Gabe Kapler

Kapler made his Major League debut in 1998 at the age of 22.[30] He became the first Tiger since the inception of the draft in 1969 to be selected as late as the 57th round, and reach the majors.[22]

In 1999, he hit his first career home run on April 30 against Albie Lopez of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Kapler's 10 home runs in his first 64 games was the fastest by a Tiger rookie since 1954, and was not surpassed until 2008.[31] For the season, Kapler wound up hitting a career-high 18 home runs in just over 400 at bats, third among AL rookies, and his 49 RBIs were ninth among AL rookies.[22][32]

In November 1999, he was traded by the Tigers with Al Webb, Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, and Justin Thompson to the Texas Rangers for Juan González, Danny Patterson, and Gregg Zaun.[33]

Kapler hit two home runs on Opening Day in the 2000 season for the Rangers, becoming the first player to homer in his first two at bats as a Ranger.[34] In July he homered in four straight games, tying a club record.[9] He then had a team-record 28-game hitting streak later that season, which was also a major league high for the season.[35][36] On July 30, he was named the American League's Player of the Week.[4] In 2000, he batted .302/.360/.473 with 32 doubles (second on the team), 14 home runs, and 66 RBIs in 444 at bats, hitting .344 in the second half of the season.[5] On defense, playing primarily center field, he tied for second among AL outfielders with 4 double plays.[5][9]

In 2001, he hit 17 home runs, scored 77 runs, had 72 RBIs, and stole 23 bases (leading the team) in 29 attempts.[5] Kapler batted .267/.348/.437.[4] He made just one error in 344 total chances for a .997 fielding percentage, second-best in the AL, and his 8 assists tied for fourth-most of any AL center fielder.[37]

In July 2002, the Rangers traded Kapler, with Jason Romano and cash, to the Colorado Rockies for Dennys Reyes and Todd Hollandsworth.[38][39] Playing for the Rockies in 2002, he batted .311/.359/.445 in 119 at bats.[4] In 2002 between Texas and Colorado, he batted .279, and .357 with runners in scoring position, as on defense he had 10 outfield assists.[4][9]

Kapler with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.

On June 28, 2003, the Boston Red Sox acquired Kapler from the Rockies.[40] He batted .292/.349/.449 for the Red Sox, in 158 at bats.[4]

In 2004, when Shawn Green of the Dodgers announced that he would not play on Yom Kippur, the Boston media asked Kapler if he would do the same thing. Kapler called a Boston-area rabbi for advice. With the Curse of the Bambino still hanging over Red Sox fans' heads, the rabbi reportedly said: "Do it! We need all the help we can get!" Kapler decided to play.[41]

Kapler played a career-high 136 games in 2004, hitting 6 home runs and driving in 33 runs in 290 at bats, as he primarily played right field.[4][9] He batted .272.[4] He also led the team with 6 outfield assists.[5]

In Game 4 of the 2004 World Series against the Cardinals, Kapler had been inserted as a pinch runner, but manager Terry Francona left him in the game to play right field in the ninth. Kapler joined an exclusive club, as one of the nine players who were on the field when the Red Sox won their first title in 86 years.[42]

Less than one month after the Red Sox dramatic 2004 World Series victory, Kapler departed to play for Japan's Yomiuri Giants. He received a $2 million deal plus a $700,000 signing bonus, compared to the $750,000 salary he had received from the Red Sox. Driven by the memory of an elementary-school report that he had written about Japan, he felt it was time for a change. "I tend to make emotional decisions," he said. "I did it more for the life experience than anything else. And ever since I wrote that report, I've been fascinated by everything that an 8-year-old associates with a country far, far away."[42] He struggled in 38 games in Japan, and was placed on the inactive list by Yomiuri in the 2005 mid-season.[42]

Kapler was re-signed by the Red Sox in July 2005, just a few hours after clearing Japanese Central League waivers.[40] In September 2005, Kapler ruptured his left Achilles tendon while rounding the bases after a home run by teammate Tony Graffanino.[9] He had surgery, which ended his season.[9]

In June 2006, Kapler came back from his injury.[43] That season, he had his best on-base percentage in 5 years (.340), hit .316 with 2 out and runners in scoring position, and played error-less outfield for the second year in a row.[4]

Kapler announced his retirement from professional baseball on December 12, 2006.[44][45]

He served the Boston Red Sox as manager of their Single-A affiliate, the Greenville Drive, for one season in 2007.[46] The team went 58–81, and finished in 7th place in the South Atlantic League Southern Division.[47]

On September 20, 2007, after one season as a manager, Kapler announced that he would like to return to play Major League Baseball in 2008.[48] On the decision, Kapler said "I miss the battle. I still need to be on the field as a player."[41] On December 20, Kapler signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Milwaukee Brewers that paid $800,000 when Kapler made the roster.[49]

