SAN FRANCISCO — It was an emotional 48 hours for the Giants, especially in the coaches’ locker room. Gabe Kapler spent years thinking about what his ideal staff would look like, and when Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris gave him the autonomy to make interesting decisions in 2019, he took the plunge.
Kapler brought in powerful coaches from the lower minor leagues. He raided other organizations’ player development groups. He made history with Alyssa Nakken. He also surprised many during the game by naming Kai Correa — who had no experience in a major league dugout — as his backup coach. Correa was less than a decade removed from joining the University of Puget Sound workforce, but he worked tirelessly to get himself up to speed.
Correa recorded the MLB rulebook on tape so he could listen to it while driving or running errands. That first winter, he spent 10 hours a day putting together spring training schedules and defensive graphics that played on a loop in the clubhouse. In almost every way, he confirmed the belief Kapler had placed in him when he interviewed him years earlier in Philadelphia, but was then pushed to a more experienced team.
On Friday, Correa faced perhaps his toughest task in the four years since he was named the game’s youngest bench coach. He had to step in for Kapler, a friend and mentor who gave him a life-changing opportunity.
“For me, the overarching feeling is about cape and gratitude,” the 35-year-old said. “You are grateful for the person who gives you the opportunity, grateful for the person who decided that you were the one to take on this role. I think for a lot of us in the clubhouse, players and coaches alike, he created a lot of opportunity for us to gain autonomy and be successful.
Correa is in a difficult position, but it’s also an important weekend for him and the rest of the coaches. Almost all of them have expiring contracts and they know that a new manager might clean things up, but they work as if nothing has changed.
Before Saturday’s game, Correa talked about what the team’s young infielders need to work on in the offseason. He’s spent time putting together an exit interview for third baseman JD Davis, and he plans to send players like Marco Luciano and Casey Schmitt into the winter with a detailed script on how to approach their workouts.
After Saturday’s game, Correa was forced to put work aside for a moment. Sean Manaea searched the clubhouse and when he found Correa, he threw him into a laundry cart. About 20 laughing players and coaches crowded into the shower in the manager’s office so Correa could celebrate a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Young coaches also get beer showers.
“It means a lot,” Correa said of the win. “The circumstances are unusual or suboptimal, but I think the more time passes, the more I can separate myself from it, the more I can enjoy it. More than anything, what meant a lot to me was how excited the players were in that handshake queue.
“We spent a lot of time, in some cases four years, side by side. The fact that these guys were excited for me and us in that moment meant the world to me.”
The win was Correa’s first as a manager and came a night after he joined Dave Roberts as the first manager/coach of Asian descent to lead a team in one of that country’s four major sports.
Correa spent some time Friday thanking Roberts for helping pave the way, but the hours that followed were just as unkind as the afternoon. The Giants lost Correa’s first game as manager, but on Saturday they managed a win over Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers with a strong start from Tristan Beck and a home run from Tyler Fitzgerald.
“It was pretty cool for him to run Clayton Kershaw deep,” Beck said of Fitzgerald. “I won’t lie.”
Fitzgerald admitted the explosion meant more because it was about who threw the pitch. Kershaw knocked him out with a curveball last weekend at Dodger Stadium, so he spent extra time in the cage Saturday working on attacking similar pitch shapes.
The work hasn’t stopped, even if most in the Giants’ clubhouse don’t know where they’ll be doing it next year. It is possible that Farhan Zaidi will hire an experienced manager who will decide to hire all of his own people. It’s possible an internal candidate could emerge and retain many of Kapler’s employees. Correa himself could find himself in the mix.
Regardless, the coaches are in the conversation, as are players like Beck and Fitzgerald, who have shown they should be right in the mix next spring. Correa seemed comfortable on the top step, and although he caused a stir in the opponents’ dugout on Friday by challenging an obscure rule, that didn’t stop him from returning a night later and again arguing that a Dodger against the Spirit of Outcast has one of the new rules this season.
Correa also seemed relaxed in front of the camera, which is a big part of the job. Before the game, he told a detailed story about Brandon Crawford’s dedication to the details of the shortstop game. After the win, he smiled as he recalled an early meeting with Kershaw.
“You try to stay stoic, you try not to get caught up in the bright lights and the famous people, but there are certain people who stop you,” he said. “You can’t overcome that, and I remember a game before the game a few years ago, I was throwing groundballs to a guy and Kershaw made his walk and said, ‘Come on, Kai! Give this guy some topspin.’ .’ I’m like, ‘Hey, he knows my name.'”
A few years later, Correa was tasked with defeating Kershaw and he added that to his resume. Maybe one day this will open up an opportunity elsewhere or perhaps something more with the Giants. All that mattered to him on Saturday was that he had won, a fact his players were only too happy to celebrate at the end of a busy week.
“A win can be a nice escape from everything else,” Correa said. “It’s a reminder that this is what we’re here for.”
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