Gabe Kapler
Gabriel Stefan Kapler, nicknamed "Kap", is an American professional baseball executive and former outfielder and manager who serves as the general manager of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.
Kapler was a 57th-round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 1995 MLB draft. In the minor leagues, he was an All-Star in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and was recognized by national publications as Minor League Player of the Year in 1998.
He played in the major leagues from 1998 to 2010, for the Tigers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Tampa Bay Rays. Kapler also spent part of the 2005 season playing for the Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.
After permanently retiring as a player, Kapler served as a coach for the Israeli national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and as Director of Player Development for the Dodgers from 2014 through 2017. He was the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and 2019. He became the manager of the San Francisco Giants in 2020, and led them to a franchise-record 107 wins and the NL West title in 2021. Kapler was named the 2021 National League Manager of the Year. ESPN described him as "an analytically savvy, outside-the-box thinker who also relate well to players." The Giants fired Kapler towards the end of the 2023 season. In December 2023, Kapler became an assistant general manager of the Miami Marlins of MLB.
Early life
Gabriel Stefan Kapler was born on July 31, 1975, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. His father, Michael, was a classical pianist originally from Brooklyn, New York who also wrote music and taught piano. His mother, Judy, is an early childhood educator at a Jewish preschool who is originally from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. They met while working in the antiwar movement of the 1960s and moved to California in the 1970s. Kapler and his brother Jeremy attended The Country School, due to their father's position on the faculty as a music teacher.At the age of eight, he was hit by a car and needed therapy to overcome his fear of crossing streets. He grew up in middle-class Reseda, Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley, where he was the smallest player on his Reseda Little League team.
Kapler attended William Howard Taft Charter High School in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He played shortstop, second base, and third base for its baseball team, hitting.313 in his senior season, and graduated in 1993 at age 17. In his four seasons of high school baseball, he never hit a home run. During the summer, he batted.350 with 4 home runs and 30 runs batted in for the Woodland Hills East American Legion team.
College career
Kapler attended Cal State-Fullerton in fall 1993 on scholarship for one semester, before transferring to Moorpark College in the fall of 1994. He was named First Team All-Western State Conference after batting.337 with seven home runs and 52 RBIs. He was inducted into the Moorpark College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.Professional career
Draft and minor leagues
Kapler was the 57th-round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. He was signed by scout Dennis Lieberthal, father of former Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, after being offered a $10,000 signing bonus. Playing 63 games for the Jamestown Jammers after he signed, he tied for second in the Class A- New York–Penn League in doubles, fifth in extra-base hits, and batted.288/.351/.453.In 1996, with the Fayetteville Generals, Kapler led the Class A South Atlantic League in hits, doubles, extra-base hits and total bases, was second in homers, RBIs and slugging, 5th in batting, 7th in runs and 10th in on-base percentage. He made the South Atlantic League All-Star team. He then played for the West Oahu CaneFires in the Hawaiian Winter League, leading the league in home runs with 7.
In 1997, with the Lakeland Flying Tigers, Kapler led the Class A+ Florida State League in doubles and total bases, tied for first in extra-base hits, was 2nd in games, 3rd in hits, tied for 3rd in home runs and RBIs, 4th in slugging percentage, and tied for 4th in runs and sacrifice flies, while batting.295. He was named a Florida State League mid-season and post-season All-Star. He then played for the Honolulu Sharks in the Hawaiian Winter League.
In 1998, with the Jacksonville Suns, Kapler won the Class AA Southern League Most Valuable Player Award. He hit a league-high 28 home runs, and also led the league in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs, extra-base hits, total bases, and sacrifice flies. He was 3rd in the league in slugging percentage, 4th in OPS, 5th in batting average, and tied for 8th in triples. His league record for RBIs broke the 1986 record of 132 set by Terry Steinbach. He played in both the Double-A and Southern League All-Star Games, and was recognized as the MVP of the Southern League All-Star Game. He was also named to the Southern League's post-season All-Star team, and named a Baseball America First Team Minor League All Star. He was honored as Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball Weekly, The Sporting News, and USA Today, and was named Tigers Minor League Player of the Year and Detroit's No. 1 prospect by Baseball America.
Detroit Tigers (1998–1999)
Kapler made his Major League debut in 1998 at the age of 22. 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.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. 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.
Texas Rangers (2000–2002)
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.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. In July he homered in four straight games, tying a club record. He then had a team-record 28-game hitting streak later that season, which was also a major league high for the season. On July 30, he was named the American League's Player of the Week. In 2000, he batted.302/.360/.473 with 32 doubles, 14 home runs, and 66 RBIs in 444 at bats, hitting.344 in the second half of the season. On defense, playing primarily center field, he tied for second among AL outfielders with 4 double plays.
In 2001, he hit 17 home runs, scored 77 runs, had 72 RBIs, and stole 23 bases in 29 attempts. Kapler batted.267/.348/.437. He made just one error in 344 total chances for a.997 fielding percentage, second-best in the AL, and his eight assists tied for fourth-most of any AL center fielder.
Colorado Rockies (2002–2003)
In July 2002, the Rangers traded Kapler, with Jason Romano and cash, to the Colorado Rockies for Dennys Reyes and Todd Hollandsworth. Playing for the Rockies in 2002, he batted.311/.359/.445 in 119 at bats. In 2002 between Texas and Colorado, he batted.279, and.357 with runners in scoring position, as on defense he had 10 outfield assists.Boston Red Sox (2003–2004)
On June 28, 2003, the Boston Red Sox acquired Kapler from the Rockies. He batted.292/.349/.449 for the Red Sox, in 158 at bats.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.
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. He batted.272. He also led the team with 6 outfield assists. On Patriots' Day 2004, Kapler drove in two runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth inning off former Red Sox closer and Yankees setup man Tom Gordon. The Red Sox went on to win the game 5–4.
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.
Yomiuri Giants (2005)
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." He struggled in 38 games in Japan, and was placed on the inactive list by Yomiuri in the 2005 mid-season.Boston Red Sox (2005–2006)
Kapler was re-signed by the Red Sox in July 2005, just a few hours after clearing Japanese Central League waivers. On September 14, 2005, Kapler ruptured his left Achilles tendon while rounding second base after a home run by teammate Tony Graffanino. Kapler was replaced by pinch runner Alejandro Machado, who finished rounding the bases and scored the run in Kapler's place. Kapler had surgery, which ended his season.In June 2006, Kapler came back from his injury. That season, he had his best on-base percentage in five years, hit.316 with two out and runners in scoring position, and played error-less outfield for the second year in a row.
Kapler announced his retirement from professional baseball on December 12, 2006.