Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots ...

 Instead of saying managers like Bruce Bochy are a dying breed, how about “vanishing” breed?

 We’re not going to know what caused Zion Williamson’s shoe to blow up until Nike recovers the black box.

 If the player-manager is an extinct breed, the next breed to vanish could be the manager-manager. We have the driverless car, next comes the manager-less ballclub. Why pay a guy to make pitching changes or defensive switches when a computer can do those things more effectively? Five years from now the manager’s primary job will be making sure the players keep the dugout tidy.

 Here’s one place Bochy will be valuable to the Giants this season: Serving as buffer between Farhan Zaidi and Dereck Rodriguez. The young starter says he wants to be an old-fashioned innings-eater, but that flies in the face of newschool innings-rationing, especially for young pitchers.  Speaking of old school, there are a lot of fans and players who fail to appreciate the cool part of Manny Machado’s game, the part that does not remind you of Pete Rose or Eric Byrnes. Some fuddy-duddies will say that for $30 million per season the Padres should expect some consistent hustle and inspiring clubhouse presence.

 Don Newcombe, who died Tuesday at 92, was never one to rail about the abuses that black players faced in the early days of baseball’s integration. But in praising his old pal Roy Campanella, I heard Newk tell about the time in the minor leagues when an opposing batter stepped into the box, grabbed a big handful of dirt and flung it back into Campanella’s face.

 With Kyler Murray likely to shrink a couple inches when he goes through the NFL combine’s truth machine, he might want to look up Patrick Mahomes and say, “Hey, can you show me how to throw that sidearm pass?”

 Help me out. What’s the best way to leave in a hurry — skedaddle or vamoose? And once you’re out, is it best to traipse, gallivant, meander or mosey?