It’s hard enough to imagine John Gibbons starting a personal lifestyle blog, let alone writing an entry like this.
“If you want to be your strongest, get some sun on your boys. And by boys, I mean your testicles.”
And if you were asked to identify which big-league manager described a meal this way, you probably wouldn’t guess Bruce Bochy or Clint Hurdle.
“I baked a whole chicken for dinner. Being the animal that I am, I inherently felt the urge to consume the whole bird. If it was a wild turkey that I hunted with a spear rather than an organic chicken purchased from a market, and I was dependent on the nourishment for sustenance, you better believe that I wouldn’t let any valuable morsel of that beautiful game go to waste. … I can honestly say I enjoyed eating the softer, edible bones of the chicken that I just now devoured more than the meat. I inhaled some of the harder portions as well; if I could grind it up in my teeth, it was going down.”
So, no, Gabe Kapler’s not your standard issue big-league manager. We saw that from the beginning, when he called on 21 pitchers to pitch his first 28 innings on the job and even used reliever Hoby Milner without allowing him to warm up. Those decisions earned him boos from Phillies fans at his first ever home game, and even frustrated some players.
To some, that failed first week may always define Kapler. But his actions before and since those initial struggles suggest his sometimes unusual approach has the potential to help the Phillies more often that it’ll hurt them. The 27-15 record the Phillies have played to since their 1-4 start would seem to reinforce that point.
Kapler spent the winter in Philadelphia, showing up at the Phillies’ offices every day to understand the organization better. He also attempted to learn the city’s sports history to better relate to his team’s fans. And once spring training started, he showed his willingness to experiment, shifting corner outfielders between left and right field depending on hitters’ batted-ball tendencies.
[snippet id=3305549]
When Kapler played, managers would never make that kind of move. But even the old guard has welcomed — or at least accepted — bolder strategic thinking in recent years, as decision-making has become more and more data-driven.
“As far as the fundamentals of baseball and how you have to connect with players, the teaching component of this game is the same,” says Mike Scioscia, baseball’s longest-tenured manager. “Now there’s much more clarity with not only experience, but with all the analytics available, it definitely steers you into a direction that is a little bit cleaner than maybe where you had to guesstimate 10 years ago.”
Scioscia’s Angels have used two-way star Shohei Ohtani in a new hybrid role this year, while the Rays are starting relievers regularly as a way to maximize their injury-strapped pitching staff. Comparatively, Kapler’s in-game management has looked relatively traditional since those first frantic days.
One reason for that: the conversations he had with his players early in the season suggested that they were uncomfortable with some of his decisions, and he listened to their concerns in a series of one-on-one conversations.
Still, Kapler’s not about to blend into the background of MLB managers, not when he spends his off days attending Phillies minor-league games wearing a fedora. Philadelphia’s big-leaguers, by the way, have no obligation to dress as sharply as their manager; Kapler scrapped the team’s dress code for charter flights.
“Come on, open-shoes? Closed-shoes. Collar open? Collar closed? T-shirts? Who gives a [expletive]?” he told USA Today.
[snippet id=3966765]
Instead, Kapler devotes his attention to the baseball decisions at hand on a given day. In that sense, baseball’s most experienced manager has something in common with his peers navigating the role for the first time.
“As much as you compete when you’re in this position as a manager–every manager’s very competitive–it’s a small fraternity and you always obviously want guys to have a good experience whenever they get an opportunity (just) not at your expense,” Scioscia says. “We’re all baseball guys that love the game.”
Even Kapler, despite the ‘nerd’ label some are inclined to slap on him. Already, that’s meant learning on the job more than most. But every new manager does some adjusting on the fly, and when they ask Scioscia for advice on handling the considerable demands of the job, he relays the best advice he ever got.
“Get as much input as you can,” Scioscia says, “Make decisions about what’s best for the group of guys you have and the team and don’t let some outside influences changes what you know or feel is the right thing to do.”
By that measure, at least, Kapler’s been ready for a while.
[relatedlinks]
