Cataldi v. Kapler: Cage Match of the Century

King of positivity, Gabe Kapler, is super progressive and loves everything statistics. Dude may actually be a human calculator or a super intense Care Bear.

 

King of greasy Italians in sweat pants and Nike Air Monarchs, Angelo Cataldi, is the basic 65 year-old white guy that hates numbers and wants baseball to go back to good ol’ days of yore because he doesn’t want anything to ever change. Still wearing the stench of the “Hinkie was a fraud” take.

 

So, put these two together discussing a Phillies team that completely imploded and you get a match to rival the Rumble in the Jungle or The People v. OJ. Gabe has been making regular appearances on Cataldi’s morning show to discuss the Phils all season and all the stars aligned this one last time when Gabe wanted to address Cataldi calling Matt Klentak incompetent.

 

The Kapler Defense

 

Gabe defends his boss and team fervently. He uses the ridiculous growth as a defense. You can go look up how the team has improved and passed expectations this year regardless of a terrible close to the season or listen to the interview, I won’t bore the non-nerd with numbers. His outlook is nothing but positive.

 

The Cataldi Rebuttal

 

Cataldi claims the front office and Gabe are out of touch with the fans based on the few hundred people he talks to each week. He says the Phillies bored fans away with analytics and claims no one wants to see a 3-2 count. He cites the fact that the Phils are the only team ever to be 15 games over 500 and finish under 500.

 

Who Ya Got?

 

At this point it’s obvious I’m not Cataldi’s biggest fan but some people are and as fans we won’t all always agree but the facts of the conversation are laid out for you. Who came out on top?

 

My Two Cents (Develop your own opinion before reading)

 

I’m trying to stay impartial but Philly has a population of over 1.5 million and Citizens Bank Park holds 43,035 people so the few hundred people that agree with Cataldi and listen to his show and interact with him all share an opinion that they are 100% entitled to. But for him to assert that his opinion is gospel is insane. This is called a convenience sample and it’s not an acceptable form of research and shouldn’t be allowed to be preached as truth on radio. But that’s an issue of the lack of accountability of what radio hosts say on air and a conversation for somewhere else.

 

On the other hand, I do love Gabe but for him to act like the room isn’t on fire and he’s that dog in a hat saying, “this is fine” is also insane. The last 45 games were an absolute dumpster fire. Cataldi asked if there was a culture shift when the rosters expanded and Gabe not denying it leads me to believe that he couldn’t get the locker room united behind the Pennant push. So, yes there’s something to worry about here but I’m going to give Gabe and the office the benefit of the doubt in 2019 to get it together.

 

In short, I’m taking Gabe here by decision. It wasn’t a knockout but he gave more valid points that left Cataldi spinning a few times and he just never bounced back with his weak jabs that hardly landed. He couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that we should pull the plug on this Phillies team and executives.

 

Who won? Were my analogies switching from boxing to law too confusing? Let us know.

By Vince Scian | October 3, 2018