SAN FRANCISCO — Earlier this summer, before the Giants fell into a slump so deep that Farhan Zaidi felt he had no choice but to fire his manager, Gabe Kapler began visiting burger joints around town and on the street . On Saturday, he made another reference to a burger on his Instagram, but this time as a farewell.
A day after his release, even though he only had one year left on his contract, Kapler posted a message on his Instagram page stating at least part of his opinion. He said he can’t wait to grab a burger and watch Saturday’s game, adding that he’ll “push for an SFG dub.”
“The farewell is a disappointment,” Kapler wrote. “My father introduced me to this city and its history. Having lived here and been exposed to it more, SF is spectacular. I felt a real connection, maybe not with everyone everywhere, of course, but with most people. I’ve heard the (loud, haha) criticism, and I’ve heard the support. I think we all strive to come to work every day and believe that the work we do is meaningful, and that was the case for me in this group.”
Kapler said he misses the players, coaches, staff and everyone else, noting that during my tenure as manager “I may not have expressed clearly enough how much I care about everyone in this organization.”
The organization will now move on without him. Zaidi fired Kapler on Friday, hours before the final series of a 2023 MLB season that will end under .500 for the Giants. In the afternoon, the players said they enjoyed playing for Kapler and felt bad about how everything turned out. After a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, interim manager Kai Correa said he was grateful to Kapler for giving him the life-changing opportunity to step in as his backup coach.
The search for Kapler’s replacement is already underway and the Giants plan to have a new manager in place by the start of the offseason in early November. After being fired as manager for the second time, Kapler said he’s really excited about what’s next. If there are any negative feelings, they were not expressed in his post.
“I know I was fortunate to be the manager of the San Francisco Giants,” he wrote.
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