A homecoming for San Carlos native Braden Bishop as outfielder is claimed off waivers by Giants

Bishop said he was happy to land on his feet after being exposed to the random nature of the waiver wire — known colloquially as DFA limbo — for five days.

“I’m immediately thinking: ‘OK, am I going to the East Coast? Am I going to the South?’” Bishop said. “Then they told me the Giants were the ones who claimed me. I was shocked and just surprised. … Obviously as it started to hit me more, I was just extremely excited for the opportunity to play for that organization … to be with my brother, and obviously I grew up watching them. I’ve seen more Giants games than I’ve played games in the big leagues.”

Bishop has had his share of emotional storylines since turning pro in 2015 as a third-round draft pick of the Mariners out of University of Washington. He was the player who, on March 21, 2019, subbed in for Ichiro Suzuki when Suzuki exited his final game after a storied 19-year major league career.

Later in 2019, Bishop’s mother Suzy died after a long battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease, a condition that prompted the Bishop brothers — Bishop’s younger brother Hunter is one of the top prospects in the Giants organization — to found their charity, 4Mom, a foundation that has blossomed into a thriving non-profit business.

Then in January 2020, while the sports world was devastated by the death of Kobe Bryant, Bishop was dealing with a more personal loss as John Altobelli, his former coach in the Cape Cod League, was one of nine people who died in the helicopter crash that killed Bryant.

“He was so wise and just knew the game so well,” Bishop said. “And he was just so mellow mannered, which made him such a good manager. He never got too high. And he’s really good at communicating. Obviously, we were a summer ball team — you’ve got guys coming from different colleges, and different parts of the country — and I was there for the first three days, and I had already seen him starting to bring the team together. I thought that was incredible because not many coaches have the ability to do it so fast.”

Altobelli was in Bryant’s helicopter because they were en route to a youth basketball team. While Bryant’s daughter died in the helicopter crash, so did Altobelli’s daughter Alyssa, 13.

Bishop said he has fond memories of Altobelli as a family man, as he spent time with Alyssa and the rest of his family at the field in Brewster, Massachusetts.

“Just such a good family man,” Bishop said. “I mean, just his wife and his daughter … were at every game. And he takes time out of the day and sit with them, it was definitely heartbreaking to hear.”

While anticipating a possible reunion with his brother, Bishop is also on track to reunite with Giants outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. The two played together under Altobelli during the summer of 2014 with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League.

“We got along really well in the Cape and I had a lot of fun playing with him,” Bishop said. “We’ve never really crossed paths too much, but it will be cool getting to play together again.”

As fate would have it, Bishop now lives in the Sacramento area. He and his wife Brianna bought a house in Lincoln, located in Placer County on the outskirts of Rocklin, last year. The two also welcomed their first child to the world last Monday as Brianna gave birth to a boy, Boston.

Bishop is looking to get back on track on the field after a slow start in 2021. He went hitless in four at-bats with the Mariners, and was batting .176 (3 for 17) at Triple-A Tacoma. Until his being removed from Seattle’s 40-man roster and exposed to the waiver wire last Wednesday, however, this was the first normal season Bishop has seen in several years.

Last season was unusual for everyone because of the coronavirus pandemic. But in 2019, Bishop has a more immediate health scare after being hit with a pitch in the ribs in a game with Triple-A Tacoma. Bishop didn’t known the extent of his injuries in the days to follow when he was promoted to Seattle.

His 2019 stay in the big leagues was cut short, however, when he was rushed to the hospital, where he learned the hit-by-pitch had ruptured his spleen.

“I knew that was going up and I knew that was going to be my opportunity,” Bishop said. “And I ended up going up and I was like it’s probably just a broken rib, I’ll play through it. I was like, I’ll let it take me off the field, and it definitely took me off the field and right into the hospital.”

Bishop returned to the field in September.

“And that was probably rushing back,” Bishop said.

It was the following month, on Oct. 5, 2019, just six days after the completion of the MLB season, his mother Suzy passed away.

“She hung on until the last day of the 2019 season,” Bishop said. “Literally just hung on until that day so [Hunter and I] could come home, and then we were able to spend a couple of weeks at home just together.”

Now, Bishop is looking for a fresh start in Sacramento — and, hopefully, beyond.

“I think the biggest thing is just getting back into consistent rhythm,” Bishop said. “I’m definitely looking forward to just getting back out there and just to try to get some consistent at-bats and some rhythm. And whatever the future holds, I’m good with it.”