You don’t need to be an All-Star and a World Series winner to be a successful Major League Baseball manager.
Sure, it helps, and Kurt Suzuki has accomplished both. He played in the 2014 All-Star Game as a member of the Minnesota Twins, and won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019.
But for Suzuki, the real credibility comes from 1,635 regular-season games played in over 16 seasons. And they were almost all as a catcher — the player on the field with the best view of the field.
Catchers often make for good management material because they are an extension of the manager, connecting him to the pitcher and other aspects of the defense.
The catcher has the best seat in the house. But he has no chair and has to squat.
That’s one reason it is also the most physically demanding position.
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Anyone who has played catcher as many games as Suzuki knows a lot about the game.
Suzuki, now 42, played on five MLB teams. He played for two of those five — the A’s and Nationals — twice. His last two seasons, 2021 and 2022, were with the team he will manage, the Los Angeles Angels.
If there are any critics of the choice of Suzuki they will probably cite that he has no coaching or managing experience. That’s only technically accurate: A catcher is a coach on the field, because of the reasons mentioned above.
Suzuki’s reputation as a positive influence followed him to every MLB stop. It was formed from youth baseball in the 1990s to when he led Baldwin High on Maui to a state championship, to when he was college baseball’s most decorated player when Cal State-Fullerton won the College World Series.
“Just kind of the way I was brought up,” Suzuki told me during a visit home in 2014. “My parents (Warren and Kathleen) were always real positive, raised me to always have fun and experience things and be appreciative. I try not to take anything for granted.”
During the same interview 11 years ago, Suzuki said he was leaning away from the idea of coaching or managing after his playing days ended — except perhaps his own kids. He spoke of how being away from his young family with so much travel took a toll.
But he also said he would not rule it out.
“I have tears in my eyes,” Eric Tokunaga said. “Perfect guy for the job, I believe.”
Tokunaga, the former University of Hawaii shortstop, pro scout and high school coach knows Suzuki well. He knows another major leaguer from Hawaii on center stage this week, and said he also likely has a future in pro baseball when his playing days end.
But Mid-Pacific graduate Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 30, is focused now on playing second base — or wherever needed — for the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, starting Friday.
Like Suzuki, Kiner-Falefa is a well-traveled player but valued for his team-first attitude.
Kiner-Falefa was always known for versatility. After five seasons in the minors, he played third, catcher, second and shortstop in his 2018 rookie season with the Texas Rangers.
In 2023, his second season with the New York Yankees, he was the ultimate utility player, with time at every position except first base. That includes four innings in four games as a pitcher, during which he allowed just one run, for an ERA of 2.25.
Kiner-Falefa started 2024 with Toronto, where he played 83 games at five positions, and then the Pittsburgh Pirates, where was was at second, short and third for 53 games.
This season, he played short and third for the Pirates, until he was waived and claimed by the Blue Jays, where he contributed all around the infield (except first) and on the mound for the last month of the regular season.
“The team’s in the race,” said Kiner-Falefa, as relayed by mlb.com on Sept. 1. “I’m really excited, and I’m willing to do whatever the team needs me to do, try to be the best bench player I could be and just use my versatility. So I’m excited to help the team. And like I said, these are the guys who trusted me last year, gave me an opportunity, and for them to claim me, it means a lot to me.”
Toronto also knew it was getting a player with some postseason experience who had developed consistency at the plate; Kiner-Falefa’s batting average for the 2025 regular season was the same as that for his career: .262.
In the postseason, Kiner-Falefa has settled in at second base. In the ALCS, he played in five of the seven games, and helped the Blue Jays beat the Mariners with five hits in 15 at-bats and an .800 OPS. He contributed to the Game 7-winning rally Monday with a single ahead of George Springer’s three-run homer in Toronto’s 4-3 victory.
As Tokunaga once told me long ago, it takes talent to make it to the majors. But for most at the highest level, doing all of the little team-first things is what keeps you there — and prepares you for big moments, as a player and perhaps a coach or manager.
