Octobers for the ages Through three World Series championship runs, Bruce Bochy masterfully combined meticulous preparation with a willingness to take risks on his players in the right moments.

Octobers for the ages Through three World Series championship runs, Bruce Bochy masterfully combined meticulous preparation with a willingness to take risks on his players in the right moments.

In the moment, it was some of the most intense baseball of their lives and featured tight games, exceptional pitching, clean defense and barely enough hitting.

Now, five years removed from the Giants’ last of three World Series titles in San Francisco, players can joke about the experience — and the man who led them through it.

“I remember he pinch-hit for me in Cincinnati in the Division Series,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said when asked for his favorite postseason memory of manager Bruce Bochy.

As for Madison Bumgarner, he recalled asking Bochy for extra time before coming out of the bullpen for Game 7 of the 2014 World Series in Kansas City. Bumgarner said Bochy gave him three minutes’ notice.

“I was thinking, I just told you, ‘Give me extra time,’” Bumgarner said.

Bochy acknowledged that was a mistake because, “it takes him three minutes to dig a hole on the mound.”

San Francisco Giants' manager Bruce Bochy chats with Brandon Belt in the dugout before Giants play Arizona Diamondbacks in MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 27, 2019. San Francisco Giants' manager Bruce Bochy chats with Brandon Belt in the dugout before Giants play Arizona Diamondbacks in MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, August 27, 2019. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close How Giants manager Bruce Bochy built an October legacy for the ages 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

It all worked out, of course. Bumgarner’s spectacular five-inning save put a bow on the Giants’ even-year dynasty of 2010, 2012 and 2014 that solidified Bochy’s place with the all-time elite managers. Through it all, Bochy masterfully combined meticulous preparation with a willingness to take risks on his players in the right moments.

Now retired after 25 seasons as a big-league manager, Bochy can reflect on his title runs and feel comforted that he took no shortcuts.

“What I take pride in is our preparation with the staff before every one of those games,” Bochy said. “We were never surprised by anything.

“I know so much is made of where the game is now, the analytics and information. We did that then. It wasn’t anything by the gut. It was all planned out before the game.”

Bochy credited then-general manager Brian Sabean and the supporting cast — including coaches, scouts and executives — with helping ensure he was content and confident entering each series.

That practically every move he made worked was an indication he not only was thoroughly prepared but brilliantly proficient with his on-the-spot decision-making.

Editor's note This is the last installment of a season-long five-part series covering Bruce Bochy’s final season as Giants manager.

“I think he had the ability to know where the turning point of the game was,” catcher Buster Posey said, “whether it’s in the second inning or eighth inning or fifth inning. He had almost an innate sense to decide whether we push them all in right here or whether we hold them for a little bit. That’s what’s made him good.”

The times he rolled the dice, and similarly encouraged his players to take chances, proved just as critical.

“He’s a big risk-taker,” former Giants outfielder Hunter Pence said. “That kind of impacted me because most managers I played for before him always wanted you to play it safe. He’s kind of the opposite.”

To which Bochy said, “I’d rather have a player taking a risk to make a major contribution versus playing cautious not to lose. ... That’s the type of players you’re going to win with.”

Bochy said he hasn’t watched a single postseason game on video.

“What I’m looking forward to at some point this winter is going through all those games again,” he said.

When he does, here are some of the October moments he can savor:

2010

One of the games that best defined Bochy’s postseason prowess was Game 6 of the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia. The last thing he wanted was a Game 7 in a raucous environment, so he treated Game 6 as must-win.

In the process, he managed in 2010 like it was 2019.

He pulled starter Jonathan Sanchez in the third inning with the score 2-2 — after Sanchez helped ignite a benches-emptying incident — and later summoned two of his starters, Bumgarner and then-ace Tim Lincecum.

“That certainly wasn’t something they winged in the moment. They very much mapped that out in both cases,” Sabean said of Bochy and pitching coach Dave Righetti.

“It kind of played to that script,” he said.

Juan Uribe broke the tie with an eighth-inning homer, and the Giants won the pennant and beat the Rangers in a five-game World Series.

Bochy said the key wasn’t his moves but the players carrying them out.

“It works only if the players execute and make it work,” Bochy said. “They did that, and they were willing to put aside their own ego like Timmy going into the bullpen. We used Bum in the bullpen in Philly. That’s the way it has to be. It’s all hands on deck. And so that’s the way we played it.”

2012

With the Giants down 2-0 in the best-of-five Division Series, their only hope was winning three straight in Cincinnati, so Bochy gathered his players and preached the biblical tale of Gideon, the underdog who defeated the Midianites.

When Bochy was done, Pence stood up and delivered his legendary “I want one more day with you guys” speech, the first of a string of sermons that earned him The Reverend nickname and helped carry the Giants to another World Series title.

“More than Bochy’s speech, I remember Hunter’s,” Crawford said. “Hunter was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, nice story, Boch, but I got something for you guys, too.’ ”

Bochy was happy to defer.

“As a manager, you love it when players step up and lead, step up and preach,” he said. “For Hunter to step up in the situation we were in, I thought that was huge. ... He hadn’t done anything like that to that point. So I think he surprised all of us. I think that made it have a larger impact.”

Pence played down his postseason speeches and commended Bochy for his own “speeches and inspiration, which are definitely impactful memories.”

The Giants beat the Reds three in a row, then had to do the same against the Cardinals after falling behind three games to one in the NLCS. Bochy stuck with struggling Barry Zito in Game 5 in St. Louis, a decision for the ages.

All these years later, it’s still a fair question: Why?

