SAN FRANCISCO -- The last time Bruce Bochy managed a game at Oracle Park from the visitor's dugout, Dave Roberts was his leadoff hitter and Barry Bonds was batting cleanup for the Giants. Bochy remembers one thing very clearly from those days.
"'Who Let The Dogs Out,' when they had that song, we heard that a few times," he said Friday afternoon, smiling.
Yes, it's been a long, long time since Bochy last faced the Giants. After leading them to three World Series titles over 13 seasons that will land him in the Hall of Fame, he'll manage against the Giants this weekend for the first time since 2006, when he was with the San Diego Padres.
Before the first game of the series, Bochy said "It was special to be back" and added he can't say enough about how positive his time in orange and black was. On Friday, he walked past the apartment building where he lived for over a decade, allowing for a short walk across the street after games. That walk often came well after midnight, after he had fully digested the night's nine innings.
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"I'm forever grateful and thankful for those years," Bochy said. "I had a lot of fun. A lot of great memories, a lot of great celebrations. It's good to be back."
Bochy was the center of attention on Friday, signing autographs for fans behind the dugout and plate, and taking plenty of photos with fans wearing his No. 15 jersey, or representing some of his former stars. The Giants plan to play a tribute video for Bochy in the middle of the third inning, but other than that, it will be all business.
While Bochy gave out hugs and shook dozens of hands Friday, there also was a serious tone to everything. Both managers, Bochy and Gabe Kapler, said they were focused on their own teams and didn't have much to break down about the other side.
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Bochy did catch up with his former bench coach, Ron Wotus, early in the afternoon, and had conversations with Larry Baer and some members of the Giants staff, but there wasn't all that much crossover. Only five current Giants even played for Bochy.
The night will be a meaningful one for the fans, but for two teams with playoff aspirations, what happens between the lines is most important. The Giants have fallen 6 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Bochy's Texas Rangers are trying hard to hold off the Houston Astros in the AL West.
In his return, Bochy certainly returns with a leg up. The Rangers lead the Majors in runs, a far cry from Bochy's experience in San Francisco for 13 years. He still looks back on all those tense nights fondly, though.
"We all wish we could get 10 runs a game. But torture, it was fun. I think?," he said. "You look back and people ask me if it was fun. I go, 'Well, I guess it was."
