Bruce Bochy hasn’t managed an MLB team for a while, but his 13 seasons and three World Series championship rings with the Giants was long enough for him to create an all-time team. But it wasn’t easy -- for good reason.
He sat down with The San Francisco Chronicle’s Jon Shea recently to give the “All-Bochy” team which consisted of the guys he has managed. Just for fun.
No surprises here, he wanted Barry Bonds as his left fielder, despite a tongue-in-cheek mention of Connor Joe who played in just eight games with the Giants in 2019.
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“I was glad I had a year with Barry Bonds,” Bochy said. “I really admired how Barry went about his business, and he had a pretty good year that year, too. I’ll go with Barry.”
Hunter Pence and Randy Winn were a bit of a toss-up for right field, but he gave it to Hunter Pence who he had more time managing. Bochy really liked Pence’s attitude. They also spent a lot of successful seasons with one another.
Pence earned that spot. He was inspired by Bochy during the 2012 season, Pence’s first season with San Francisco. A speech given by the manager about not being afraid to mess up completely changed Pence’s career. Up until that point, Pence was used to being yelled at as a form of inspiring speech. He talked about it on a KNBR interview back in 2019.
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“And that message in and of itself changed the course of my career,” Pence said. “And you know, I could never thank him enough for just that simple message. And being the first one ever to do that for me. Keep your foot on the gas and that’s the way you played.
"You played all out.”
The infield was pretty easy for Boch, but not when it came to second base.
Freddy Sanchez, Marco Scutaro and Joe Panik all earned World Series titles with the team.
“Whoo, boy, that’s a really tough call. I had the most time with Joe Panik,” Bochy said. “I’m hedging here. You look at one guy who changed our team more than anybody, Scutaro.”
Bochy did mention that double play involving then rookie Panik and Brandon Crawford during Game 7 of the 2014 World Series -- a major turning point and perhaps one of the greatest plays of all time during the Fall Classic.
RELATED: Bochy reveals his favorite World Series title with Giants
Was Bochy able to pick a starter?
“Oh my goodness,” he said. He mentioned Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, but admitted it was a tough choice.
There were a lot of stellar guys to choose from. We at least know that.