San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is just fine with changing the game.
Specifically, Kapler doesn’t subscribe to following all the “unwritten rules” and nuances that have consumed the game of baseball for the past 100+ years.
The moment in question came this week when the Giants were blowing out the San Diego Padres. A player on the Giants squared around the bunt in the latter innings, reaching base for a single. This didn’t sit right with Padres manager Bob Melvin — who clearly thinks teams shouldn’t be bunting when they’re up a certain amount of runs.
I never understood this. Don’t cry about a bunt when you’re getting your ass kicked by 9. Unwritten rules are so cheese. #Giants #Padres pic.twitter.com/4DjZZWOr7Z
— TJ Davis (@TJKD23) April 13, 2022
The following day, Gabe Kapler gave his explanation on why his thinks this particular unwritten rule of baseball is complete nonsense.
“I fully support both of those decisions,” Kapler said. “Our goal is not exclusively to win one game in a series. It’s to try to win the entire series. Sometimes, that means trying to get a little deeper into the opposition’s ‘pen. I understand that many teams don’t love that strategy.”
“And I get why. It’s something that we talked about as a club before the season and that we were comfortable going forward with that strategy. It’s not to be disrespectful in any way. It’s because we feel very cool and strategic. It’s the best way to win a series. When I say cool, I mean calm. We’re not emotional about it. We’re not trying to hurt anybody. We just want to score as many runs as possible, force the other pitcher to throw as many pitches as possible. If other clubs decide that they want to do the same thing to us, we’re not going to have any issue with it.”
Check out his full comments below:
Gabe Kapler doubled down on his stance to disregard baseball's 'unwritten rules'.
"If we don't want a team to bunt, we will defend the bunt. If we don't want a team to steal, we will defend the steal. If we don't want a team to swing 3-0 late in the game, we'll throw a ball." pic.twitter.com/0XJ5fE3VX9
— Sam Hustis (@SamHustis) April 13, 2022
Gabe Kapler led the Giants to the top record in the National League last season despite being ranked in the bottom half of the NL West coming into the season.
Since his time as the Philles skipper, Kapler has fully embraced the analytics of the game rather than the old-school approach to baseball — and that mindset was evident earlier in the week.
Even if it rubs the older generation the wrong way, Gabe Kapler has made it clear that he’s going to march to the beat of his own drum. And I’m here for it.
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