The initial plan, before Mike Cameron was acquired, was to have Kapler replace the non-tendered Kevin Mench as a right-handed option to share time with Tony Gwynn Jr., Gabe Gross, and Joe Dillon, in left field.[51][52] With a focus on defense, Yost indicated in March that Gwynn and Kapler might have a leg up on Gross.[53]

"He's been very impressive so far", said Brewers manager Ned Yost in March.[54] "I would have never known he took a year off. He does not show any signs of it to me.[55]

While Cameron served a 25-game suspension to start the season for twice testing positive for a banned stimulant in the fall of 2007, Kapler made the club, and began to see action in center field.[56][57] On April 5, 2008, he hit the first pinch-hit home run of his career for Milwaukee in the 7th inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants. Kapler started the season as the Brewers' hottest hitter, going 11-for-26 with 4 home runs and 11 RBIs.[58]

Kapler gave fans a taste of his hard-nosed style against the Dodgers on August 16. He ran full-speed after Russell Martin's long fly in the seventh inning, snagging the ball to deprive Martin of a home run as he toppled head-first into the left-field seats.[59] The outstanding catch helped the Brewers hold onto a one-run lead, and earned Kapler the Play of the Year Award, voted by over 12 million fans in MLB's This Year in Baseball Awards.[60] Similarly, three days later Kapler made a diving catch in left field to rob Ty Wigginton of a hit, and on September 6 Kapler ran down a blooper to center and made an outstanding diving catch.[61][62] Kapler missed the last two weeks of the season as well as the NLDS after tearing his latissimus dorsi muscle in his right shoulder on a throw to the plate in mid-September.[63]

For the year, in 96 games Kapler batted .301/.340/.498, and hit 8 home runs, playing mostly in center field, and batting .386 with a .632 slugging percentage in tie games.[4] Kapler started 43 games.[4] He was the club's best pinch-hitter, batting .323 with 2 homers (the first pinch-hit shots of his career) and 8 RBIs.[64]

On October 30, 2008, Kapler filed for free agency.[65]

On January 12, 2009, Kapler signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays for $1,000,018. The extra $18 was chosen because it represented the symbol for "life" in Judaism.[66][67]

He started the season platooning in center field with Matt Joyce, in place of Rays center fielder B. J. Upton, who had offseason surgery on his left shoulder and was not ready for Opening Day.[68] On April 13, Kapler struck out against New York Yankee outfielder Nick Swisher.[43] Kapler then began to platoon in right field with Gabe Gross. In June, he tied a club record shared by Jose Canseco and Julio Lugo, with home runs in four straight games.[9] Kapler ended the season at .354 with 4 homers in 82 at bats against left-handers.[69][70] In this role he almost broke up Mark Buehrle's perfect game on July 23, 2009. Leading off the ninth inning against the White Sox, he was robbed of a home run by a leaping DeWayne Wise, a ninth inning defensive replacement.[71]

Through July 10, despite a slow start, Kapler had the best slugging percentage of his career (.505), and was batting .320 with a 4 home runs in 75 at bats and a .680 slugging percentage against left-handers.[72] As of July 10, 64% of his hits in 2009 had been for extra bases, which would be first in the major leagues for a player with at least 100 plate appearances (Kapler had 129).[73]

Kapler was re-signed by the Rays on October 27, 2009, to another one-year contract, this time for $1.05 million.[74] Over 2008–09, Kapler hit .304 against left-handers with a .577 slugging percentage, 9th-best in the Major Leagues.[9] "Over the past two years, Kap has been one of the best in baseball against left-handed pitching", said Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. "Because he's also a plus defensive outfielder, he's become a tremendous asset here. His value even extends beyond the field; his knowledge and presence make him a positive influence on our younger players."[75]

In a December interview manager Joe Maddon said: "I'm still a big Gabe Kapler fan. You look at his OPS over the last couple of years versus left-handed pitching, it's among the best in all of baseball".[76]

Heading into spring training in 2010, Kapler was likely to platoon in right field with Joyce.[77] However, he appeared in only 59 games that season, hitting a career-worst .210 with only two home runs as he battled right hip flexor and right ankle injuries, and became a free agent after the season.[4][9]

On January 18, 2011, Kapler signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.[78] He also received an invitation to spring training. Kapler was released on March 31, in the team's last cut of spring training.[79][80]

Kapler coached for the Israeli national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier in September 2012.[81] Israel lost to Spain in extra innings in the Pool Finals, and did not qualify to play in the World Baseball Classic.[82][10]

