Bruce Bochy spent a many an idle moment over the winter
— in a fishing boat, behind the wheel of his car — pondering
what he would say when the San Francisco Giants prepared to take
the field for their first full-squad workout of 2011. The laconic
manager delivered his message Saturday morning. And in the parlance
of last year’s World Series winners,
Bochy nailed it.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.
Bruce Bochy spent a many an idle moment over the winter — in a fishing boat, behind the wheel of his car — pondering what he would say when the San Francisco Giants prepared to take the field for their first full-squad workout of 2011.
The laconic manager delivered his message Saturday morning. And in the parlance of last year’s World Series winners, Bochy nailed it.
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“Way better than any speech I’ve ever been a part of,” outfielder Cody Ross said. “Boch told us exactly what we needed to hear.”
Don’t bother waiting for the first episode of Showtime’s documentary series to hear it. Interestingly, Bochy didn’t allow their cameras to remain in the clubhouse for the half-hour meeting.
But he summarized his message for reporters: “We’ll never forget what happened. You deserved every accolade you received. But success is never final. You have to earn it again, and we have to earn it again this year.
“You’re never more vulnerable to complacency, sloppiness or arrogance. That’s why we need to keep our focus.”
Even players who already owned World Series rings, like Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell, had never heard this version of a spring speech before. Rowand was traded to the Phillies after the White Sox won in 2005. Burrell signed with the Rays after Philly won in 2008.
Bochy touched on many of the same ideas that he communicated at the start of last year’s playoffs, Tim Lincecum said.
“It’s not necessarily playing for yourself, but for the guy next to you,” Lincecum said. “I’m telling you, he’s getting better at these speeches.”
—Lincecum looked impressive while kicking off the first live batting practice of the spring, but he was surprised when Burrell, the first man he faced, swung at the first pitch. Usually hitters track pitches before taking a tentative cut or two.
It had to feel good when Burrell, who was 0 for 15 with 13 strikeouts in the World Series, hit a line drive to right field. But Mark DeRosa was unimpressed.
“He said, ‘I’ll go first, guys,’ but he wasn’t fooling us,” DeRosa said. “He knew the first four or five pitches would be fastballs. We ended up getting all the changeups and sliders.”
—Brian Wilson (sore back) played catch but was held out of the workout because of the wet conditions. The Giants managed to squeeze in most of their work before the rainfall got heavy.
— Story by Andrew Baggarly, San Jose Mercury News
