On Gabe Kapler’s left hand is a tattoo of a rose, along with the date “12-20-20.” The ink is front and center -- right where the Giants manager said it belongs.
The tattoo is a tribute to Kapler’s late father, Michael Kapler, who died in 2020 of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
In a spring training interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt, Kapler said his dad always would pick items from branches, such as roses and fruits, and have others smell them.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“He was a very romantic man, very thoughtful man,” Kapler said. “If he smelt something that he liked, he was going to be sticking it in everybody else’s faces as well. I can sort of picture my dad walking around to people: ‘You’ve got to smell this rose, it smells amazing.’ ”
Kapler called his father “a really important person in my life, more influential than any coach in sports that I ever had.”
“He was the model for me in many ways,” Kapler said.
Related: Giants' Father's Day win special for Kapler
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
At a ceremony honoring his father’s life last year, some of Kapler’s aunts passed around roses. Whoever had the rose in their hand would have their turn to talk about Kapler’s dad.
“When I had the rose in my hand, I thought about what it would be like if he had the rose in his hand,” Kapler said of his father.
Another reason behind the tattoo was that Kapler’s grandmother on his father’s side was named “Rose.”
“It all sort of came together nicely,” Kapler said. “I thought about a tribute for him. It fits well. I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot, which was essentially the goal of getting the tattoo in the first place.”