With the San Francisco Giants firing manager Gabe Kapler before Friday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, they aided in creating a major first in MLB history.
The Giants named Kai Correa as the interim manager in the wake of Kapler's firing. Interestingly, Correa is of Hawaiian, Portuguese and Japanese descent. His Dodgers counterpart, Dave Roberts, is also someone of Japanese descent. With that said, the Friday showdown became the first MLB game ever to have two managers with Asian descent.
“Giants bench coach Kai Correa has been named interim manager with dismissal of Gabe Kapler. Correa is of native Hawaiian, Portuguese and Japanese descent, making this the first MLB game featuring two [managers] of Asian descent. Dodgers [manager] Dave Roberts' mother is Japanese,” Bill Plunkett of Orange County Register reported.
This amazing tidbit only further highlights how diverse the MLB is. It is already one of the most diverse leagues in all of professional sports, which is why it isn't a surprise when one of the most popular players in major league baseball is Asian (Shohei Ohtani of Japan). Sure enough, that diversity also transcends to coaching.
It remains to be seen if there will be more players and coaches from Asia and other parts of the world who will be able to make it big in America's favorite pastime. However, what the Giants and the Dodgers achieved on Friday with Kai Correa and Dave Roberts certainly paves the way for many more to aspire to make it to the MLB.