Firings watch.

The baseball season’s ending, and we all know what’s coming: the ceremonial throwing out of managers.

The San Francisco Giants started today: Gabe Kapler out. SF Chronicle.

In nearly four seasons with the Giants, Kapler went 295-248, and overall, between the Giants and Phillies, he put up a 456-411 record.

The big problem seems to be that the Giants pretty much fell apart:

The Giants were still in the hunt for a playoff spot entering the month but are 8-17 in September going into their final series and have been outscored by 47 runs. They’ve been horrendous on the road in the second half, losing 28 of their final 34 games away from Oracle Park, and the offense peaked in June and tailed off dramatically — San Francisco is second to last in the league in scoring, with 668 runs, has the third-worst on-base percentage (.314) and the worst OPS (.699).

Sort of on the margin for sports firings (and from ESPN, who I have a high barrier for), but I’ll allow it: an oral history of Lane Kiffin’s legendary “tarmac firing” (which really wasn’t) from USC.

I’m allowing this because there’s a couple of quotes that struck me:

Kiffin
It’s 5 a.m. The sun’s getting ready to come up. I’m sitting in the backyard, and I said to my wife, “When I go to bed, I don’t want to wake up.” She’s got a little more perspective, and she said, “You have three children upstairs. Don’t ever say that again.”

Men: marry that kind of woman.

Kiffin
I saw a podcast the other day on the rapper Macklemore, and he’s talking about, he’s winning the Grammy. He’s on stage. He’s got everything. And he’s not fulfilled. And later, he’s in rehab. He’s making coffee in the morning for people. He’s serving others. And he says, “I felt more fulfilled doing that than when I was on stage.”

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2023 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Firings, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Firings watch.”

  1. pigpen51 says:
    October 1, 2023 at 12:32 pm

    I saw these two quotes about Kiffin yesterday, but didn’t have time to comment. Now I just want to say, both of these anecdotes are something that a man could do well to learn at a very early age.
    First, when you get married, don’t allow hormones to make that decision for you, but seek out a quality woman for your wife, and never settle. And second, fulfillment will come through service. That doesn’t mean that you cannot be successful, even wealthy, at the same time. Only that through an attitude of service will your wealth or success matter.
    Some of the greatest names in history, examples of great wealth or power, would tell you the same thing, that their money never gave them satisfaction. It was only when they served others, either personally or through their companies mission, did they find fulfillment.
    And some of the poorest people, by mankind’s measure, are the happiest of all, due to the fact that they are serving others.
    Have a great October, and enjoy the cooler weather.