Bruce Bochy pushes back on notion he was forced out by SF Giants

All throughout October, as Bruce Bochy led the Texas Rangers to the World Series title, there was more than just regret for some back in San Francisco. It was a chance to look back at Bochy’s exit from the Giants and reframe the departure.

But nearly a full week after Bochy won his fourth title as a manager, he went on KNBR-AM’s “Murph and Mac” morning show and dispelled any notion that his retirement from managing the Giants after the 2019 season was somehow forced upon him, even without being directly asked about it.

“I didn’t know if I would come back,” Bochy said. “I didn’t. I took three years off, I never called anybody. But just watching the game, you just have a deeper appreciation for the game and the things that you missed.”

Back in 2019, when Farhan Zaidi was entering his first season as the president of baseball operations in San Francisco, Bochy was about to manage the Giants while in the final year of his contract. Instead of potentially forcing Zaidi into an awkward decision, Bochy announced at spring training that he would retire after the 2019 season, allowing Zaidi a chance to hire his own manager after that year, while ensuring a drama-free transition.

Bochy reminded people on Tuesday that part of his reason to retire was that he needed the time away physically. Joking that he’s “a little bit like Frankenstein” now, Bochy said he had back surgery, a knee replacement and both hips replaced in the time between managerial stints.

A narrative that Bochy was “forced out” in San Francisco really didn’t pop up in earnest until Oct. 8, when Fox Sports analyst Alex Rodriguez said Bochy “got ran out of San Francisco for analytics and Gabe Kapler.” 

That clip happened all the way back on the night of Game 2 of the American League Division Series. As the rest of the playoffs wore on — with Bochy’s Rangers sweeping the 101-win Orioles, knocking off the defending champion Astros in seven games and beating the Diamondbacks in five games — the restlessness in the Bay Area grew.

It surely didn’t help that an Oct. 17 clip on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed former Giants general manager Brian Sabean’s conversation saying Bochy “didn’t go out on his own terms” in a conversation with Larry Krueger. Then, on the night of the World Series win, 95.7 The Game’s morning show host Bonta Hill shared the “Bochy was forced out” sentiment in a since-deleted post on X (though there are still dozens of replies to his original post up).

Still, Giants fans with any lingering doubts about the way Bochy left the Giants heard directly from the man himself on Tuesday, saying it took the WBC experience to reignite his desire.

“I got back and I told everybody, ‘Man, that was a blast,’ and, ‘I really missed the game,’ watching it on TV and I was watching all of the Giants games,” Bochy said. “As time went, I just started missing it more and more. You’d think it’d be the other way, you’d get used to it and go, ‘I’m good.’ 

“The first year, I was fine. The second year, it built up. And then the third year, I really had a craving to get back in. Couldn’t have worked out better when Chris Young, who pitched for me, gave me a call.”

Of course, Bochy’s title win in Texas earned him love from many in San Francisco, including from several former Giants. Bochy said he was “overwhelmed” and “shocked” by the amount of love and said he received congratulatory texts from Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner — who did text Bochy saying he was ready to pitch in Game 7 of the ALCS, Bochy confirmed — and the famously reclusive Tim Lincecum.

“Timmy, he’s one you don’t hear from as much,” Bochy said. “For him to send one, like I said, it was overwhelming all the texts I got from the Bay Area and from teammates from back there. To those three, I thank them all and that’s pretty cool.”