Photo: Miikka Skaffari/FilmMagic 2017

Comedian and baseball author Greg Proops grew up in San Carlos, an avid Giants fan. With Opening Day around the corner, the Sporting Green picked the brain of the “Smartest Man in the World” author and podcast host.

@SportingGreenSF: What did Willie Mays and Willie McCovey mean to you as a kid?

GP: I started going to games in 1968 with my dad. McCovey and Mays meant the world to me. Willie Mays was my favorite player, but I really felt McCovey was the best player in the game for a couple of years, especially in the late 60s and early 70s, before he got hurt. So it was really emotional for me when he passed, because I worshiped him.

Pitchers hated to throw it over the plate to him in that era, because he would hit it through the box. I think McCovey might be slightly underrated as a player. I remember when Candlestick wasn’t enclosed on the right-field side, every time McCovey would come up all the kids would come down. And there were wooden bleachers in those days. Everyone would come down to the cyclone fence and stand there. I remember seeing him hit one over those bleachers into the parking lot, which was quite a poke. I’m guessing close to 450-500 feet.

SG: Now that you live in Los Angeles, what are your thoughts on the Giants-Dodgers rivalry?

GP: As a kid, we took it real seriously. In the 70s, the Dodgers were really good and the Giants weren’t so good. Then the Giants got Vida Blue in the late 70s and we were competitive for a while. Then you would see drunken fistfights, people carrying signs, people throwing beer at each other, real horrible behavior at Candlestick Park.

I was at a game where Lee Lacy (of the Dodgers) hit a ball between Larry Herndon and Jack Clark. They collided and cold-cocked each other. They both fell down and the ball dribbled away from Herndon. Lacy scored a home run on it. There’s 60,000 people screaming bulls—. (Giants pitcher) Jim Barr comes out and he’s hopping up and down with fury.

Today, first of all, the Dodgers have gone to the World Series two times in a row, and they failed. So how can I not have that schadenfreude that’s so elemental to being a Giants fan. There’s two things we want: One, to win; and when we don’t win for the Dodgers to lose. Sometimes it was more important for the Dodgers to lose than for us to win, which was the sad part. It is petty. And that’s what makes it so fantastic, because Giants fans are sort of childish that way.

SG: What will you remember about Bruce Bochy, who announced he will retire after the season?

GP: He’s the greatest Giants manager of my lifetime. Full stop. Dusty Baker was awesome. Dusty Baker got us to the promised land. But we didn’t quite get through the gate. But with Bochy, he managed to execute a couple of miracles, I think.

The first one (2010 title) we were definitely going to win. Dominant.

The 2012 one was a tough road. That was an unbelievable postseason to go through.

And in 2014 the genius of his was, we got blown out in Game 6 in Kansas City. And because I had some insight into him, I knew he wasn’t going to start Madison Bumgarner the next day. He was going to start by committee, and then try to get Bumgarner in. And that’s exactly what he did. He brought in Hudson, and then Affeldt, and then he brought in Madison Bumgarner, because that’s the kind of manager he is. He’s excellent.

And also, the night before when we got blown out 10-to-nothing, he basically gave up on that game. And that’s exactly the way that you play that. Teams that blow you out of the water don’t come back right the next day. And what did Kansas City score the next day, two runs? (The Giants won, 3-2.) I think he let them run wild and blow themselves out. You’re not going to win 10-0 two days in a row. Especially if you have Bumgarner in reserve.

I think the way he manipulated the pitchers was magnificent, because we basically had one good pitcher and some relief. So I think he gets in the Hall of Fame. How difficult is it for someone to have three championships in this era? To go through all those rounds. I think it’s really exponentially difficult. I wouldn’t put anyone up there with him except maybe Torre or LaRussa.

SG: And how will you remember the Giants’ dynasty?

GP: Always great relief and good defense, which is the basis of everything. I’m old-fashioned. But no super stars. Nobody hit 40 home runs. Nobody drove in 120 RBIs. They didn’t have a Barry Bonds. They didn’t have a Willie Mays. They didn’t have a McCovey. When Aubrey Huff and Brandon Belt are your first baseman for your championships, you know, you’re not lighting the Hall of Fame on fire here. There are, I think, maybe two Hall of Famers from that whole dynasty: Buster and MadBum.

SG: Posey’s a Hall of Famer in your eyes?

GP: When you get three rings, an MVP, a Rookie of the Year and a comeback player of the year in your first five years, I think you’re a solid bet. I think he’s Hall of Fame. To me he’s the best young player we’ve had since Bobby Bonds, in the late 60s.

SG: Did you and your dad see many A’s games?

GP: My father was a strict National League fan. He took me to a couple A’s games, and I lived in the Bay Area when the A’s were the biggest team in the world, in the early 70s. I remember seeing the A’s, and Denny McClain had been traded to the Senators from the Tigers at the end of his career, and he gave up five homers (box score).

SG: Who were the players you enjoyed seeing come through Candlestick as a kid?

GP: Roberto Clemente. My memory of him is always rounding second or going into the right-field corner to dig out a ball.

Pete Rose would hit a double and come into second with a head-first slide, try to knock out the second baseman, and then stand up, dust off and called time like a football player. I remember him grabbing the umpire and putting the time sign right in his face.

Bob Gibson was extraordinary to watch. He’d face Juan Marichal and the game would take like 2 hours, 5 minutes. Gibson and Marichal worked fast, and batters didn’t step out of the box. If you stepped out of the box too long, you were in trouble, because the next pitch was going at your head.

Gibson definitely threw at people all the time. Marichal was a little more crafty about it, because he had 17 different release points and two different deliveries. With Gibson, you kind of knew what you were going to get: up and in. Marichal was a scientist out there.

SG: Are you in favor of rules to shorten the game and speed up pace of play?

GP: I think it’s utter and complete nonsense. There’s no reason to change any of it. The game is fine. One problem with the game is incessant ads between every pitch … and the owners. They are what is wrong in baseball. They don’t pay the minor leaguers enough. There was that “Save America’s Pastime Act” bulls— that passed through. They colluded this year, even though Harper and Machado finally got signed. I just got no time for the owners.

Putting a clock on it is stupid. There is no reason for it. There have been some good rule changes, like lowering the mound. But the clock thing to me, you’re misunderstanding what baseball is. It’s supposed to be slow and boring, punctuated by great excitement.

Greg Proops is a stand-up comedian (his latest special “The Resistance,” recorded in San Francisco, is available for purchase), author of “Smartest Man in the World” and podcast host. He makes San Francisco a routine stop on his stand-up circuit.