Dickey: Bochy deserves NL Manager of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO — If Bruce Bochy isn’t named National League Manager of the Year, it will be a grave miscarriage of justice.

Generally speaking, baseball managers have much less to do with their team’s success than football coaches, but there are managers who make a difference by infusing their teams with their own personality.

Sometimes, it’s a driving search for perfection, a style best typified by Tony La Russa. Other times, it’s the relaxed style of Joe Torre.

That’s the style of Dusty Baker, who got the Giants to the World Series for the second time in 40 years before being foolishly pushed out by then managing general partner Peter Magowan. Bochy’s managing style is very similar to Torre and Baker.

When you’re around Bochy, what you notice most is his calm. He can get angry with umpires’ calls, which has gotten him thrown out of games, but he maintains an even disposition with his players. He doesn’t make impulsive decisions about players, and he gives them every chance to succeed.

One example from this year’s team: Travis Ishikawa. A superb fielder, Ishikawa has never looked like a major-league hitter to me, but Bochy has carefully spotted him in situations where he can excel and Ishikawa has responded with a couple of home runs which have helped win games recently.

Again, that’s very much like Baker.

Players always wanted to play for Dusty, and it’s no coincidence that the Giants had much more trouble signing quality free agents after Dusty left. His successor, Felipe Alou, almost never talked to his players before making decisions. Warm and cuddly he wasn’t.

Bochy has a deeply flawed team. The problem remains what it has always been: Because Brian Sabean signed so many players to too-expensive contracts — Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn, Edgar Renteria and, of course, Barry Zito — he did not have enough room on the payroll to either sign the big power hitter they need as a free agent or trade for him midseason.

So, he tried stopgap moves, trading for first baseman Ryan Garko and second baseman Freddy Sanchez, giving up two top pitching prospects, but neither has made much difference. Garko is only a slightly better-than-average hitter and a below average fielder.

Sanchez is an excellent player who can’t stay healthy. He plays the game with abandon and, though you love him for it, he pays the price with injuries. Sanchez came to the Giants with an injured knee and now, he’s got a shoulder injury as well.

Most observers put the Giants chances for the wild card as slim. Sports Illustrated last week put the Rockies chances of winning the wild card as even, the Marlins odds at 5-2 against and the Giants at 5-1 against.

Since then, the Rockies have shown they may have a serious shot at the NL West title and the Braves have moved into the wild-card race. So, the Giants may wind up battling the Dodgers, Marlins and Braves for the wild card.

But the odds against them don’t seem to bother the Giants players, who have battled adversity and their own shortcomings all season. That’s a tribute to Bochy, who has kept them together. If the Giants get the wild card, he should be a shoo-in as Manager of the Year, but even if they don’t get it, he deserves the honor.

Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.