Former SF Giants player certainly seems happy Gabe Kapler is gone
Former SF Giants player Mauricio Dubon sure seems glad Gabe Kapler is no longer around during his return to Oracle Park. Mauricio Dubón, a former San Francisco Giant player, is happy to return to Oracle Park after over two years away from his last game as a player for the Houston Astros. Dubón was traded to the Giants from the Brewers in the 2019 season and played for San Francisco until his trade to the Astros in May 2022. Despite initially claiming he was not treated the right way during his time in San Francisco, then-manager Gabe Kapler responded by saying the Giants gave him a lot of good opportunities and that his frustration came from not playing well enough to earn those chances. Despite this, Dubón appears to have gotten the last laugh, as the Giants fired Kapler at the end of the 2023 season.
公開済み : 6日前 沿って Gabe Fernandez の Sports
Despite being over two years removed from his last game as a San Francisco Giant, Mauricio Dubón, now on the Houston Astros, is happy to be back playing in Oracle Park, especially because of one notable absence in his return: his old manager.
Dubón was traded to the Giants from the Brewers in the middle of the 2019 season and played for San Francisco until he was traded to the Astros, who cap off a three-game series at Oracle on Wednesday, in May 2022. The tenure looked like a dream come true for him, as he had grown up a Giants fan and talked about heckling left fielders whenever he’d come to games as a kid. But the reality was not as ideal.
Following a win against the Giants last year, Dubón made headlines locally for claiming that he “wasn’t treated the right way over there,” in reference to his time in San Francisco. Then-manager Gabe Kapler responded to that comment with claims that the Giants “gave Mauricio a lot of good opportunities” and that the frustration probably comes from not playing well enough to earn those chances.
“We always said to Mauricio, and I would probably continue to say to any player today, if you perform really well you’re going to get lots of opportunities,” Kapler said in May 2023.
At that time, Dubón did backtrack his original comments a bit, saying it was “just certain people” he took issue with. When asked to clarify if he meant his old manager, he reportedly “chuckled and bit his tongue.” Dubón appears to have gotten the last laugh, as the Giants fired Kapler at the end of the 2023 season, and the 29-year-old has won a World Series ring in 2022 and a Gold Glove in 2023 during his time in Houston.
This brings us to Monday, where Dubón’s return to Oracle featured a reception of boobirds when he went up to bat. The jeers didn’t dampen his excitement to be back. Perhaps the change in management helped lift his spirits.
“I tell people all the time: The person I didn’t like left already,” Dubón told Bay Area News Group. “For me, that was the only problem I had. I like the guys. I know last year, I didn’t phrase it well saying I wasn’t treated right, but I just didn’t like one guy. That’s it. I’m cool with all the guys over there.”
In case that comment wasn’t clear enough, Dubón reiterated that sentiment when speaking with KNBR-AM on Tuesday. In direct response to a question about not seeing “eye to eye with Gabe Kapler,” he said, “It was funny just because all the guys knew what I was talking about. All the guys knew what was going on and everything. … Everything came out — came out the wrong way, honestly. I went home and looked at it and went ‘Ah, I need to clarify that.’ It was tough. I never had a problem with the organization, with the fans, even after all the mistakes that I made — baserunning, fielding, everything. I was treated the right way by some people, except for the people making the decisions.”
With Kapler gone, there’s a much smaller chance that he’ll incite a media flame war with the organization this time around. Dubón can instead focus on helping his new team win this current series against the Giants, which is split at one game apiece.
トピック: Baseball, MLB, San Francisco Giants