Ex-phillips coach captures AA championship
Kevin Graber had been offered opportunities like this before, but the longtime Phillips Academy baseball coach realized this time things were different. His children, who had long been his priority and a major reason why he got out the professional game in the first place, were now all grown up and away in college. Suddenly the prospect of joining an MLB organization seemed a lot more appealing.
So a year ago this week Graber took the plunge and officially joined the Chicago Cubs as a minor league coach. He couldn’t have imagined the whirlwind that awaited.
Originally hired as the Cubs’ spring training complex coordinator, Graber wound up being promoted twice over the course of the season, first to roving minor league field coordinator and then to manager of the Tennessee Smokies, the Cubs’ Double-a affiliate. Under his leadership the Smokies took off, and recently the club captured its first Southern League championship since 1978.
“A little bit different than the brownies my wife would make after we won a high school championship,” Graber joked of the champagnesoaked celebration that followed Tennessee’s titleclinching 10-3 win over the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Throughout his first year with the Cubs, Graber was repeatedly the right man in the right place at the right time. Originally expected to oversee the club’s spring training operation and later manage the rookie league team, Graber got bumped to field coordinator after his predecessor was elevated to big league hitting coach.
In that role Graber regularly traveled to Chicago’s four minor league affiliates in Myrtle Beach, South Bend, Iowa and Tennessee, and during a midsummer trip to Knoxville the Smokies’ manager position unexpectedly became vacant. The Cubs plugged Graber into the role and things got rolling from there.
Besides getting to manage a Double-a affiliate to a championship, Graber also had the opportunity to coach some of the most promising young players in the sport. He said getting to tell Pete CrowArmstrong and B.J. Murray Jr. that they were going to Seattle for the MLB Futures Game was special, as was getting to work with many of the club’s top prospects on a daily basis, among them former Worcester Academy star Matt Shaw.
“That’s a really cool opportunity to be with players at that level who are so profoundly gifted, but are also such incredibly hard workers who the organization has identified as a legitimate Major League Baseball prospect,” Graber said. “That’s a great responsibility for me to make sure everything is going well with these players, and I don’t take that lightly.”
While leaving a high school job to join an MLB organization may seem like a no-brainer to some, it wasn’t an easy decision. Graber and his family had been ingrained in the Phillips Academy community since 2008, and over the years he got to watch his kids grow up on the Andover campus along with hundreds of other students who came through the prestigious school.
Among those was Thomas White, one of the top pitching prospects in the 2023 MLB Draft, and joining the Cubs would have also meant missing out on his senior year at Phillips and the chance to see his journey over the finish line.
“You get to be really close to these families,” Graber said.
Ultimately Graber and his family decided the time was right and uprooted themselves from the Merrimack Valley to Phoenix, Ariz. Now with a memorable first year under his belt, Graber expects to resume his role as field coordinator and help do whatever he can to help Chicago’s young players reach their full potential.
And if he ends up getting tossed another curveball or two next season, he’ll be ready for that, too.
“Whatever the Cubs need from me, that is what I will do,” Graber said.
Twins end drought
On Oct. 5, 2004, the Red Sox began what wound up being a historic playoff run culminating in the organization’s first World Series championship in 86 years.
That same day the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Yankees 2- 0 in Game 1 of their American League Divisional Series. It was the club’s last playoff win for nearly two decades.
Minnesota’s incomprehensible 18-game losing streak in the playoffs finally came to an end this past week, as the Twins dispatched the Toronto Blue Jays 2- 0 in the Wild Card round to win the franchise’s first playoff series since 2002. In the interim the Twins were swept four times in the ALDS (thrice by the Yankees, who also went on to win that ’04 ALDS 3-1) and twice in the Wild Card round.
It was a cathartic and emotional breakthrough for the Twins and their fans, but now the AL Central champions have their work cut out for them in their second-round matchup against the defending World Series champion Houston Astros.
AL East or least?
Considering how strong the AL East appeared for the majority of the season, the division hasn’t exactly colored itself in glory through the first week of the playoffs.
Two of the division’s three playoff qualifiers, the Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays, were unceremoniously dumped from the postseason in lopsided two-game Wild Card sweeps. The Jays and Rays were outscored a com
bined 16-2 in their four losses, each only managing a single run in their respective series.
For the Blue Jays, the outcome was underwhelming but not completely out of left field, because despite boasting an impressive collection of talent Toronto’s offense has underperformed all season. The club further sabotaged itself by lifting Jose Berrios after a leadoff walk in the fourth inning of Game 2 despite a low pitch count and an otherwise dominant start. That decision immediately backfired when Yusei Kikuchi went on to allow three straight baserunners and two runs to score.
The Rays performance, however, was wildly uncharacteristic.
Tampa Bay has always prided itself on playing fundamentally sound baseball, but this past week the Rays looked like the worst version of this year’s Red Sox. Tampa Bay committed four errors in Game 1’s shutout loss, and on
Wednesday they looked overmatched against old friend Nathan Eovaldi.
Even after a 99-win campaign, this offseason is going to bring a lot of hard questions for a Rays franchise that can’t seem to translate its regular season success into an October breakthrough. The same can be said for the Blue Jays, who have been solidly in win-now mode for the past three seasons and whose championship window could be closing.
Savannah Bananas coming to Fenway
Banana Ball is officially coming to the big leagues.
After taking New England by storm with highly acclaimed stops in Brockton, Hartford and Portland this past summer, the Savannah Bananas are set to bring their unique spin on baseball to Fenway Park next year as part of the upcoming 2024 Banana Ball World Tour.
The Bananas will play at Fenway Park on Saturday, June 8, 2024, marking one of six dates the Bananas will play at a big league venue. Originally founded as a summer college team, the Bananas have evolved into baseball’s answer for the Harlem Globetrotters, becoming famous for their entertaining antics, in-game dances, unique rules, frequent fan interactions and celebrity cameos.
This past August’s game in Brockton quickly sold out and featured Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon and New England football legend Doug Flutie. It’s a safe bet the stars will be out in force for next summer’s showcase at Fenway Park.
Tickets for Bananas games are lottery-based, and fans interested in attending should visit thesavannahbananas.com/tickets and join the Ticket Lottery List for an opportunity to purchase tickets.