After weeks of speculation the Giants finally picked a field manager. Gabe Kapler is a 44-year old SoCal native who most recently managed the Philadelphia Phillies. That was his first job in the hot seat and he got the boot after two seasons (161-163). He also had a stint in the LA front office where he worked with Zaidi. Kapler had a 12-year career in the majors, mostly as an outfielder, playing in over 1100 games and stepping in the box over 3300 times. He quit playing for a year to manage a minor-league club for the Red Sox, then went back to playing. He's done analysis for television as well as for
Baseball Prospectus.
I'm not bothered by the fact that things did not go well in Philly. Managing is hard. It isn't easy to do it right the first time. If he survived the interview process he must be pretty committed, and that's all you can ask. I have no idea if he will be a good manager, but I'm happy the team got who they apparently wanted from the start.
The best thing? It's over. No more talk about managers and general managers. Now let's see these guys get to work and give us stuff to cheer about in 2020.
--M.C.
10 comments:
He is very well spoken and does well during interviews. Although if the team gets off to a really bad record, not sure how he will handle it. He seems to be a good communicator. We shall see.
We shall. I note it is a 3-year deal--that seems like a reasonable commitment.
Here's FZ:
“Probably the key thing that we were looking for and the most important trait, if we could summarize it in one sentence, was somebody who was capable of building trust and relationships with both players and the front office,” Zaidi said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday night. “In my experience with Gabe, and as we went through the interview process and got to learn more about him, it became clear to us that he was the person who could best execute on that.”
I think the key is to realize that no one can "replace" Bruce Bochy. That thinking isn't going to help ANYONE who takes the job.
The "Bochy Era" is over. The San Francisco Giants will be fielding a team in 2020 and they will be starting from scratch. Sure, there are people and players that were part of the glory days, but that's not relevant. It's time for a new beginning.
I'm excited. I want to go forward and see what the "new era" will bring.
Wotus stays with the club.
He seems to me to be very well spoken. Which in today's world seems more important than ever. He also seems to have grown from previous experiences. Also F.Z. seems to be able to work with him. He has worked with him in the past and seems to be very gung ho about working with him again. That says a lot of G.K. I enjoyed Bochy, but I am also old enough to have enjoyed Leo Durocher. Manager's change, but the giants are still the giants.
Yes, Durocher! An ex-Dodgers employee, like Kapler, with baggage, again like Kapler—Durocher became the Giants manager after being suspended a year for associating with gamblers while a Dodger. My family’s butcher at the time was a Giants fan, so buying dinner was brightened up by baseball commiserations; but when I came in, joyful over the hiring of Durocher by the Giants—over seventy-one years ago now—the butcher announced that he had become a Dodgers fan, because as a good Catholic he couldn’t root for a team whose manager had twice been divorced. This was July, 1948; and the Giants won the NL pennant in 1951 (Bobby Thomson’s home run), and nearly won the World Series. They won the Series in 1954. If we prosper that way under Kapler, Hallelujah!
Well we all have to deal with the Bay Area and the hyper-media that comes with that. I just want the Giants to get to work and get going on 2020. I don't know if the guys they hired are good or bad, I don't care as long as they work hard to make the team better! Right? Let's get to work and see and improved squad for next season!!
If a giant fan turned to be a dodger fan, because he thought that made him a good catholic, I would say that the person was misguided on several fronts.
Great story, though! And a perfect illustration of the lunacy that comes with being a sports fan.
Bumgarner and Smith both reject the QO. Smith signs a 3-yr $40M deal with Atlanta. He joins Melancon. That's OK. He's a terrific pitcher but that kind of deal isn't what I want to see the team do. I hope one of the youngsters like Anderson gets a shot at the closer job. Giants will get a 3rd round draft pick in compensation.
Post a Comment