SAN FRANCISCO — When Pablo Sandoval signed here in 2017 two years after ripping the Giants franchise and cutting off communication with its personnel amid a contemptuous exit, he felt nervous at how he might be received. Manager Bruce Bochy told him on his first day back that he was happy to see him. Bochy made him feel welcome at a time when he needed a supportive home.
When Trevor Hoffman’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year coincided with a weekend series for San Francisco, Bochy did not hesitate to board a redeye flight across the country so he could be there in person for his former player while taking the minimum possible time away from his current team.
When Hunter Pence made the All-Star team this year as a member of the Rangers, Bochy was one of the first people to reach out with congratulations, a meaningful gesture to Pence knowing Bochy was busy trying to uplift a struggling Giants team.
Those are a small portion of the gestures Bochy extended and the deep individual bonds he built in 25 seasons as an MLB skipper. A host of former players and front-office coworkers descended on Oracle Park after his final game Sunday to honor him and participate in an emotional ceremony, appreciating his role in their own achievements. Bochy retired having won 2,003 games and three championships.
“You can definitely have success with many people, but I think he was a huge driving engine,” Pence told Sporting News. “He was the leader, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he also went to a World Series with the Padres and then came over and he went to three with the Giants. These things don’t just happen.”
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Pence played for the Giants from 2012 to 2018, winning two titles with the franchise. He said one of his favorite examples of Bochy keeping himself close to his players throughout grueling 162-game schedules was the manager's penchant for wandering the rows of the team plane to banter with each member of the squad. He’d catch up, talk trash, play cards and generally entertain a sometimes weary group.
Others noticed that effort, too, and identified it as a testament to the manager’s leadership strength.
“It’s one of the things I love for a manager,” Sandoval said. “When you’ve got a good relationship with your players and you’ve got the chance to joke around, that means respect. He earned that with everyone around here.”
Bochy has also long earned praise for his in-game coaching skill. During his run of three championships in five years, he had a habit of making the ideal bullpen maneuver or lineup tweak, maximizing the production of his role players. For those in the opposite dugout, it could be a challenge to keep up with his cunning moves.
“Guys like Boch, they set the bar. Boch and Tony (La Russa) and Jim Leyland … there’s guys that you know are really good,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who also managed regularly against Bochy while at the helm for the Dodgers. “You look at the championships and the way he handles his teams, it seems like every move he made was the right move during those times.”
Bochy built up credit with a staggering range of people in and around the league in his career, many of whom came to Oracle Park on Sunday to show what he meant to them. Among those faces was Tim Lincecum, a recluse since leaving the game in 2016. The two-time Cy Young winner, ace and fan favorite under Bochy made an exception to his reserved post-baseball ways. He strode onto the field before Bochy's ceremony speech to a huge ovation from the crowd.
His appearance prompted perhaps Bochy’s deepest understanding of what he’s meant to others over the past three decades. He said Lincecum’s walk onto the field after the game brought him to tears. The right-hander had hoped he could make that kind of impression.
Sandoval refers to Bochy as “Papi.” Lincecum, meanwhile, called him “f—ing dad.”
“He had an understanding of the type of people we were,” Lincecum said in a TV interview. “He took an effort in understanding who we were outside the game of baseball. … With that, it felt personal playing for him.”
Before the postgame retirement ceremony, Bochy was recognized by the rival Dodgers in an otherwise meaningless regular season finale. Manager Dave Roberts, who once played for Bochy, lauded Bochy's effect on the sport. Clayton Kershaw, pitching in relief, tipped his cap to Bochy as he walked off the mound in the fifth inning. It was a rare display of civility between organizations that typically do not like one another.
Now, as Bochy moves away from baseball and into a phase of his life where he can go fishing and spend time with his grandchildren, many others are left to think about the small moments they shared with the manager that added up to lifelong connections.
“Having a relationship with a player as a manager when they’re playing is one thing,” Roberts said, “but then that reflection of a player when they’re done, to have that gratitude … speaks volumes.”