Former San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is well-known for his baseball acumen. His parents’ values shaped him into the man he is today.
Gabe is currently making headlines after being sacked as Giants manager after four years. We’ll look at Gabe Kapler’s parents, Michael and Judy Kapler, and their influence on Gabe’s baseball career and beyond in this post. Gabe Kapler “Kap” is the manager of the San Francisco Giants and a former Major League Baseball player.
Gabe, a Moorpark College graduate, was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 57th round of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft. In 1998, he made his MLB debut with the Tigers. Similarly, from 1998 to 2010, he played for a variety of teams in the major leagues before retiring.
Gabe also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball Central League for the Yomiuri Giants in 2005. In October 2017, Gabe was hired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He has also been with the San Francisco Giants since November of 2019.
While Kapler’s professional life has gotten a lot of attention, so has his personal life. Kapler was born on July 31, 1975, in Hollywood, California, to Michael and Judy Kapler. He was up in a family where intellectual discourse and social interaction were cherished as much as any sporting event.
Meet Gabe Kapler’s Father Michael Kapler
Gabe Kapler’s father, Michael Kapler, was not your typical baseball parent. He was a classical pianist who grew up on Brooklyn’s crowded streets. In addition to being a pianist, Michael was a composer and piano instructor. Gabe’s creative background gave him a unique perspective on life, merging the realms of athletics and art.
Michael, who died in December 2020 from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, had a penchant for writing poems for his child. This intellectual connection deepened the father-son bond, transcending sports and music.
Meet His Mother Judy Kapler
Judy Kapler, Gabe’s mother, is an early childhood educator who worked in a Jewish preschool. Her ancestors are from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where she grew up and developed a deep commitment to social justice causes. In the stormy 1960s, Judy and Michael Kapler’s paths crossed.
They purportedly met while both were active in the antiwar movement. They were present at and sometimes played critical roles in, civil rights demonstrations that shaped the decade. Notably, they were among the quarter-million people there on August 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C., when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
These experiences affected the values they would later impart to their son, Gabe. Gabe Squats Gabe made headlines in July 2020 when he chose to kneel during the playing of the national anthem before a baseball game. As a result, he became the first major professional sports head coach or manager in North America to take a knee during the national anthem.
His actions matched the values instilled in him by his parents. They have always supported nonviolent protests and standing up for what one believes in. This was exactly what Michael and Judy had dreamed of, more than raising a professional athlete. They wished for their children to question authority and never accept the status quo.
“With Gabe deciding, he had an opportunity to make a difference,” Judy said of her brave son’s decision. That’s precisely what he did, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Also Read: Family Life and Hefty Net Worth Of Bumper Robinson
