In 1994 Bruce Bochy was named the 15th manager in Padres history, succeeding Jim Riggleman who signed with the Chicago Cubs. At 39, Bochy became the youngest active manager in the National League.

From The San Diego Union-Tribune, Saturday, October 22, 1994:



Bochy steps in for Riggleman

Former No. 2 catcher 15th Padres manager

By Buster Olney, Staff Writer

A managerial change and everybody’s happy. Very strange. But, fact is, everybody involved in the major league musical chairs between the Padres and Cubs yesterday got what he wanted.


Padres third base coach Bruce Bochy got the promotion he wanted, signing a one-year, $175,000 contract; the club holds a $200,000 option for 1996. At 39, he becomes the youngest manager in the National League.

Padres general manager Randy Smith, who only has a year remaining on his contract, one year to prove himself to a new owner after the team is sold, hired the manager he’d like to have above all others.

October 22, 1994 (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Jim Riggleman got the security he wanted, jumping from the Padres — who had only a one-year contract to offer him because of the team’s impending sale — to the Cubs for a two-year deal, worth $225,000 the first year and $275,000 the second.


Ed Lynch, who became the Cubs’ general manager less than two weeks ago, hired a manager he said he believes in like a brother. Lynch will compensate the Padres with a minor league player to be named, a fringe prospect.

Smiles all around.

“I think it worked out for everybody,” said Riggleman, who had a 112-179 record after taking over the Padres from Greg Riddoch in September 1992.

It all happened so fast. Lynch asked the Padres for permission to talk to Riggleman Tuesday, Riggleman interviewed Wednesday and Lynch offered him the job Thursday night. Riggleman, who had flown to Maryland after his interview, had to jet back to Chicago for yesterday morning’s news conference.


“I’m looking forward to this,” said Riggleman, going from one reclamation project to another. “I think we’ve got our hands full. It’s a very tough situation, and it’s something that we’ve got to get to work on.”

The Padres haven’t won a pennant in 10 years. The Cubs? Forty-nine years. Nevertheless, Riggleman’s decision to leave the Padres was a no-brainer because of his contractual situation. He would have been working with a one-year contract under a general manager -- Smith -- who likely will be under pressure to produce immediately under new ownership.

And, Smith didn’t originally hire Riggleman; Joe McIlvaine did. In baseball parlance, Riggleman wasn’t Smith’s guy, although Smith said repeatedly that Riggleman, who had weathered the team’s Fire Sale of high-priced talent, had earned the chance to come back for 1995 and would have extended his contract this week.

“I would’ve been back there on a one-year deal,” Riggleman said, “and I really don’t think it’s right for a manager to go year after year like that. They probably ought to have a contract for more than one year. I think Randy would’ve liked to have taken care of me and the coaching staff for a few years. But I understand there was (the ownership) situation.


“If managers keep going year-to-year, then eventually players are going to start to look at you as a lame duck.”

Bochy, on the other hand, is Smith’s guy. Hand-picked. As soon as Smith received word at 10:30 Thursday night that the Cubs were hiring Riggleman, he called Bochy and told him to clear his schedule the next day.

Bochy, who knew that he was close to realizing a dream that had been born during his days as a major league backup catcher, hardly slept -- “maybe an hour,” he said -- and then got a call from Smith at 8:30 a.m. yesterday. Report to the office. Nobody told him to, but Bochy wore a suit.

Smith called Padres owner Tom Werner at 8:45 a.m., informed him that Riggleman was leaving for the Cubs, and recommended that Bochy be hired to replace Riggleman. Somewhere along the way, Smith acknowledged, someone told potential buyer John Moores and potential club president Larry Lucchino of Bochy’s hire. Werner approved the deal.


Smith questioned Bochy for a couple of hours, reconfirming his belief that Bochy, has a firm grasp of pitching and an even temperament, much like Riggleman.

“I’ve made my decision,” Smith announced, and jabbed out his hand to seal the deal. Just like that, Bruce Bochy became the 15th manager in the 26-year history of the club, the first former Padres player to manage the club. He called his mother in Florida.

Several hours later at the news conference, Smith said: “In my mind he’s the best managerial prospect in the game.”

Bochy was admittedly nervous in front of reporters, reading a statement from note cards and shifting uncomfortably as one TV cameraman moved in for a closeup.


But he showed the dry wit for which he is renowned when former Padres pitcher Mark Grant, now a local broadcaster, raised his hand and asked if Bochy were looking for any middle relief help.

“Yeah,” Bochy said. “Know of any good ones?”

Everybody was happy.