Kaptain Fantastic

On Oct. 29, the Phillies made Gabe Kapler the 54th manager in team history. I've been around for 16 of them, pledging my allegiance to the team during the Danny Ozark (1973-79) era.

Danny skippered the team to three straight playoff appearances, and several hilarious pressers.

"Even Napoleon had his Watergate," DO once told bemused beat writers.

Since then, there have been a lot of forgettable Nick Leyvas and Ryne Sandbergs manning the Phils' dugout. Terry Francona was the one who got away.

And now Kapler. By most accounts, the decision came down to Gabe or organizational man Dusty Wathan. I wanted Wathan.

Dusty was a catcher. He had managed successfully at five levels for a decade in the Phillies' farm system. He was especially close to the next gen core players like Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery.

Dusty was my guy. But Kap was GM Matt Klentak's guy, reportedly wowing the team in his second interview.

It didn't start out well. The nadir came quickly, with Kapler calling a cold pitcher in from the bullpen early in a 15-2 game three drubbing. It was an embarrassing, amateurish look for a guy with virtually zero managing experience.

"Failure is not fatal," Winston Churchill once said. "It is the courage to continue that counts."

From the ashes of Kapler's early failures emerged a quality leader in many ways. Two qualities have impressed me in particular:

1. Communication. We have heard Kap tout his communication skills from day one. The value of it can get lost I think. After all, who can't communicate?

Kap seems to have a very disciplined approach: ALWAYS lavish praise on players in public; give them straight talk behind closed doors.

The first part is obvious, but I have little evidence for the second. But when Maikel Franco was benched in June, it was plainly reported that Franco met with skip and "was told he wasn't going to be playing as much."

If this is his communication plan, it's a good one. Players like to be told to their face what is happening. They might not like what they hear, but they will respect it.

What they won't respect is a manager calling a player out in the media because they saw Bill Parcells do it and it worked for him.

You have to be comfortable with who you are and that appears to be Kap's greatest strength. After all, could you take a picture like this if you weren't?

2. Flexibility. Thinking you have all the answers is the surest way for an inexperienced leader to find trouble. Being a leader does not mean you don't need help.

President John F. Kennedy called his predecessor for a extraordinary meeting following the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a legendary war hero and popular president from the opposition party. Yet, JFK knew Ike could help him and he drew on that counsel during his deft handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

To the casually familiar, Kap presents as an arrogant guy. So I feared early on that this could be a problem. His hiring of Wathan as third base coach should have clued me in that I was mistaken.

The opening game was thrown away after Kap removed starting pitcher Aaron Nola after just 68 pitches. The squad's best offensive player, Odubel Herrera, didn't start because Kap's match-ups didn't dictate it.

Nola wasn't happy. Herrera wasn't happy. The bullpen blew the game. WIP phone lines filled with anxious fans agitated by Kap's unorthodox philosophies.

Then something happened: Kap tossed many of his new baseball ideas out the window.

A couple weeks ago, Nola stood on the mound at Fenway Park at 100 pitches in a 1-1 game in the eighth inning. After a leadoff double, all-world Mookie Betts strode to the plate with one out, to be followed by bad-matchup lefty Andrew Benintendi.

The Phils' bullpen finished July with the best ERA in baseball. Yet Kap never moved as the Phillies' ace retired both on five pitches.

To be sure, it hasn't been all puppies and champagne toasts inside the Phillies' clubhouse. Nick Williams, Jake Arietta and an unnamed player have all taken shots at Kap in interviews.

But this, too, gave the skipper another chance to show off his confidence and leadership skills.

I don't know if the Phillies will complete this surprise season and make the playoffs.

But Gabe Kapler just turned 43 two weeks ago and it's beginning to look like Manager No. 55 might have to wait a while.