A Book of Walks by Bruce Bochy Page A

minutes and ponders the role he sees every player of his having that game. He’ll mull emergency scenarios. He’ll dream up enough surprise twists and turns in the plot line to fuel an Elmore Leonard novel. He’ll study the stats, the matchups, and everything else he can to gain an analytic edge. Then he’ll head out to the dugout and clear his thoughts and let the game steer his thinking. That is how he’s ready to trust his gut: Heknows what he knows.
    â€œI watch the game,” he told me. “You don’t see me writing down a lot of things or having to look down at stats. They’re important, but there are some things that you can’t see on a spreadsheet. How a player is performing at that time, the confidence he’s playing with. Or take it the other way: He’s really going through a difficult time, and he’s not comfortable at the plate or on the mound, or he’s not quite there with his delivery. All these things, they play a part in any move that you make, and that’s why you have to trust your gut, your instincts.”
    Bochy was taking long walks long before he moved to San Francisco to manage the Giants starting in 2007. The ritual of regular long walks got going in his San Diego years with his black lab Jessie, but the City by the Bay, ideal walking city that it is, with its sweeping vistas, its colorful people-watching, its rich mix of neighborhoods and landmarks, turned his walking into a fixture in his life. Often his wife, Kim, leads the way. “I’m a huge walker and San Francisco is the perfect city to walk in,” she says. “So we’re in the perfect spot for it. I walk everywhere. I have a car but it sits in the garage. Sometimes it sits there until we have to go to the airport to pick someone up. Our son Greg, a firefighter, lives three miles away near Russian Hill and we walk over to see him.” Their other son, Brett, is a pitcher in the Giants organization.
    Another frequent walking companion is Brian Sabean, general manager of the Giants, architect of the three World Series championships in five seasons. But he’s also happy to go solo. He’ll go for brisk walks that are often like a run, planned in advance, or he’ll dial it down a notch and walk wherever his feet tell him to go, whether that’s a park or a corner pub, just so long as he’s covering enough ground to feel like he went somewhere. Walking is a little adventure. It’s a step through the Looking Glass into an alternate reality, knowing that when you come back you’ll be the better for it. People in high-stress jobs like managing a big-league ball club are especially in need of the health benefits of regularlong walks or other extended exercise — but everyone could benefit mightily as well from emulating Bochy and getting their steps in outdoors.
    â€œThat daily walking may improve mental well-being makes a certain amount of sense given that our brains and psyches are known to thrive on exercise,” Bret Stetka wrote in a February 17, 2015, Scientific American article reporting on research demonstrating the physiological and psychic benefits of regular walks. “Regular physical activity has been linked with improved mood, enhanced creativity and a lower risk of depression. It can also improve symptoms in people with depression or anxiety. The rush of blood and oxygen to the brain that comes with working out also helps stave off cognitive decline, in part by inducing the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory and learning. In fact, exercise is one of the most effective means of preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”
    Bochy’s idea that good, long walks not only make him healthier, they make him smarter, has some interesting resonances. A host of scientific research supports the view, showing that regular walking can lead to more alertness, better