SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Part of the appeal of hiring Bob Melvin was the connective tissue to the Bay Area and San Francisco Giants history that he brought with him.
Kicking off his first spring training, Melvin isn’t waiting around to wield that influence. In a break from the former regime, more than a half-dozen former players and coaches are scheduled to make appearances in camp, with possibly more who could join them.
“The more the merrier,” Melvin said.
Barry Bonds, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Will Clark, Dusty Baker, Dave Righetti and Ron Wotus are all expected to be on hand at various points.
Righetti, the former pitching coach for Felipe Alou, Baker and Bruce Bochy, is already in Scottsdale, and Melvin said “Rags is gonna be with us” throughout camp. Since 2018, Righetti has worked in a front-office role, where he mostly interacted with pitchers at Single-A San Jose under Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler.
“Bryan (Price) and I really wanted him with the big-league team,” Melvin said. “He’s worked more with the younger guys and he’s got some insight for us on those younger guys. Having Dave Righetti around, all these guys know who he was and what he was all about.”
Melvin’s appreciation for the organization’s history was already apparent in the members he hired to be full-time on his staff. The third base coach is Matt Williams, the star of the Roger Craig-led teams of the late ’80s of which Melvin was also a member. His pitching coach is Price, who never played for the team but grew up just a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge from Candlestick Park.
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Despite those ties, the Menlo Park native has only just begun to get to know the most famous baseball player the Bay Area ever produced.
Bonds, 59, and Melvin, 61, grew up on the Peninsula separated by two years in age — with an even closer connection than that — yet Melvin said, until texting him recently, that he had never had a “real conversation” with the all-time home run king.
When Melvin reached out, he was sure to mention that they had played against each other before: In American Legion ball, when Melvin was 15 and Bonds 13. Melvin played for the Palo Alto squad; Bonds for San Mateo.
“I said, I’m sure you don’t remember this, but we actually played Legion ball against each other,” Melvin said. “He said he remembered.”
