Former San Francisco Giants Manager Reflects On Time In Bay Area

Gabe Kapler is with the Miami Marlins these days, so for the past few days his present and his past with the San Francisco Giants have intermingled.

Gabe Kapler has spent the past three days in Miami watching his worlds collide as the Marlins hosted the San Francisco Giants.

Kapler is now the assistant general manager for the Marlins. But, for the four seasons prior, he managed the Giants before he was fired with just a few games left last season.

The Los Angeles native has come a long way from being the 57th round pick of the Detroit Tigers in 1995 out of Cal State-Fullerton. He carved out a 12-year professional career with six different MLB teams, including the Yomiuri Giants. That included a World Series ring with the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

He went into player development, coaching and ultimately became a manager with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and then with San Francisco in 2020.

In four seasons with the Giants he went 295-248, including a 107-win season in 2021.

Kapler spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle during the series and admitted that he really had no intention of getting back into baseball so soon after his dismissal. But he quickly built a relationship with Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and opted to take a role in the front office.

But he’s known all along this moment was coming. At some point he would cross paths with his former team. Wednesday’s game wrapped up the Giants’ only visit to Florida. The Marlins will make the cross-country trip to San Francisco on Aug. 30-Sept. 1. There’s no guarantee Kapler will make that trip.

In his interview, he got reflective about his four years in the Bay area, the team’s success and his ultimate departure.

He said his first job was to be accountable. But he grew to love the city and its fans, even when he made decisions he knew they didn’t agree with.

“I love the city, I felt extremely, extremely supported and connected to the people in the city,” Kapler said. “That’s not to say all my moves as a manager were supported, I know those were not, at times. But I felt like I was home and like I belonged. There were some rocky times like in any relationship. I thought we got through those rocky times and I felt stronger leaving the city than I did when I showed up.”