Bochy rejoins team after eulogizing Towers
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Manager Bruce Bochy returned to spring training after one of the harder days of his life. He was in San Diego on Sunday, delivering one of more than 20 eulogies at a public memorial for Kevin Towers, who died of cancer Jan. 30 at age 56.
At the end of their professional relationship, Towers was the Padres’ general manager when Bochy left for the Giants after the 2006 season. The beginning happened three decades ago, when they were teammates in the San Diego farm system.
Towers was a pitcher forced out of uniform by a bad arm. In 1988, Bochy caught Towers’ final pitch for Triple-A Las Vegas. The next year, they were in Spokane, Wash. Bochy was managing the Padres’ entry in the Northwest League. Towers was his pitching coach.
They were tight until Towers died. Bochy, who spends winters in San Diego, even kept Towers company at a chemotherapy treatment.
“You learn from your friends,” Bochy said. “I learned a lot from Kevin. He taught me how to live in different ways. He taught me how to live when all odds are against you, when you’ve been dealt a horrible hand. How he dealt with it, I’ll never forget it.”
Towers told Bochy he planned to beat his rare form of thyroid cancer, and even if he didn’t, Towers told him, “I’m a winner either way.”
“He kept teaching until the end,” Bochy said. “It was a lot of heavy hearts (at the memorial), but it was a celebration, too. There were a lot of great stories and memories of Kevin. It was a nice send-off he had, a great turnout.” Same ol’ Cueto: Special assistant Felipe Alou went to the back field Sunday to see Johnny Cueto face hitters for the first time and said he threw all of his pitches and used all of his tricks. Infield candidate Andres Blanco was not prepared for that. When Cueto pulled a statue-cum-shimmy move, Blanco backed out of the box.
Cueto is expected to throw one more live batting practice, then start a game. The only other starter who has not pitched, Jeff
Samardzija, is scheduled to face the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Briefly: Reliever Julian Fernandez, a Rule 5 selection from the Rockies, sat at 98 mph and touched 100 mph in his debut Monday, but he did not retire a hitter and allowed four runs. … Sam Dyson makes his first appearance Tuesday. Mark Melancon, coming off surgery, has not thrown live batting practice, but will soon.