“Actually, I thought Barry was throwing the ball better, I do,” said Bochy, who must have seen something in the lefty’s Division Series start in which he gave up two runs on four hits and four walks in 2 ⅔ innings.

“There was a trust there. I know he had his ups and downs. I left him out of the ’10 postseason. He actually had done fairly well in the previous postseasons. I knew he wouldn’t be nervous or afraid, although the first inning was a little rocky.”

Zito pitched out of a bases-loaded jam and lasted into the eighth inning. The Giants beat the Cardinals three straight games — giving them six straight elimination-game wins — and swept Detroit in the World Series.

So, yes, in retrospect, Crawford can laugh about being replaced in the eighth inning by a pinch-hitter in Game 3 of the Division Series. After all, it worked out. Joaquin Arias lined out in the eighth but hit the 10th-inning grounder to third baseman Scott Rolen, whose error allowed the Giants to score the deciding run.

More than that, Crawford remembers the faith Bochy had in him later in the series.

“I doubt many people remember this other than me, but I hadn’t gotten a hit yet in that whole series, and he stuck with me in Game 5,” Crawford said. “I had some struggles throughout that season, and I started my first playoff series with no hits in four games. He gave me confidence when he kept rolling with me.”

Crawford’s fifth-inning triple scored the first run in Game 5, and later in the inning Posey hit a grand slam. Crawford went 2-for-4.

Bochy says he never considered benching his shortstop.

“No, Craw was the glue on the infield,” he said. “We weren’t looking for Craw to carry the team with the bat, though he got big hits. Shortstop is such an important position. ... He could win a game with his defense.”

One major story line from the 2012 postseason was Lincecum, who agreed to go to the bullpen despite winning two Cy Young Awards as a starter and winning the Babe Ruth Award as the MVP of the 2010 postseason.

He was invaluable as a super reliever who succeeded in any role Bochy used him.

“The way Boch used Lincecum out of the bullpen,” Posey said, “that jumps out for me first because of Timmy’s track record as a starter. It’s twofold. One, having the insight to use him in those certain situations. Two, credit to Timmy to say, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’”

2014

Not many managers relied on a pitcher like Bochy relied on Bumgarner throughout the 2014 postseason. Not only did the lefty pitch a record 52 ⅔ innings, he produced a 1.03 ERA over seven appearances including a 0.43 World Series ERA.

Yet, Bumgarner jokes about not getting an earlier call in Game 7 at Kansas City.

“I said I would rather get up and get loose and then sit down and wait to come in than have to rush,” Bumgarner said. “I told (Bochy) I’d like more time so I could go through my same routine. If I could do it over again, I would’ve gotten up earlier. It all worked out fine.”

Did it ever.

“I still give him a hard time about it sometimes,” Bumgarner said.

Remember, the rest of the rotation wasn’t sharp in the postseason. Ryan Vogelsong, Jake Peavy and Tim Hudson combined for a 5.47 ERA, 9.92 in the World Series.

In Game 6 of the World Series, Peavy lasted 1 ⅓ innings. In Game 7, Hudson went 1 ⅔.

Bochy pulled Hudson and used Jeremy Affeldt as a 2 ⅓-inning bridge to Bumgarner. The Giants went up 3-2 in the fourth inning on Michael Morse’s RBI single, and Bochy stuck with Affeldt for the bottom of the inning.

Then Bumgarner got the call in the fifth. On two days of rest. After pitching a four-hit shutout in Game 5.

“That was a concern when he got on the mound,” Bochy says now, aware that Bumgarner didn’t warm up long. “It was, ‘Oh no, maybe I didn’t give him enough time.’ But I was thinking with the adrenaline, that would be plenty of time.”

Bumgarner delivered a masterpiece, recording the first five-inning save in postseason history. He became the first player in history to win two games, pitch a shutout and earn a save in a World Series, and his World Series ERA was 0.25.

“Obviously, that stands out,” Crawford said, “bringing him in that early and then sticking with him through the rest of the game. I heard he’d possibly come in as a reliever, but I don’t think anyone knew when or for how long. But for Bum in that postseason, anything was possible.”

Pablo Sandoval, the MVP of the 2012 World Series after homering three times in the opener, said Bochy’s call to Bumgarner two years later was “the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen from a manager. He trusts his players, and Bum was killing it. He never doubted Bum was going to do what he did.”

Bochy got his third World Series championship, and only five managers have more.

“He tries to put everybody in the best position to have success, and that’s heightened during the playoffs,” Sabean said. “His demeanor is an understatement. As the games get bigger, he’s more even keel. Being in the moment and for how much is at stake in each of those playoff games, not only does he have an edge with his own players, he has an edge against the opposition.”

Brandon Belt added, “He never gave up, ever, and that trickles down to all the players. That’s what I’ll remember him for.”

There was one other postseason for Bochy, 2016. The Giants entered as a wild card, and Bumgarner naturally shut out the Mets to get the Giants into the Division Series against the Cubs.

The Giants had a 5-2 lead in the ninth inning of Game 4, and a win would have sent the series to Chicago for the finale with Johnny Cueto on the mound, fresh off his mostly dominant start in the opener, a 1-0 loss.

The ninth started with Kris Bryant’s routine grounder to short. But the analytic age had arrived, and the Giants were in a shift, so Crawford wasn’t anywhere near the ball, which bounced into left field. The Cubs rallied for four runs and went on to win their first World Series title since 1908.

Bochy never managed another playoff game.

In the offseason, when Bochy watches the Giants’ postseason games, there’s one year he plans to omit.

“2016? No,” he said, realizing plenty of other games are available for his viewing pleasure.

John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey