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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–Bruce Bochy, a three-time World Series champion and the longest-tenured manager in Major League Baseball, announced Monday he plans to retire at the end of the 2019 season.
Bochy’s final season will mark his 13th with the San Francisco Giants and his 25th consecutive as a major league manager. He announced his decision during the Giants’ first team meeting of the spring.
“I managed with my gut, I came up here in 2007 on my gut and it’s a gut feeling that it’s time,” Bochy said. “It’s been an unbelievable ride.”
Players said Bochy opened Monday’s meeting with the announcement regarding his future and became emotional while addressing the club. First baseman Brandon Belt said teammates were shocked at the announcement and are determined to send him out on the right note.
“That’s a lot of knowledge,” Belt said. “He’s been around the game a long time, knows how to win ball games and I think he kind of still, not kind of, he did instill that in the players that were here. We won’t accept anything less.”
CEO Larry Baer called Monday a “sad day” for the Giants and said the organization is losing one of the most important figures in franchise history, which dates all the way back to 1883.
Bochy joined the Giants in the fall of 2006 after a 12-year run as the manager of the San Diego Padres. Entering his final year with San Francisco, Bochy ranks 11th in career managerial wins with 1,926 and needs 74 to become the 10th manager ever to reach the 2,000-victory mark.
“He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame,” Baer said. “In this organization, that’s the way we feel. A lot of pride that goes with that, the city of San Francisco is very proud of him. As we go through the season, we’ll obviously have tributes but I think the ultimate tribute would be Cooperstown. That, to us, is a no-brainer.”
Former Giants general manager and current executive Brian Sabean hired Bochy away from the Padres and echoed Baer’s beliefs that Bochy is destined for baseball immortality in Cooperstown. Sabean paired with Bochy until the spring of 2015 when he turned the front office over to his hand-picked successor, Bobby Evans.
“Just to do it for 25 years consecutively is pretty amazing,” Sabean said. “Not being told to go home or having to take time off before you got your other job. That’s pretty crazy.”
Bruce Bochy announces he will retire after the 2019 season pic.twitter.com/TWiBLgL3Oh
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) February 18, 2019
Bochy acknowledged he began considering retirement at the end of the 2018 season, around the time Evans was fired and replaced by new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Baer hired Zaidi to lead a “next-gen” front office and indicated during the hiring process that Bochy was contemplating making the 2019 season his last.
Bochy said he settled on his decision over the winter, but insisted he was not influenced by the turnover in the Giants front office.
“No, I couldn’t be more adamant about that,” Bochy said. “Farhan has been great. Larry, everybody has been great. This is my decision and like I said, it’s not something I thought about last week. We talked about it at the end of the season. I don’t want to burden them with again, wondering about my situation. I don’t want any distractions.”
Bochy has dealt with heart issues in previous years but said he is in good health and medical concerns did not play a role in his thought process.
Baer said Bochy has an open invitation to remain in the organization after his tenure as manager concludes. Bochy said he’ll remain in the game of baseball in some capacity, but said he’s excited to spend free time with his grandchildren.
“It’s an open door to whatever he would want to do,” Baer said. “He might want to take a couple of days off before going to work in the offseason, it’s been a lot of years.”
When asked if he would ever contemplate managing again, Bochy refused to close the door entirely on a potential comeback.
“Never is a big word,” Bochy said. “It’s a long time, isn’t it? Never say never. You never know what’s ahead of you. Where my head is at right now, I’m retiring as a manager here this year.”
The Giants do not plan to begin searching for Bochy’s successor immediately, but Baer said Zaidi would lead the process. Zaidi could have multiple key voids to fill next offseason as the Giants have discussed hiring a general manager to work under their president of baseball operations.
Though the Giants are not immediately concerned with evaluating candidates to replace Bochy, the team’s players desire to make his final season in San Francisco one of his most memorable.
“What’s even crazier is no one is expecting us to do anything,” pitcher Derek Holland said. “That’s what makes the story that much better.”
