PHOENIX -- The scene on the Triple-A field at Papago Park on Monday would have brought back the exact same memory for any Giants fan. As Bruce Bochy watched batting practice from behind the cage, he chatted with one of his former players, Travis Ishikawa.
Ishikawa's greatest moment in the big leagues helped Bochy win his third title. It's one of the most famous home runs in franchise history and led to perhaps the most joyous moment in Oracle Park's two decades. It was a hilarious trip around the bases that no Giants fan will ever forget. T-shirts were printed. A bobblehead was made. A legend was born.
But the game goes on and a new generation always comes, and one day you look up and a three-run homer that seems like it happened yesterday was actually hit eight years ago. That's nearly half the lives of some of the hitters Ishikawa now coaches. Ishikawa smiled over the weekend when asked how often the blast comes up.
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"I don't think a lot of them know who I am," he said.
Ishikawa hung up his spikes after the 2016 season and joined the Giants as an Arizona League hitting coach in 2018. That first season, he got an incredible reminder that not all young players coming through the system are that familiar with the club's three-title run.
"We were in the cage working one day, and (a player) was like, 'Hey, have you ever hit a walk-off homer?'" Ishikawa said, laughing. "I was like, "Yeah, I got one in the big leagues, a couple in the minor leagues.' Two days later he comes up to me and he's like, 'Dude, seriously?!" I go, 'Well ... my picture is on the wall, you could have asked anybody.'
"It's the generation now where it's been long enough to where they see the current players and things like that. It's always fun when guys first find out and you see how excited they get or more shocked or surprised, I guess. I can't believe it's been eight years. It's gone by quick."
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Just about everything has changed for the Giants since that walk-off, but there's one constant. The Giants will always keep former players involved, and Ishikawa will be joined on the Low-A coaching staff by new pitching coach Dan Runzler, a former teammate. At times, they will be working with roving hitting instructor Pat Burrell and roving pitching instructor Ryan Vogelsong.
Ishikawa's connection runs deeper than most. He was drafted out of high school by the Giants in 2002 and played 334 big league games over six seasons. He also played nearly 1,000 minor league games for the organization, including parts of three seasons in San Jose. Ishikawa first played in the South Bay in 2004, and he said the affiliate in San Jose was his first choice when he committed to moving on from rookie ball.
Arizona was convenient four years ago because it was where his family had settled, but over time Ishikawa had started to think about the next step. He missed full-season baseball, the fans in the stands, the music and little quirks that make the minors so special. When director of player development Kyle Haines, a former San Jose teammate, called and asked what he thought of moving up to Low-A, Ishikawa was ready.
"I've always felt like it's like a second home," he said of the Bay Area.
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It's a place where Ishikawa will now help mold some of the organization's best young talent. The best hitting prospect in San Jose this season might be shortstop Aeverson Arteaga, who won't turn 19 until later this month. Ishikawa will coach the youngest full-season hitters in the system, but even if some of his players might not always know his history with the game, the fans won't let him forget.
Ishikawa returned to the Bay Area in February for a signing event in Burlingame. He said the response from fans was "incredible."
"It's humbling for me, but at the same time it makes me feel really cool that that moment happened," he said. "The Bay Area fans, I don't think I could go a whole day without being recognized. Eight years later the fans in San Francisco and the Bay remember that and they appreciate that, and that's what's really so cool about it."
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