Bochy happy again as new team visits former squad

SAN DIEGO -- Vultures circling as the Giants headed south after losing five of six to start the season?

Nope, just former San Francisco skipper Roger Craig, now 77, in a goatee.

'I like the way he approaches guys, the way he believes in us and shows us confidence.' -- Matt Morris on his new skipper. (Getty Images)

Giants manager Bruce Bochy glanced over from his pregame seat on the bench and grinned.

"Damn," Bochy said. "We lose five games and Roger's here."

Yes, strange sights blanketed Petco Park here on a chilly Monday evening, from Craig's startling (and dapper) goatee to San Francisco starting a season 1-5 -- and, following a 1-0 series-opening loss to the Padres, 1-6 -- for only the third time since moving west following the 1957 season.

But no sight was more odd than that of the winningest manager in Padres history -- and the only skipper ever to lead a San Diego team to back-to-back division titles -- piloting a game from the visitors' dugout.

"Let's be honest here," said Bochy, who had spent the past 24 seasons in the San Diego organization, the past 12 as Padres manager. "You can't be in a place as long as I was without great memories. I have great respect for those players, memories I'll cherish.

"But I'm happy and excited to be here with the Giants. My focus is on trying to win some games."

The Giants, who signed Bochy to a three-year, $6 million deal, trust that he will. General manager Brian Sabean watched him out-manage everybody else in the NL West in recent seasons and, when it came time to replace Felipe Alou after last season, couldn't believe his luck when he discovered that the Padres were OK with folks romancing Bochy even though he had one year remaining on his contract.

"His handling of a pitching staff is widely known," Sabean says. "The last two years, in our estimation, he had to be one of the best managers in baseball to win back-to-back division titles.

"That tells you a lot about how he handles a team, and how he handles what's given to him."

Last fall, Padres president Sandy Alderson tried to paint it as the Padres making a magnanimous gesture by allowing Bochy the freedom to test his market value.

It was disingenuous because, though the Padres never dared say it publicly, you didn't need to be a lip reader to see that they preferred Bochy gone.