Imagine if managerial searches ended the same way as Miss America pageants: And the first runnerup from the IronPigs of the Lehigh Valley is Dusty Wathan, which means the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2018 manager will be Hollywood-born Gabe Kapler.
Cue the hugs, send out the tiara and drop the red-and-white confetti.
The Phillies’ search did not go down that way, but it did end up with the first runner-up as a member of the new manager’s coaching staff and that’s pretty rare, too.
At the time Kapler was told by general manager Matt Klentak that he would be the Phillies’ 54th manager, Wathan thought he might be headed back to triple-A Lehigh Valley for a second straight season as the IronPigs’ manager.