SAN FRANCISCO – Brian Sabean’s right hand sported one of his three championship rings from his tenure as the San Francisco Giants’ general manager. On Monday night, he marveled at the lineup in front of him.
Sabean, nearly 30 years after his arrival here, entered the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame alongside Patrick Marleau, John Taylor, Jenny Thompson, and Chris Wondolowski.
“I had no idea an honor like this would be in the wings,” Sabean, 67, said. “I’m very humbled and flattered by my induction because hall of fames are basically for great players, and I’m not going in that category.
“But I appreciate the recognition because we had a special group and a special operation as far as how our organization did things over time,” added Sabean. “That led to three World Series in five years, and we were lucky enough to go to four and win three.”
Sabean and Monday’s other inductees professed gratitude for the Bay Area serving as a hospitable host en route to their awe-inspiring careers.
Now working as an advisor to the New York Yankees and living in Bradenton, Florida, Sabean struggled to grasp how three decades have passed since first joining the Giants, who promoted him to general manager in 1996. He said the ensuing 1997 season was one of his two favorites; the other came in 2010, when the Giants won their first of three World Series crowns, with the others coming in 2012 and ’14.
“We were able to do it here first with the pitching – (Matt) Cain first, then (Tim) Lincecum, (Madison) Bumgarner, some relievers like (Sergio) Romo, (Brian) Wilson, etc,” Sabean recalled. “Then we had the position-player run with (Buster) Posey, (Brandon) Belt, (Joe) Panik, (Brandon) Crawford and (Pablo) Sandoval. That’s a mouthful.”
Earlier Monday, the Giants were swept in a four-game series at Philadelphia. What’s that like as a general manager in this early stretch of a season?
“You don’t sleep. It’s not fun,” Sabean said. “You have to be good at crisis management. Every day you’re dealing with something that is unexpected, or is pulling you left when you need to go straight. You have to get really adept at that.
“Our front office team was very, very good at that.”
As he prepared to enter a hotel ballroom for Monday night’s induction, he praised the “amazing company” he was joining. Here is what his fellow inductees said:
PATRICK MARLEAU
Six months after he entered the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame – alongside Wondolowski – Marleau joined Owen Nolan (2014) as the only Shark in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Drafted No. 2 overall in 1997, Marleau’s No. 12 jersey was retired last year by the Sharks, for whom he served three stints.
“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself,” Marleau said. “The jersey (retirement) ceremony, watching the jersey go up, I was (like): ‘Is this really happening?’ It’s no different here tonight.”
Marleau’s first Sharks tour was from 1997-2017. He returned from Toronto in 2019, then finished his career with San Jose in 2021, when he surpassed Gordie Howe for most NHL regular-season games (1,779). Marleau is the Sharks’ all-time leader in games, goals, points, power-play goals, and, game-winning goals.
After Monday’s night festivities, his attention turns to Tuesday’s NHL draft lottery and the Sharks’ potential to draft No. 1 overall for the first time.
“It’s going to be a big draft for our club,” Marleau said. “Last year’s draft was good, as well. It’s going to be a fun time to bring these young guys in, get them up to speed with the NHL game and help develop them and build this team around these young guys, and hopefully bring the championship to San Jose.”
His advice to the top pick and others: “Have your eyes and ears open when you come into the locker room, and just take it all in. That work ethic is the biggest thing, and compete. If you bring those things and are willing to learn, you can find yourself in that dressing room for a long time.”
CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
Wondolowski, 41, is this hall of fame’s first San Jose Earthquakes player. He is also the lone member of this year’s class who is a Bay Area native (Danville) and continues to reside here.
“I remember my dad (John) telling me he got to go see Steve Young be inducted (to BASHOF),” Wondolowski said. “That was always a really cool thing. Now he gets to come again, but for myself, which is full circle.”
He retired 2 ½ years ago from the Earthquakes as the MLS’s all-time leading scorer (171 goals, 17 seasons), and he remains with the club coordinating player development.
“I was kind of a late bloomer, so just to be mentioned with some of these names, it’s crazy to me,” Wondolowski added. “The heroes I had growing up are in here, as well. It’s pretty amazing and I truly find it special.”
JOHN TAYLOR
Taylor may be known best for his Super Bowl-winning, last-minute touchdown catch for the 1988 49ers, but he won the Super Bowl three times and made the Pro Bowl twice.
“I remember coming out here my rookie year in 1986, walking through the airport and you see this display,” Taylor said of the BASHOF plaques in the San Francisco International Airport. “I guess now when I come through the airport I have to look for myself. It’s a hell of an honor to put myself up with the guys that are already here. It’s a beautiful honor.”
Inducted to the 49ers’ Edward J DeBartolo Hall of Fame in 2021, he still ranks high in the franchise record book: first in punt returns (149), eighth in receiving yards (5,598), ninth in touchdown catches (43; tied with Freddie Solomon), and 10th in receptions (347; tied with Michael Crabtree). One play forever preserved Taylor’s spot in 49ers’ lore: his 10-yard catch in the final minute against the Bengals to secure the 49ers’ third Lombardi Trophy.
“You got to remember I had one catch all day. That was the major one,” Taylor said. “It was something you dream about as a kid growing up. All of us play in the streets saying, ‘If you make the catch, if you make the throw, you win the Super Bowl.’ I can honestly say I lived that, and it kept me around for a while.”
Taylor, 62, grew up in Pennsauken, New Jersey, in a neighborhood that bred four others who played in the NFL at the same time as him. “This is what really sold me (on San Francisco): the Golden Gate Bridge — until I got here,” Taylor said. “The whole time growing up you hear, ‘Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge,’ so you figure in your mind, it has some type of gold look to it. Then I got here and it was red. That was about the biggest disappointment out of everything.”
JENNY THOMPSON
On the morning of her BASHOF induction, Thompson returned to Stanford for a 5:30 a.m. swim. “It was really reminiscent of working your butt off, then seeing the sun rise and the beauty in that,” said Thompson, who won 19 individual and relay titles during her Stanford career from 1991-95, then went on to win 12 Olympic medals (eight gold).
“Being a part of the Stanford swim team was probably the most special part of my swimming career,” Thompson added. “To be part of such a tight-knit group of women, really sisters, we accept each other. We all have flaws and accept them all. It’s an amazing experience to be a part of a team like that. People say swimming is an individual sport but in college it really is a team sport, and I love that aspect.”
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She also loves the Bay Area so much she wishes she lived here again, though she’s happily raising her family in Charleston, South Carolina. They will accompany her to Paris for this summer’s Olympic Games, with tickets in hand to watch four nights of swimming. “I kind of made a goal back in the day that I would always go to the Olympics,” Thompson said. “I missed Rio and then COVID happened, so I’m excited to get back.”
Thompson reflected on her career and relayed what she called the best advice she received:
“Have fun,” Thompson said. “Swim from your heart. Because when you think too much about being professional or being too serious, you lose the joy you feel from your passion. When I was going for my fourth Olympics, I was in medical school, my mom was sick with cancer, and I was able to have perspective of what swimming meant to me. I lost all of the seriousness about and remembered the true joy it brings me. Have fun; it really is the most important thing when pursuing your dreams.”