Former SF Giants manager Bruce Bochy was a winner well before he became a manager. In fact, he told Texas Rangers beat writer Kennedi Landry of MLB.Com that he once won an Arby’s eating contest when he was with the Houston Astros organization in the 1970’s.
Former SF Giants manager Bruce Bochy shares absolutely hilarious fact from his playing days
Bochy has accomplished just about everything under the sun on a baseball field. Now, you can add that Arby’s eating contest to his Hall of Fame résumé. He was originally drafted in the first round by the Astros in 1975. He debuted with them in 1978 and appeared in three seasons of his nine-year career with them before spending much of the rest of his career with the San Diego Padres.
Bochy has plenty of cool and fun historical tidbits from his career. Another one is when he was with San Diego and he hit a walk-off home run against Nolan Ryan. It was the only walk-off home run Ryan allowed. Bochy’s teammates celebrated by putting a six-pack of beer with ice in his helmet. It was a fun gesture that lightly brought attention to the size of his head.
That is not what Bochy is known for these days. The veteran skipper began managing the Padres in 1995. He reached the World Series with them in 1998 only to be swept by a powerhouse New York Yankees team.
Bochy continued to manage the Padres for the next eight years before agreeing to join San Francisco. Little did we know that this hire would have historical implications. Bochy managed the Giants to three World Series titles in a five-year stretch beginning in 2010. He reached the playoffs with San Francisco again in 2016 and decided to retire after the 2019 season.
The baseball lifer could not stay away from the game for long. His was swayed by Rangers general manager Chris Young to return to the dugout after a three-year absence. Young and Bochy had known each other for years dating back to their time in San Diego. Last year, Bochy led Texas to its first World Series title in franchise history.
The 69-year-old will soon add to his résumé, surpassing Joe McCarthy (2,125 wins) and Bucky Harris (2,158 wins) on the all-time managerial wins list. Before he did all that, he won an eating contest at Arby’s. That was merely a sign of things to come!
