© Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants, Bruce Bochy has won a lot of games. Not only was Friday night’s 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Bochy’s 1855th managerial victory, but it was also his 100th at Dodger Stadium.
When asked which of those victories was his favorite, it didn’t take long for Bochy to give his answer.
Bochy won his 100th game at Dodger Stadium yesterday. Which one was his favorite? #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/oW7TjS7fPQ
— Keaton A. Moore (@KeatonAMoore) March 31, 2018
“No. 1 was probably 96 on the last game of the year,” Bochy said. “When we finished the sweep to take win the division.”
In Bochy’s second year in San Diego, the Padres were 2.5 games behind the Dodgers in late September. They finished the year with a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, which the Padres needed to sweep to steal the division away from the Dodgers.
That’s exactly what they did.
After tying the NL West with back-to-back victories in Los Angeles, the Padres shutout the Dodgers 2-0 to win the pennant. Bob Tewksbury pitched seven strong innings that kept the Padres ahead for Trevor Hoffman to earn his 42nd save of the season.
With a victory on Saturday night, Bochy will become the only visiting manager to win 100-plus games at Dodger Stadium. Those victories came after 12 years managing both the Padres and Giants.
He’s the winningest manager in Padres history with 951 victories. As for the Giants, his 903 wins are second only to John McGraw, who had 2583 in his 31 years managing the Giants from 1902-1932.
“I don’t know what it means, except that I’ve been able to do this for a long time,” Bochy said. “I’ve been in this division a long time, I know that.”