PHILADELPHIA — At the end of his fourth year managing the San Diego Padres, Bruce Bochy led his team to the 1998 World Series. Now Bochy is doing the same thing at the conclusion of his fourth year managing the San Francisco Giants.
Bochy took over the Giants in 2007 and has done a little better every year. In his first year, he finished fifth in the National League West. The Giants were fourth the next year, then third, and this year they won the division in what might have been the best season in Bochy’s 16-year managerial career.
The Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, the owners of the best record in baseball this season, in six games to win the NL Championship Series. And as with the 1998 Padres, who upset the powerhouse Atlanta Braves in six games of the NLCS, Bochy is taking a team that few people expected to win to the World Series.
“Boch has been great for us,” General Manager Brian Sabean said Saturday. “I think this year, more than any other year, the players really needed him to be what he is: a straightforward, honest guy. He’s consistent and upfront and he treats everyone fairly. He’s all about the team, and the players know it.”
Sabean, who hired Bochy, noted that his manager, a backup catcher during his nine-year playing career, might not be overly charismatic and was rarely considered among the tactical geniuses of the game, but the majority of the decisions he made in this postseason, particularly the NLCS, seemed to work.
Whether it was his timely pitching changes, the double switches in Game 4 - using Edgar Renteria at shortstop, sitting third baseman Pablo Sandoval for Mike Fontenot, then sitting Fontenot and moving Juan Uribe to third - the Giants seemed to have the right answer.
Probably the smartest thing Bochy did was to decide before Game 6 that the series would be won or lost that night. The Giants had failed to clinch in Game 5 at home.
Bochy all but admitted after their pennant-winning 3-2 victory Saturday that if the Giants had lost Game 6, there was little hope of winning Game 7.
“I knew tonight, I was going to throw everything at them,” he said. “This was a huge game. If we lose, momentum would be on their side, so we wanted to do everything we could to win this one.”
That is why he lifted starter Jonathan Sanchez in a tie game, two batters into the third inning, and used a stream of pitchers, including the starters Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum, to ensure the victory. Bochy asked his relievers to give him 21 outs. He used Jeremy Affeldt and Bumgarner for two innings apiece, then Javier Lopez and Lincecum before asking Brian Wilson to finish with a five-out save. Then, in typical fashion, Bochy dismissed the notion that he had done a terrific managing job and passed the credit to the players.
“They make you look good when they get the job done,” Bochy said. “I can’t say enough about Affeldt and the job he did. He’s been in a tough position, he hasn’t pitched much and he saved us. He won the game for us. I felt good because those guys did well. I put them in atough spot, and they got the job done.”
Now it’s on to the World Series, and this time, Bochy will not have to contend with a dynastic team like the 1998 New York Yankees, who swept the Padres, but the Texas Rangers, who are in the World Series for the first time. But a smart manager knows never to underestimate an unheralded team.
“They’ve got the hottest pitcher in the game right now,” he said, referring to Cliff Lee (Benton, Arkansas Razorbacks). “They had to earn it the hard way, too. They had to go into Tampa and beat them, and of course the Yankees. They are playing very well.”World Series glance WEDNESDAY Texas (Lee 12-9) at San Francisco (Lincecum 16-10), 6:57 p.m.
THURSDAY Texas at San Francisco, 6:57 p.m.
SATURDAY San Francisco at Texas, 6:57 p.m.
SUNDAY, OCT. 31 San Francisco at Texas, 7:20 p.m.
MONDAY, NOV. 1 San Francisco at Texas, if necessary, 6:57 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3 Texas at San Francisco, if necessary, 6:57 p.m.
THURSDAY, NOV. 4 Texas at San Francisco, if necessary, 6:57 p.m.
Sports, Pages 17 on 10/26/2010