From 2012 to 2013, Kapler worked closely with technology startup Egraphs, which focused on electronic personalized autographs, and which was licensed with MLB and the NBA.[83][84] In spring 2013, Egraphs closed operations.[85][83]

In the summer of 2013, Kapler became an analyst for Fox Sports 1 cable network.[86] He appeared frequently on the network's Fox Sports Live program from the network's debut on August 17, 2013, as well as MLB Whiparound from the program's inception in March 2014.[87][88][89][90] Two of his segments were "Saberclips", in which he explained advanced statistics and sabermetrics used in baseball, and also "In the Cage", in which he shared advice with young baseball players as to how to train when they hit the batting cage.[91][92] He also worked as a writer and analyst at Baseball Prospectus, which is devoted to the sabermetric baseball analysis.[14]

On November 7, 2014, Kapler became the Dodgers' director of player development.[93] In that position, Kapler had all the affiliates in the Dodgers farm system, as well as the major league team, switch to serving entirely organic food, and take junk food out of the clubhouse.[94][95] Kapler, known as a proponent of advanced statistics and healthy food, explained his flexible general approach, saying:

One thing we want to do is avoid locking ourselves into any organizational philosophy that can't be easily altered or improved. While mining for best practices, we have overarching themes and philosophies, but we don't want to say, 'This is what we believe' and get so dug in that we're not capable of being nimble as new studies present better ways to approach problems and development. That flexibility is a thought process that we have to constantly talk about it with players and staff.[96]

In 2015, a 17-year-old accused a Dodger minor league player initially of videotaping a fight in which two women whom she had met through Facebook hit her while with her in a hotel room of a player. The accuser emailed her complaint to Kapler. He sought direction from Dodgers' lawyers and human resources personnel and then replied quickly with a phone call, apologized, and offered to help in any way she needed. A week later—when the accuser was arrested for shoplifting—she added the second accusation to police, though she did not communicate it to Dodgers personnel, that at the time a Dodger minor league player engaged in alleged sexual assault by briefly putting his hand under her bra and down her pants; the accuser then declined to cooperate with the police, and no charges were filed.[97][98][99][100] Kapler reported the accusation of the videotaping of the assault to Dodgers personnel, who did not report it to Major League Baseball.[101] Kapler has apologized for his handling of the allegations.[102][103]

Kapler was one of the favorites and a finalist to become the new Dodgers manager following the departure of Don Mattingly, but lost out to Dave Roberts prior to the 2016 season.[104][105][94]

Kapler with the Phillies in 2019

On October 30, 2017, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they had hired the 42-year-old Kapler as their new manager, the 54th in team history.[106][107][14] Phillies General Manager Matt Klentak and principal owner John Middleton said that what most impressed them during Kapler's interview, which included people across several team departments, were his level of preparation and his people skills, evidenced by his ability to connect with each one of the groups.[1]

Kapler inherited a team that had lost 96 games their prior season, the team's sixth season in a row with a losing record.[108] He had his theme for the season inscribed on t-shirts that were given out to each of his players: "Be Bold."[1] He had the second-most wins among Phillies managers historically after 100 games (56), and went 24-38 in the last 62 games, to finish the 2018 season 80-82.[109][110]

In 2019 he managed the team to an 81–81 (.500) record, Philadelphia's best record since 2012 when they also had a .500 record.[111] Following the season, Kapler was fired.[112] Joe Girardi succeeded him, and managed the team to a 28–32 (.467) record the following season.[113]

In November 2019, the San Francisco Giants hired Kapler as their 37th manager, succeeding the retiring Bruce Bochy.[114] He inherited a team that had a win-loss record of 77–85 (.475) in 2019.[115]

In 2020, Kapler hired three hitting coaches who were young enough to still be players, the Giants veteran hitters raved about how well prepared they were going in to games with the new approach, Kapler platooned whenever he thought he could get an advantage, and the resulting turnaround with the Giants hitters was significant.[116][117][118] While the team had ranked 28th, 29th, and 29th in runs the prior three seasons, under Kapler they finished 8th in runs, averaging 4.98 runs per game, up from 4.19 the prior year and 3.72 in 2018.[118] Kapler used 1.25 pinch hitters per game, more than any other manager in major league baseball.[119] Both new and veteran players responded positively to Kapler, and a number of them highlighted his steadiness as a factor in turning around slumping years.[120][121] In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he managed the team to an 29–31 (.483) record that far exceeded expectations in what was expected to be a rebuild year, and surpassed the record of Kapler's former team, the Phillies.[122][121][116] The Giants felt just short of making the playoffs, which they would have made had they won their last game of the season, which they lost by one run.[123][118] They ended up with the same win-loss record as the Milwaukee Brewers, but it was the Brewers that advanced to the playoffs as they had a better in-division record.[124]

As of games played on September 27, 2020