Rocco’s Modern Life
Rocco Baldelli just brought his Minnesota Twins team into Tropicana Field and took three out of four games against his former team. The first-year skipper has led the Twinkies to one of the best records in Major League Baseball (statistically tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2nd-best as of this post, just half a game behind Houston), but he’s not the only former Rays player making noise as a manager this season. As teams began play on Saturday, June 8th, three of the top six MLB teams record-wise were managed by former Rays (with the 7th ranked Chicago Cubs being led by former Rays manager Joe Maddon).
2nd overall – Minnesota Twins (2nd in the American League; 1st in the AL Central) – Managed by Rocco Baldelli
The Woonsocket Rocket was a first round pick (6th overall) of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2000 and made his debut with the team in 2003. He finished third in the American Rookie of the Year race that year and put up similar numbers in his sophomore season.
The rest of Baldelli’s career was plagued by injuries and he was eventually diagnosed with a rare mitochondrial disorder that caused fatigue and increased the chances of soft tissue injuries, including both a torn ACL and an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in 2005.
Rocco ended his playing career with the Rays in 2010 (after a stint with his childhood team, the Boston Red Sox, in 2009), eventually moving into a front office role, as well as working as a roving minor league instructor with Tampa Bay. He spent the last four seasons as a major league coach for the Rays before being named the manager of the Minnesota Twins in October of 2018.
5th overall – Tampa Bay Rays (4th in the American League; 2nd in the AL East) – Managed by Kevin Cash
The Tampa native was signed as an undrafted free agent by Toronto in 1999 and caught 101 games over three seasons with the Blue Jays. He was acquired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in December of 2004 in a trade for relief pitcher Chad Gaudin.
Cash played 13 games with the Devil Rays in 2005, spending the rest of the year (as well as the 2016 season) with the AAA Durham Bulls. He left as a free agent in 2007 and bounced around a few different teams before retiring in January of 2012 and becoming an advanced scout for Toronto.
The former catcher spent two seasons as the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians before being named manager of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. He led the team to 90 wins in 2018 and the Rays ended this April with the best record in baseball.
6th overall – Philadelphia Phillies (2nd in the National League; 1st in the NL East) – Managed by Gabe Kapler
Kapler 1487th player selected in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft, going in the 57th round to the Detroit Tigers. He bounced around from Detroit to Texas to Colorado to Boston before heading to Japan at the beginning of the 2005 season. He played 38 games for the Yomiuri Giants before returning to the Red Sox in July of that year.
After retiring in 2007 to manage the Class-A Greenville Drive, he returned for the 2008 season with the Milwaukee Brewers. Kapler signed with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009, where he played 158 games for the Rays over two seasons, hitting 10 home runs and driving in 48 runs.
Kapler was cut by the Los Angeles Dodgers before the start of the 2011 season and he retired as a player for good. He coached the Israeli national team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and became the Director of Player Development for the Dodgers in 2014. He was named manager of the Phillies after the 2017 season, replacing Pete Mackanin.
Do you have any great memories of Rocco or any other current Major League managers who once wore the sunburst or Devil Ray on their cap? Let me know in the comment section below.
