Phil Nevin was 28 years old when he came to play for the San Diego Padres and general manager Kevin Towers in 1999.
Nevin played several positions for the Padres at their old ballpark, Qualcomm Stadium, until 2003 and at Petco Park until 2005. In 2001, he earned his first All-Star Game selection.
“A lot of great memories for me,” the Angels’ manager said before his team’s series-opening 10-3 loss to his former club Monday night at Petco Park. “I made sure I drove down [Interstate]15 and cut across [Interstate]8 so I could see the old stadium. … A lot of memories driving down here today.”
Nevin’s home is in San Diego, which makes the Angels’ three-game series with the Padres a personal homecoming.
He also made return visits to Petco Park as a third base coach for the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees.
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But Nevin’s relationship with Towers, who died of cancer in 2018, and Towers’ influence on Nevin’s post-playing career is part of the reason why coming back to San Diego holds extra significance. Monday’s game was the first time Nevin returned as a big league manager.
Nevin was the Angels’ third base coach last season before he was promoted to interim manager after Joe Maddon’s firing in June. In October, the Angels made Nevin the permanent manager on a one-year contract.
The Angels entered Monday at 45-41, 21/2 games out of an American League wild-card spot.
“He’s just somebody that I really admired as a friend, for one, but a lot of baseball advice,” Nevin said of Towers. “I got three big people in my life that didn’t get to see the day I took over. … KT would be at the top of that list.
“I’m sure I’ll look up at the box [in the stadium]like where I used to say, ‘Hey.'”
Nevin’s relationship with Towers during Nevin’s playing days has been described by some as volatile. But Nevin said he viewed it as brother-like, with their friendship growing after Nevin was traded during the 2005 season.
Towers’ Padres tenure ended in 2009, and he later became the Arizona Diamondbacks’ general manager.
Towers hired Nevin to manage the Diamondbacks’ triple-A affiliate, the Reno Aces, in 2014.
He also pushed for Nevin to become the Diamondbacks’ manager for the 2017 season — a job that went to current manager Torey Lovullo.
Nevin still vividly remembers the day Towers told him he was sick.
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“I just remember him telling me: ‘I got dealt a tough hand. I gotta get a few cards off the bottom of the deck,’” Nevin recalled. “He fought and fought until the end.”
Nevin still thinks of Towers often.
“There’s a lot of decisions in life, whether baseball or not, I think about him,” he said. “[Former Padres manager Bruce Bochy] too. But I can pick up the phone and call Boch still. I said that last year when I took over, I wish I would’ve had the chance to talk to him.
“I know that [KT] would have been proud.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.