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Bochy explains decision to retire after 2019 season, his future plans on 680

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© Isaiah J. Downing | 2018 Sep 3


Bruce Bochy hopped on with John Lund on Monday afternoon, shortly the manager announced he’d be stepping down after the 2019 season.

Bochy explained how he was feeling after telling the team, and what ultimately led to his decision to retire from the game of baseball after managing the Giants for 12, soon to be 13, years.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit of an emotional day here addressing the club on the first day of spring training,” Bochy said. “At the beginning of the day I briefly told them my plans and then we talked about what we want to get done.

“It’s always tough when you see something coming to the end, so it was a tough day at times.

“It all started at the end of last year, and I talked to Larry Baer about this and Brian Sabean and I told them about what I’m leaning toward doing and that I was going to take some time off and process this. And then the other question just came up so much, about my situation. And I just said ‘you know what, it’s hard for me to be honest with everybody when they’re asking me questions about what I’m going to do.’

“I didn’t think it was fair to Farhan (Zaidi) or Larry, myself even, but also the team. And I try to keep them from having to deal with distractions, and I don’t want that going on all year. So I said ‘you know what, I’m going to get it out there, put it behind us, and get focused on baseball.’”

Bochy said his decision to retire is more of a feel thing than anything. He also mentioned he isn’t planning on leaving the game completely.

“I mentioned this to the media after the workout today. Sometimes you just know it’s time, and it’s as simple as that. As I’ve said I’ve got no other plans or agenda. I’ve done a lot of managing with my gut, and my gut feeling just told me ‘you know what, it’s time.’ Whether the team needs to hear another voice, I needed a break, it was just my time to step down. And I’m good with it, I really am, even though it was a tough day. I feel great, I really do, but I just said ‘you know what it’s time to retire from this managing.’ I’ll stay in baseball. Larry and I have already talked about working in another capacity, but I’ll do something in baseball.”

As far as post-retirement plans, Bochy has a few.

“I haven’t really thought about it, we’ll sit down at some point, but it’s going to allow me to do some things I love to do. I just had two grandkids so I’ll spend some more time with the family. I really enjoy fishing, and I enjoy fishing in the Bay Area. I’ve got a friend Mike Mack, he takes me out all the time, so I’ll find some things.

“I did say today, I’ve got no cruises lined up. I’m not going up Everest, I’ve got no big plans. I just want to get a little bit more time to do things I love to do. That includes having a nice glass of wine.”

Listen to the full interview below.