Phillies owner John Middleton finally executed the order on Thursday morning, firing manager Gabe Kapler after two seasons.
He built up every ounce of anticipation with his in-depth inquiry regarding the 44-year-old’s future with the club.
Even as the baseball world waited for the word on Kapler over the past few days, rumors began to swirl about his possible replacements even though he hadn’t even been shown the door.
Reports on Tuesday revealed that the team and veteran manager Buck Showalter are mutually interested in each other while Dusty Baker’s name was also floated out there by MLB insider Jon Morosi
The two have a combined 42 years of managerial experience at the major-league level — albeit, no World Series rings between them.
The prospect of adding a name like Showalter or Baker provides the Phillies with something they have never had: A manager with experience.
Since the franchise’s founding as the Philadelphia Quakers in 1883, the Phillies have never hired a manager that won a postseason series before joining the team.
That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?
But it’s true.
In fact, since 1896, the Phillies have had 41 managers (not including interims). For 32 of those names, the Phillies provided them with their first-ever managerial job:
Billy Nash- 1896
George Stallings- 1897-1898
Bill Shettsline- 1898-1902
Chief Zimmer- 1903
Billy Murray- 1907-1909
Red Dooin- 1910-1914
Pat Moran- 1915-1918
Jack Coombs- 1919
Gavvy Cravath- 1919-1920
Kaiser Wilhelm- 1921-1922
Art Fletcher- 1923-1926
Stuffy McInnis- 1927
Burt Shotton- 1928-1933
Jimmie Wilson- 1934-1938
Doc Prothro- 1939-1941
Hans Lobert- 1938-1942
Freddie Fitzsimmons- 1943-1945
Ben Chapman- 1945-1948
Eddie Sawyer- 1948-1952, 1958-1960
Mayo Smith- 1955-1958
Gene Mauch- 1960-1968
Bob Skinner- 1968-1969
Frank Lucchesi- 1970-1972
Danny Ozark- 1973-1979
Dallas Green- 1979-1981
Paul Owens- 1983-1984
John Felske- 1985-1987
Nick Leyva- 1989-1991
Terry Francona- 1997-2000
Ryne Sandberg- 2013-2015
Pete Mackanin- 2015-2017
Gabe Kapler- 2018-2019
A name like Showalter or Baker would certainly buck the trend and provide the Phillies with a leader that has managed in plenty of big spots in the big leagues.
That might be exactly what the franchise needs as they haven’t been to the playoffs in eight seasons and their biggest stars — Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins — have yet to attain postseason success.
