The new Major League Baseball season is just a few weeks away, the sun is shining, and the grass is green. All 32 MLB teams have newfound hope as they begin spring training, as even those who saw over a hundred games lost the previous season might consider “what if.”
Naturally, once the regular season begins, it won’t take long to see which teams are poised for success and which ones require a complete overhaul.
The San Francisco Giants are one of those clubs that is on the verge. In 2023, the Giants had a dismal record of 79-83, placing them in fourth place and terminating Manager Kapler’s career. Before being fired, Kapler led the team from 2022 until almost the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.
After spending two seasons on the west coast with the San Diego Padres, new manager Bob Melvin joined the organization and is instilling new ideas in the Giants. In actuality, the mindset is more akin to his own. From 1985 to 1994, Melvin, a gritty catcher, was a member of seven clubs, including the Giants. Melvin has had great success as a manager, taking home Manager of the Year awards in both leagues and steering a number of teams to eight postseason appearances and four division titles.
The 62-year-old captain has a highly successful 20-year career, and he brings with him a fresh set of criteria extremely different from Gabe Kapler’s. Given that San Francisco leans considerably to the left, Kapler managed the team appropriately.
In a well-known show of disdain for the Uvalde, Texas school massacre, Kapler declined to play the National Anthem on the field, letting his teammates settle the score anyway they thought proper. Not Melvin Bob. The new captain promises to respect the flag and the national anthem and brings with her a tougher set of regulations.
All players must exit the dugout and stand at attention during the National Anthem, at least during Spring Training. Melvin hopes the regulation may be applied throughout the regular season. The new manager’s goals are evident, even though he has refrained from making a blatantly political statement. Regarding his rule, he stated: “It all comes down to the perception that we’re in the game and ready to go.” That is all.
