miss him. I’m happy he got a nice contract, but guys like that play such a critical role, especially in the postseason, because they keep guys loose, they keep them positive. I enjoyed my time with him."

Bochy admitted that he briefly pondered retiring after winning, but it was a fleeting moment. He enjoys it too much.

"When I signed to manage the Texas Rangers, I made a longer commitment than one year," he said. "I didn’t want to say, 'OK, I came here, we won, and I'm sailing off into the sunset.' Because I wasn’t going there for one championship, this is something we think is sustainable. I want to keep trying to win another one. I like being greedy. I hope the guys are. I’m still hungry."

"I’m looking forward to spring training and looking forward to doing this again," he said. "I just love it. I don’t see it as a job. I’m blessed to be able to have a job where there are only 30 of us in the major leagues. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would manage in the major leagues, even when I started managing in the minors. I had [major league managers] on such a high pedestal that I didn’t know that was a possibility."

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Rangers and was syndicated with permission.

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