Can Torey Lovullo Create A Legacy to Match Bruce Bochy's?

Beating the future Hall of Fame manager in a World Series would be the first step on that path.

Torey Lovullo's respect and admiration for Bruce Bochy runs deep. "He is a definite Hall of Fame manager. I always find it a very humbling experience to be in the same building as him."

Lovullo's first game as the Diamondbacks manager came against Bochy on opening day. 2017. The Diamondbacks won on a walk-off, beating Mark Melancon. 495 regular season and 10 postseason wins later, Lovullo gets to face Bochy in the opposing dugout on baseball's biggest stage, the World Series. 

In 2019, Bochy was stepping away from the Giants and Lovullo presented Bochy with a gift at home plate prior to the game as part of a farewell ceremony. The D-backs manager never forgot that interaction. 

I remember when I presented his gift to him at home plate when he was stepping away from the Giants, I just said, it's been an absolute honor to manage against you. I hope you find your way back to doing this one day. He said, I'm tired right now. If I do it will be an honor to be managing against you as well. I couldn't believe he said that to me. I was just honored to be in his presence. And I will be for these next nine days. 

Lovullo went on to praise Bochy managing acumen. The three-time World Series Champion with the Giants has shown that he is still at the top of his game, guiding the Rangers to the World Series in his first season since coming out of retirement. 

I've said it since the time he was in San Francisco, that after a game, when I'm done managing my team against his team, I'm exhausted. You just can't miss anything. He is all over everything that you're trying to do on a moment-to-moment basis. It can be a big challenge. 

The beauty of it, too, is that he manages off the scoreboard. I've got a card in front of me. I've got all sorts of stuff I can look at. And I keep my dugout card. He's just going off of his instincts and what's going on on the scoreboard. So to me that's amazing. He is an unbelievable human being.

Lovullo's humility notwithstanding, his teams are 33-28 all time against teams managed by Bochy. This year the D-backs were 3-1 against Texas. Those games included a D-backs walk-off win on August 21 where Bochy intentionally walked Ketel Marte in the 11th and he turned out to be the winning run. Bochy was upset about being out-managed that game, as reported by Barry Bloom in Sportico.

Still, Lovullo is in awe of how Bochy’s mind operates. 

“Boch is unbelievable. He is instinctually an unbelievable baseball mind. And he probably has a computer in his head that nobody is aware of. And he's tried to share that with people and you just don't get it.”

That admiration goes both ways. Told of Lovullo's comments Bochy was equally effusive in his praise of the D-backs manager. 

"Well, back at Torey. I think a lot of him. I had a chance to manage quite a few games, as you mentioned. He's on top of everything. He knows the game. It's not a situation where he's -- even when he first started managing, that you didn't think he was ready. He's done a great job for them. 

You look where they've come, similar to us. That's -- Torey's footprint is on the club the way they play the game. They hustle, they're aggressive on the bases, they do the little things. And that's Torey, I think, leading the way there. So, no, I have so much respect for him, too."

Taking his underdog team all the way to the World Series is already a tremendous accomplishment. Lovullo will have a chance to take it to the next level and create his own legacy during the next nine days, but he'll have to out-think and stay a step ahead against a Hall of Fame manager to do it