SAN FRANCISCO — Earlier this summer, before the Giants fell into such a deep slide that Farhan Zaidi felt he had no choice but to fire his manager, Gabe Kapler started visiting burger joints spot in town and on the road. He once again mentioned a burger on his Instagram on Saturday, but this time it was in farewell.
A day after being released with one year left on his contract, Kapler posted a message on his Instagram page that gave his perspective, at least to a certain extent. He said he can’t wait to grab a burger and watch Saturday’s game, adding that he’ll “try hard for an SFG dub.”
“It’s a disappointment to say goodbye,” Kapler wrote. “My dad introduced me to this city and it’s history. Having lived here and been more exposed to it, SF is amazing. I feel a real connection, maybe not to everyone everywhere of course, but to many. Heard I hear the (loud, haha) criticism, and I hear the support. I think we all want to go to work every day and believe that the work we do is meaningful, and that’s true for me in this group.”
Kapler said he will miss the players, coaches, staff and others, saying that while serving as manager, “I probably haven’t expressed enough how much I care about everyone in this organization.”
The organization will now continue without him. Zaidi fired Kapler on Friday, hours before the final series of a 2023 MLB season that will end with the Giants under .500. In the afternoon, the players said they enjoyed playing for Kapler and felt that everyone was in a good mood. After a 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, interim manager Kai Correa said he was grateful to Kapler for giving him a life-changing opportunity to be his bench 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 getting fired for the second time as a manager, Kapler said he’s really excited for what’s next. If there were any hard feelings, they didn’t come through in his post.
“I know I’m lucky to be the manager of the San Francisco Giants,” he wrote.
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