Bochy delighted by Hall of Fame manager trio

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The impending entry of Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre to the Hall of Fame thrilled Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who maintains deep admiration for each former counterpart.

"Pretty awesome, wasn't it, to have all those three at the same time," Bochy remarked Monday after the Hall of Fame's Expansion Era Committee elected the trio of skippers to the Hall. "I don't know if we'll see that again, three going in same year. I have respect for all three. It's appropriate they're all going in together. Pretty cool deal there, seeing all three [during a news conference] talking about it."

With the retirement of Detroit's Jim Leyland and the dismissal of Cincinnati's Dusty Baker, Bochy owns the longest continuous tenure among active Major League managers (19 years) and the highest victory total (1,530).

"I'm old, aren't I?" Bochy said. "It makes you think where the years went."

On a more serious subject, Bochy said he expected this week to continue the discussion of altering baseball's rules to prevent catchers from head-on collisions. Bochy's call for baserunning regulation gained momentum after Buster Posey of the Giants sustained multiple left leg injuries resulting from his May 2011 collision with Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins.

"We're supposed to get together and talk about it," Bochy said. "I think we'll have a change [in the rules] before next season."