Column: Manager Bruce Bochy’s return to the game with the Texas Rangers is another win for the ‘old dudes’

Few managers in the game have the star power to draw reporters to the visitors’ dugout like Bruce Bochy, who returned to lead the Texas Rangers this season three years after leaving the game.

A plain-spoken old-school type, Bochy looks as if he could just as well be a Texas Ranger as manage a team that goes by the nickname. And a week shy of his 68th birthday, Bochy was back doing the thing he loves most.

The sun was out Friday at Wrigley, making it feel 10-degrees warmer on the field than in the back of the dugout. Bochy found a seat in the sun near the dugout rail and asked the media scrum if it was OK with everyone.

Everyone nodded. If it was OK with Bochy, it was OK.

“Not too bad out here, is it?” Bochy asked.

Everyone nodded. It was a great day, Chicago-wise.

Bochy answered the usual pregame questions about his players’ health, lineup decisions and the new pitch-clock rules. Music blared over the speakers as he spoke because the notion of ballpark sounds being heard in an actual ballpark before a game became extinct years ago.

But Bochy was oblivious to the music and looked perfectly content on his perch. He said he has embraced the new rules employed to make the game faster and more enjoyable to watch and reminded us why baseball exists.

“We are in the entertainment business,” he said. “The fans are liking it more. The action, the pace. It’s been good for the game.”

So what did Bochy miss most in his three years out of the game?

“A lot of things,” he said. “I’m starting to check those boxes off. Seeing you guys. I haven’t seen you all in a while.”

We blushed. It might have been the first time in recorded history a manager said he missed the writers.

“Opening day, first day of spring training and when the game starts,” Bochy said, continuing the list. “There are reminders as you go through the season. ‘Man, I miss this.’ Seeing the players, seeing these guys up close in the dugout, how good they are. I miss that. If you’re a manager, you also are a fan and you appreciate how good these guys are.”

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The game lost something when Bochy retired from the San Francisco Giants after the 2019 season, though he’s so low key that casual fans might not have noticed he was gone. Fortunately he missed the game, and Rangers general manager Chris Young was smart enough to reach out and gauge his interest in coming back.

“For me, it had to be the right fit,” Bochy said. “I never called anybody. I never looked for a job.”

The Rangers are 4-4 after Saturday’s 10-3 loss to the Cubs.

And despite heightened expectation, they’re still the Rangers, a franchise that never has won a World Series, hasn’t made the postseason since 2016 and hasn’t won a postseason series since 2011, the year they lost to St. Louis in the World Series.

But the Rangers have shelled out enough money on players such as Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom to at least compete with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the American League West. Adding Bochy was the kicker.

Their hopes could rely on the arm of deGrom, the best pitcher in the game on the rare occasions he’s not on the injured list. The Rangers gave deGrom a five-year, $185 million deal, gambling he could stay healthy enough to change the franchise’s fortunes.

Bochy also will be relying on the counsel of pitching guru Mike Maddux, who was the Rangers pitching coach in 2011 when he interviewed for the Cubs managerial opening.

Maddux, who looks like he could be the barkeep in a Tommy Lee Jones western, always will be remembered fondly by Cubs beat writers for an answer to a question about how he would handle disruptive starter Carlos Zambrano: ”I heard he’s a big teddy bear. I might pick him up and just burp him.”

We never got the chance to see whether that strategy would’ve worked. Dale Sveum got the job, and Zambrano was dealt in 2012.

Either way, Maddux pairs perfectly with Bochy and should make things interesting in Arlington, Texas.

This, of course, is no country for old managers.

But Bochy’s hiring in October was welcomed throughout the game.

“I’m glad he’s back,” Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker said upon hearing the news of Bochy’s return. “One more for the old dudes.”

Baker and Bochy are considered the gold standard of old guys managing modern-day players, and Bochy’s handling of bullpens is legendary. The Rangers’ relief corps led the majors with an 0.67 ERA entering Saturday.

Returning to the stage again, Bochy is one of the last of the old dudes, a group that includes Baker, the Cleveland Guardians’ Terry Francona and the New York Mets’ Buck Showalter. Tony La Russa retired from the Chicago White Sox in October for health reasons, while the Los Angeles Angels fired Joe Maddon in June.

The Cubs considered Bochy as Baker’s replacement in 2006, but general manager Jim Hendry never asked the San Diego Padres for permission to interview his friend and eventually chose Lou Piniella over Joe Girardi.

“I felt like where I was going, in fairness to the San Diego Padres and their fan base … it was in Bruce’s best interests to not be part of the process and stay with the Padres,” Hendry said afterward. “What they choose to do in allowing him to talk to other people, that’s their business. If it was going to be Lou, why put other people in a situation that’s not conducive?”

Bochy signed with the Giants a few weeks later, replacing Felipe Alou. Bochy won three World Series to seal his Hall of Fame credentials.

Now he’s back, and baseball is better for it.

Another win for the old dudes.