Doval formed special bond with Giants scout who discovered him

• Programming note: Watch Alex Pavlovic's full interview with Camilo Doval on Wednesday during "Giants Postgame Live" on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO -- The calm that Camilo Doval brings to the mound in the ninth inning is the perfect complement to the entrance the Giants spent months putting together earlier this year.

As a video filled with flames and quick cuts starts to play and Doval's music blasts through Oracle Park, he drifts through the bullpen door with the urgency of someone who is walking up the driveway after a long day at the office. He points to the sky and then starts a jog to the mound that is so slow his coaches initially worried he would never have enough time to warm up after new pace-of-play rules were enacted. 

Tranquilo Camilo is unbothered by even the biggest of situations, and that brings peace to a dugout and fan base. But on one of the biggest days of his life, it led to some serious panic for the young scout who discovered him in a small town in the Dominican Republic that has a population that could nearly fit in Oracle Park.

On Oct. 28, 2015, Gabriel Elias and some Giants officials waited at the team's academy with a contract that Doval was supposed to sign at 8:30 a.m. Elias had been the first scout to connect with Doval and he was confident he would make him a Giant, but as the minutes ticked by, he started to wonder: What if Doval was having second thoughts? What if another team had swooped in with a better offer? Finally, at 11 a.m., Doval and his family showed up.

"Thank God we signed him," Elias said recently. "It's working out pretty well."

Doval is tied for the MLB lead in saves and has a real chance to break the franchise record (48) in his second full season as a closer. Given their deficiencies elsewhere over the last two months, you can make a strong argument that the Giants would be out of the playoff picture without Doval.

Instead, they're hoping he's closing out every series in October, and they have started to build marketing campaigns around the 26-year-old. When the Giants announced their first-ever jersey sponsorship last week, it was Doval who was chosen to join Gabe Kapler in the campaign.

Doval is becoming a star, but whenever this season ends, he will retreat to a quieter life. Yamasa still is where he feels most comfortable, and while he now can afford a much bigger house and as many horses as he wants, the rest of his life hasn't changed much.

"It's a small, humble town," Doval said. "Everyone there is family, like cousins or brothers. We're all together over there, we grew up together. I still live in the same style I did as I grew up. I get along well with everyone, and I do the same things I did when I was a kid, like bathing in the river or riding horses in the hills with my friends. I do all the same things."

Doval's stoicism is one of his greatest strengths, but his face lights up when he tells stories of Yamasa, a small country town about an hour from Santo Domingo. He and his friends love to take their horses down to the river, and occasionally someone will approach and ask if he's the pitcher from the San Francisco Giants. Most of the time, though, he fits right in.

"When I go back," he said, "I'm the Camilo Doval of my childhood."

It was in Yamasa that Elias discovered a skinny 5-foot-11 teenager with a quick arm and a low slot. He remembers Doval as having a "very, very good feel for the slider" even back then, and while Doval was sitting 87-89 mph, Elias knew there was much more velocity on the way. 

"I just got the feeling from the first time that I saw him that it was electric," he said. "It's funny because I see the excitement that the fans get when he gets on the mound. It's the same feeling I got back then in 2015 when he got on the mound."

Elias, the organization's cross-checker in the Dominican Republic, was just 22 years old at the time. He has since helped bring plenty of other young arms into the organization, including Randy Rodriguez and Jose Cruz, both of whom are on the 40-man roster and close to the big leagues, but Doval was his first big addition, and he's one of best gifts the Bobby Evans regime left for the current front office.

While Elias was in early, the process was not seamless. A few months after the Giants saw him for the first time, Doval had grown two inches and bumped his velocity up to 94 mph. Elias had initially viewed him as a potential starter, but he began to think that Doval could be a future late-innings weapon for the bullpen.

The Giants had negotiated a deal with Doval's side, but the price doubled when the velocity increased. Still, it was a contract they were happy to offer. Elias peppered his reports with the word "special." He raved about Doval's competitiveness and calm.

"He was just different," he said. 

While he might have been a bit late on signing day, Doval never had any doubts about where he would end up. He was introduced to Elias by his trainer, Ezequiel Villar, and the two quickly formed a bond. He's grateful Elias helped him start the path to the big leagues, and he laughs now when he tells the story of signing day. 

"Sometimes over there you get caught up in traffic and other things, so you get used to arriving a bit late to things," he said. "You have to stress people out a bit sometimes, to make them really want you to sign with them."

That's the life of a closer, especially with the Giants, it seems. But there wasn't much stress on the way to the big leagues. Doval made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2016 and posted a 1.66 ERA. Four years later, on his 23rd birthday, the Giants gave him an invite to the summer camp held at Oracle Park before the COVID-shortened season. That put him on the fast track to the big league bullpen. 

Doval made his debut the next April in Miami, and while travel and ballpark restrictions were still in place, Elias made the short flight to watch Doval strike out two in his first big league inning. The two caught up from a distance by the visiting bullpen, and Doval later presented Elias with the jersey he wore that night. It now proudly hangs in his office. 

That night was the start of the big league journey for Doval, and it was an unforgettable one for two men who have formed a special bond over the last decade. They exchange messages after nearly every one of Doval's appearances, and even though Elias is just three years older than Doval, the closer views the scout as a father figure. Elias views Doval as his oldest child.

"I'm very proud of him," he said. "Not just professionally, but personally I feel great for him. I've seen Camilo become a man, become a family man, have his wife and son, and mature."

Last month, Elias watched as Doval and his family walked the red carpet before the All-Star Game. He believes the best is yet to come for Doval, but already, he has made good on the promise that Elias saw in him in Yamasa. It's a small town, but it's one that shaped Doval, and Elias feels that upbringing is the reason for Doval's success in the ninth inning. 

"When you get there, it's like time slows down," he said. "You see why he's so relaxed, so Tranquilo Camilo. It has to do with where he comes from."

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