On April 3, 2007, Bruce Bochy managed his first game for the Giants, who were awful the season before. They would be awful again. They would be awful the season after, too. The franchise had spent an unprecedented amount of money on Barry Zito to solidify the rotation for years, and he allowed a run within nine pitches. The first batter Bochy sent to the plate was Dave Roberts, who was retired quickly. Lots of hitters were retired quickly by the Padres’ starter that day. Jake Peavy would win the Cy Young that year, after all.



Bochy would be a part of better stories than that Opening Day — more than a thousand of them, and that’s just if you count the regular-season wins. But I’m not sure if any of them are a better example of the guiding rule of baseball, which, in turn, is the guiding rule of life:



You think you know. But you don’t.



Everyone is a steel ball dropped into a pachinko machine, knowing exactly where they want to end...