Bochy fondly recalls youth days spent in DC area

WASHINGTON -- Bruce Bochy is in his eighth year managing the Giants. Before that he was the Padres' manager for a dozen seasons.

Less known is that Bochy has a strong geographical attraction to the Washington, D.C., area. His father was stationed at the Pentagon, moving to the area when his son was 10 years old.

"I played Little League baseball at Bailey's Crossroads. We lived in Falls Church, Va. I had a paper route," Bochy said Thursday on the eve of his team's National League Division Series opener against the Nationals (Friday, noon PT on FOX Sports 1).

"I had a lot of friends here. A lot of them come to the game, friends I played Little League with. It is good to get reunited with them."

Bochy said he wasn't happy when his father retired and moved to Florida.

"I didn't want to move," he said. "I was going into high school. Basketball was my sport then. That's what I wanted to play. When we moved down there, that is when I switched to baseball.

"My first Major League game was watching the Senators. We'd get on a bus, 10, 15 cents. Frank Howard was my guy. They had a center fielder, Don Locke, I was a big fan. Paul Casanova, Ed Stroud. We ended up being neighbors with Mike Epstein, who was with the Senators. ... He told me a lot of stories about the teams, back when Ted Williams was managing."