No member of the Capitales de Québec enjoyed this division title as much as manager Patrick Scalabrini. It was a relief, nothing less.
Even on Sunday, when the Ottawa Titans were leading 3-2 early in the ninth inning, he couldn’t help but feel the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
Last week, the 46-year-old, usually a go-getter, felt like he hadn’t done his homework as the team suffered a default defeat for failing to comply with regulations. Worse, he felt like he had let his men down. It is the most excruciating feeling a trainer can experience.
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“I’m very proud of what I do,” Scalabrini summed up on Sunday evening after his team’s 4-3 win that secured the regular season championship. Missing one of the boys’ matches hurt me.”
“Everyone makes mistakes and we weren’t mad at Pat,” said substitute Frank Moscatiello. We had to support him like he has done for us all season.”
Error suspected
Even if certain comments from fans were not widely shared on social networks, the man who has been manager of the Capitals since 2010 has made no secret: he took responsibility for the mistake he made when on August 31st At Canac Greg Bird used the first cushion in the stadium. The rule that prevented Bird from playing defense anywhere other than the outfield due to his acquisition after the trade deadline to replace outfielder Marc-Antoine Lebreux was well known. The misinterpretation came from Scalabrini and the capitals. Although the rule only applies in the Frontier League, there was no one to blame for this important victory.
Marcel Tremblay / QMI Agency
“Pat is able to address it on a personal level, but I think his discomfort was with the players and the fans,” Capitales general manager Charles Demers said Monday. In a way, the players had to protect him by winning victories. They reacted well and it shows the strength of the Capitals’ team spirit. We won the game on Sunday and made up for that mistake.”
“We knew Pat was unwell and the boys responded in the right way,” noted Lebreux, who was injured for the rest of the season. As far as I know, all the boys love him.”
A fair return
The players’ reaction was a fair comeuppance for the man who also wears the hat of recruiter and executive manager of baseball operations and doesn’t dedicate his hours to recruiting new players for the Capitals.
“Pat does an incredible job, he is able to find important elements at the right moment,” praised Demers, also recalling the team’s poor start to the season. In particular, there was the addition of [Ruben] Castro at the beginning of June, which changed the picture of the season.
Another fact remains: The Capitals suffered 34 more losses this 2023 season, including seven in nine games to start the season. Scalabrini will have done much more to right the ship than to capsize it.
Free consciousness
With Sunday’s victory, the Capitals not only won the division title, but also gained the advantages that come with it. By avoiding a one-off game, it is possible to retain the best pitchers for the semifinals. This also ensures a few days of rest.
In the end, the Quebec club approaches the playoffs as if the standard defeat never happened. That means a ton less rocks on Scalabrini’s shoulders.
Otherwise, the different scenarios would have continued to weigh on the manager’s conscience. For example, even after a possible win in a suicide game that would have required the use of a top pitcher, a Capitals loss in the semifinals would have been a burden for Scalabrini.
Six championships as a manager
With Sunday’s victory, the sword of Damocles has completely disappeared. If Quebec ever loses in the semi-finals or finals, it will not be due to an indirect consequence of the defeat. Scalabrini knows this better than anyone.
“My girlfriend tells me every day that I’m not perfect,” the manager concluded with his trademark humor after breathing a sigh of relief following Sunday’s win.
A mistake like this in 13 years, with six championships won as an instructor (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2022), is easily forgivable. Under these circumstances, he now deserves to never hear about it again.
– In collaboration with Richard Boutin
In the notebook
- The work of the helpers all too often remains in the shadows. Among the capitals, Frank Moscatiello is still one of the team’s most useful players in 2023. He was also named the Frontier League’s reliever of the year on Sunday.
- In love with Valentine! The Capitals supporters fell under the spell of Jesmuel Valentine, Sunday evening at the Stade Canac, after his important goal to win. A former Philadelphia Phillies player, he is also the son of former baseball great Jose Valentin, who had five consecutive seasons of 25 or more games with the Chicago White Sox from 2000 to 2004.
- Greg Bird could be of great service to the Capitals during the playoffs. In the final two series of the season, the former Yankees totaled eight hits in 22 official at-bats, hitting one home run.
- Former Expos catcher, Chris Widger is the manager of the Sussex County Miners. His team won the final seven games of the regular season to qualify for Tuesday’s showdown against the New Jersey Jackals.
- Beware of the power of jackals! They have six players who hit more than 20 home runs in the regular season, including the league’s all-time leader Keon Barnum and James Nelsonwith 30 long balls each.
- The Panamanians didn’t just start in the first two games of the semifinals Steve Fuentes And Adbiel Saldana If the Capitals qualify, he could play an important role in the grand final again.