The Giants made a habit of having unlikely heroes throughout each of their World Series runs in 2010, 2012 and 2014. One of the first was Pat Burrell, a veteran outfielder who the Giants took a flyer on in June of 2010.
It sure seemed like Burrell’s career was over by that point. Burrell had been waived by the Rays after batting .202 in just 24 games that season. But Bruce Bochy saw that he had something left. The outfielder launched 18 home runs and posted a .872 OPS during the last five months of the season with San Francisco, and was a key contributor to the club’s first World Series title in the Bay Area.
Ahead of Bochy’s final series, Burrell joined Mark Willard on Friday to remember the manager who saved his career.
“He pulled me off a scrap heap, and gave me life when I wasn’t sure I had any left,” Burrell said. “As a matter of fact, the second year in 2011, I got hurt. It was the end of my career. So I basically was on the disabled list for I think, probably half the year at the end, and I went into his office. At that time, we knew it was pretty much over for me, and I said, ‘Do you mind if we’re out of this deal’ – which we were – ‘would you let me get a start and have a couple innings out there just so my folks and family can watch me play one last time?’ And he did it, and he didn’t have to do that, you know.”
Burrell also shed some light into what makes Bochy such an effective manager behind the scenes.
“A lot of it is the things he doesn’t do,” Burrell said. “You know, he doesn’t have these tirades. He doesn’t
talk about players in the press. He doesn’t try to motivate with negativity, he has your back and he means it.
“Going back to 2010, our pitching was insane. If we could just score two runs, we were going to be winning most of these games. And he never said it. He never got on the offense. And I’m thinking, ‘Man, this guy’s patience.’
“At times I honestly said ‘If he could just let it go, I think we would respond.’ But you know what? He just didn’t do it.”
Listen to the full interview below.
