New Phillies manager Gabe Kapler was on WIP Sports Radio this morning with Angelo and crew. Other then hearing brief snippets of interviews, his press conference after he was hired, and selected cuts ( especially about coconut oil), I didn't know much about him until today.
Previous reports were that he was kind of weird, tasting ice cream but not swallowing it and spitting it out, a real nut about his health and a work-out fiend. He says a lot of those reports are true, but a lot have been exaggerated as well.
He came off this morning as honest, fun, refreshing, positive and energetic.Instead of striving to be .500 as Pete Mackanin proclaimed out of spring training last year, Kapler wants to win from Day One.
He plans not to force his health ideas on the players, only to "educate" them and give them choices. And if a player doesn't hustle ( think Herrera and Franco), he will have a man-to-man, behind closed doors meeting with that player, not let it fester, or wait til the player comes to the manager, as MacKanin did.
Anyway, I liked what I heard from Kaoler this morning. With the core of young players with the Phillies now, and ready to be promoted soon, it may be an exciting summer at the ballpark in 2018.
Hopefully his positive attitude and refreshing ideas translates onto the field and makes for more excitement- and wins- for the future.
I'm willing to give him a chance. And although GM Matt Klentak still isn't on my Christmas card list, he may have made a good hire with Kapler. Time will tell.
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