SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy waved hello to familiar faces and posed for photos with fans on the field before getting to work with the Texas Rangers.
Different uniform, different dugout, still beloved in the Bay Area.
Bochy received a warm welcome in his return to Oracle Park on Friday night, guiding the AL West-leading Rangers against his former San Francisco Giants.
During pregame introductions, Bochy received a roaring standing ovation and emerged from the dugout with waves and a tip of his cap in appreciation as fans chanted “Bochy! Bochy!”
In the middle of the third inning, the Giants showed a tribute video on the big scoreboard and fans roared again as Bochy watched from the top dugout step and then waved, tipped his cap and touched his heart.
“That was really, really cool for me, and the fans, I can’t thank them enough,” Bochy said. “They’ve been so great for me, and you never know how you’re going to be received when you come back. It’s a little emotional. It’s a big game so try to be locked in on that. But still, pretty cool. I can’t thank them enough.”
He remains revered for his decade-plus tenure managing San Francisco, including World Series titles in 2010, ’12 and ’14.
While he made sure to point out these are important games for both teams, Bochy spent some time reflecting on his successful years in orange and black.
“It’s special to be back in this ballpark. I can’t say enough about my tremendous time here, 13 wonderful years,” Bochy, 68, said ahead of his three-day reunion with the Giants, whom he managed for 13 years through 2019. “My wife and I, we just had the time of our lives. I lived across the street. Those 13 years impacted me as any time in baseball. I’m forever grateful and thankful for those years. We had a lot of fun, a lot of great memories, a lot of great celebrations.”
Jon Gray (8-5) struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter while allowing two hits over seven scoreless innings as AL West-leading Texas won 2-1 to improve to 69-47, the best 116-game record in franchise history.
Gray said he cherished being part of Bochy’s special night back in San Francisco.
“It’s really cool to see the baseball fans here, they don’t forget anything,” Gray said. “To see how much they appreciate Bochy and just to welcome him back it was really awesome. That place was rocking, it was loud. You know how much Bochy means to this city and this club. It was great to see that. It was really cool playing on this field and having Boch on my side.”
Bochy reminded everybody he used to be a regular in the opposing dugout while skipper in San Diego for 12 years before joining the Giants. This marked his first time back as opposing manager since Sept. 10, 2006, with the Padres.
“Well I’ve been here before, we had some rough games here, too,” Bochy said.
Bochy spent the off day Thursday fishing with friends in Half Moon Bay and caught “quite a few.”
“They cooked it up for us at the hotel,” he shared.
When Bochy’s return was announced about an hour before first pitch, those fans already inside stood and cheered. Bochy’s 1,052 wins with San Francisco are second only to Hall of Famer John McGraw’s 2,583.
Even in the dugout beforehand seeing so many recognizable media faces, Bochy expressed his thoughtful sentiments.
“Good to see everybody,” he said, “I mean it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.