With Bruce Bochy in Cooperstown on Sunday, Hensley Meulens managed the San Francisco Giants to an 8-5 win against the Milwaukee Brewers. His club gave him plenty of credit for steering the ship in Bochy's absence, but the record book won't.
Sunday's victory officially counts as a win for Bochy - No. 1,906, to be exact - and allows the San Francisco skipper to move past Casey Stengel into sole possession of 11th on the all-time wins list. Meulens, meanwhile, is still 0-0 as a manager.
Three championship rings as coaches aren't the only things Bochy and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr have in common, then, as Kerr also earned some wins without being on the bench. Kerr missed the first 43 games of the 2015-16 NBA season, and then-Warriors assistant Luke Walton coached Golden State to a 39-4 record in his absence.
Walton, however, did not get an official win to his name until his debut as Los Angeles Lakers head coach on Oct. 26, 2016, almost exactly one year after he coached the Warriors to a win against the New Orleans Pelicans. It's possible Meulens will follow in Walton's footsteps next season.
The 51-year-old interviewed for the New York Yankees' managerial opening this offseason, but New York ultimately opted to hire then-ESPN analyst Aaron Boone. Boone had never coached at the professional level prior to this season, while the multi-lingual Meulens has over a decade of experience coaching. He's coached in the big leagues since 2010, and managed the Netherlands at each of the last two World Baseball Classics.
