ST. LOUIS — Before he was manager of the Giants, the best season Gabe Kapler had been a part of was with the curse-breaking 2004 Red Sox. He was a late-inning substitution in all four of Boston’s wins in its historic sweep of St. Louis in the World Series that year.
On Sunday, ahead of his current club’s series finale on Sunday Night Baseball, though, Kapler wanted to talk about a couple players who were on the other side history that year. The Giants’ game that night against the Cardinals marked the final time — barring another postseason showdown — that they will face either Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina, who are retiring after this season and waged their share of memorable October battles with the Giants, too.
“Those guys were pretty front and center at that time,” Kapler said. “The way Albert and Yadi carried themselves. They carried themselves with a confidence that you only see in the best players of history. … That’s one of the things that the all-time greats share in common, and you see it right away, is a presence. It’s what it looks like when they step on the field, where they know they’re the game’s best and they’re in a class of their own.”
On the mound for the Cardinals was Adam Wainwright — a marquee pitching matchup suited for the national audience with Carlos Rodón going for the Giants — who, at 40 years old, hasn’t announced any retirement plans but Kapler believes belongs in the same conversation as Pujols and Molina.
“He was one of the better right-handed pitchers of his generation,” Kapler said. “Anytime he’s working hand-in-hand with Yadi, which is most of the time, it’s tough. Just a lot of respect for the three of those guys.”
Wainwright and Molina paired up as the Cardinals battery Sunday night for the 311th time in their careers, the third-most starts of any pitcher-catcher tandem in MLB history. A Giants loss would also mean history: Wainwright and Molina would top Warren Spahn and Del Crandall as the winningest battery in MLB history.
A Giants win would also be significant: they’ve taken only two of their eight series at Busch Stadium since 2013 and haven’t won a season series with the Cardinals since 2014.
Kapler has spent more time as a peer and opponent on the field with the Cardinals greats than he has managed against them. He was 29 years old during that 2004 World Series and faded into retirement a few years later, at age 34.
Pujols is 42 years old. Molina, 39.
Kapler, 46, is closer in age with them than many of his managing peers.
“For me, it’s just a respect and admiration for what they’ve accomplished and what they continue to do even in the final stages of their careers,” Kapler said. “I couldn’t do it. I remember what it was like to be in my mid 30s and not have my body bounce back and recover.”
Giants fans’ likely have slightly different memories of the Cardinals’ all-time greats, from the clubs’ battles in the 2012 and 2014 National League Championship Series, which sent San Francisco to two of its three World Series.
Buster Posey helped fans relive those glory days last weekend, riling up the crowd at Oracle Park during his speech with Molina and Pujols in the opposite dugout, saying, “It makes it special for me for the Cardinals to be here today.”
Molina was a rookie backup and Pujols already an established star for the 2004 World Series that Kapler remembers. Wainwright didn’t come along until the next year. Those 2012 and 2014 showdowns? The only players remaining are Pujols, Molina and Wainwright for the Cardinals, and Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt for the Giants.
Remarkably, 18 years since that 2004 World Series, both players are still around — but not for long.
Notable
- The Giants activated one member of their taxi squad in favor of another in what could be a precursor to Tommy La Stella‘s season debut. Recently acquired infielder Donovan Walton was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to clear space for reliever Yunior Marte, who along with Walton, Luke Williams and Mauricio Llovera was already in St. Louis on a taxi-squad basis.
- All indications are La Stella’s rehab assignment is nearing an end. La Stella (right Achilles sheath) played nine innings in the field on back-to-back nights for the first time Friday and Saturday, then went 2-for-2 as the designated hitter Sunday. Kapler said the Giants would re-evaluate after their game Sunday night and confirmed La Stella joining the team for their series in Colorado was a possibility.