Bruce Bochy is back.
The most accomplished manager in San Francisco Giants history returns to The City this weekend to face off against the team he led into and through its glory years.
Bochy brings his first-place Texas Rangers to Oracle Park for a three game series starting Friday, marking the first time he’ll manage at China Basin as an opponent since Sept. 10, 2006.
Suffice to say, a lot has changed in the almost two decades since.
Back then, Bochy was managing the San Diego Padres, the team he was previously most associated with before his legendary run with the Giants. Meanwhile, the orange and black, with Felipe Alou as manager, were in the midst of a mediocre season during the fading years of the Barry Bonds era.
Bochy’s Padres won 10-2 in a game that featured a trove of entries for the age-old pastime, “Let’s Remember Some Guys.”
The Giants had won the first two games of the three-game series, carried by dominant pitching performances from Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain. But San Diego blew them out in the series finale, thanks to a strong hitting outburst by a lineup that featured current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza, and former Cal star Geoff Blum.
Meanwhile, Matt Morris, the Giants’ major free agent signing in the prior offseason, suffered the loss after being tagged for six runs in five innings amid what would ultimately be a disappointing tenure with the team.
The Giants’ lineup, similar to their entire roster at the time, included a slew of veterans, including ex-Dodger Steve Finley, potential Hall of Fame shortstop Omar Vizquel, Felipe Alou’s son Moises Alou and, of course, the home run king, Barry Bonds, in his second to last season in baseball.
Ex // Top Stories
Wall Street may be regaining its appetite for new companies, which could be good news for local startups, investors and San Francisco
Rafael Mandelman, who introduced an ordinance requiring officials to put together a plan to address unsheltered homelessness, says development stalled
The governor and city attorney are not taking sides on key homelessness case at the Supreme Court
A month after that game, Felipe Alou retired and the Giants hired Bochy away from San Diego and up the California coast to be their new skipper.
Four years later, Bochy led the Giants to their first World Series championship since the team relocated to The City in 1958, beating, ironically, his future team, the Rangers.
Bochy went on to win three titles in five years, ushering in what many have declared the golden era of Giants baseball.
Following multiple losing seasons, and a regime change atop the Giants’ front office, Bochy retired in 2019, ending a 13-year career with the club, though he didn’t rule out a return to the game under the right circumstances.
That came to fruition last winter. After several years spent caring for his grandkids in Southern California and drinking fine wine from Napa Valley, the Rangers lured Bochy back to the dugout, signing him to a three-year contract before the 2023 season.
This weekend, Bochy makes his much-anticipated return to 3rd and King, where he’s expected to receive a long and loving reception from the fans.
“I have a lot of thank yous for everybody that played a part of my life here and made it such a wonderful 13 years,” Bochy told reporters during the Rangers’ most recent series across the Bay vs. the Oakland A’s. “They’ve been so good to me, all the fans and friends here.”
“The emotions will be flying,” he added.
