UTK Short 11/29/22
Caplinger Retires
Roger Caplinger is riding off into the sunset. While there will be much more discussion of David Stearns turning the reins over to Matt Arnold and taking a gap year before heading … somewhere … the loss of Roger Caplinger could well be worth more, especially over time.
Even for the denizens of a newsletter that’s stock-in-trade is injuries, you probably said “who?” Look, Athletic Trainers and medical staffs don’t get nearly enough credit, even here. Ask a fan who their team’s head AT is, or even who their doctor is and most outside Cincinnati won’t be able to do it. In absence of star names, people assume they’re commodities and that is far, far from the truth.
Caplinger was the longtime head AT with the Brewers. (He’s also a longtime friend, so I’ll put that out there in case you think I’m biased.) He went upstairs to work on more projects and to hold on to a very solid staff that needed promotion or was likely to leave. There’s been turnover since, but between Caplinger, Gord Ash, and the surprisingly stable minor league staff, the Brewers have had among then best results in baseball.
How good? They went a five year period without having a Tommy John surgery. They equalled the “buy nine, get the tenth free” that the White Sox did in the 2000s, even as salaries went up. (Oh, that means the medical staff saved so much over the course of nine years that the tenth season was essentially free, paid for by the savings.) I don’t know the exact salaries of the Brewers’ staff, but its safe to say they paid their own salaries about ten times over each season.
While there’s still institutional knowledge and some very fine people in the organization, that’s exactly what the White Sox thought when Herm Schneider retired. The White Sox haven’t been the same and have even seen some of the worst results in the decades I’ve been doing this during the most recent campaign. Seemingly, the further they get from the Schneider years — and make bad hires — the worse it gets. I’m worried the same might be true for the Brewers. Maybe Ash will be able to keep things in line. Maybe the medical staff tightens up. At least we know several members of their front office really know the true value of injuries.
I’m still not sure that makes up for Caplinger. Beyond his decades of work, Caplinger’s had some health issues recently, but came back well. The consistency of the team’s results when it comes to injuries and to their holistic approach owe much to him and the systems and practices he’s set up. The Brewers had better do everything they can to maintain those, and even improve them if they can.
The Brewers - no, the game of baseball is better given what Caplinger did. Just his involvement in the development of the game’s concussion policy is a lasting legacy. Given his team, I’ll raise a stein to Roger and hope that his Brewers can stay healthy, along with him.