Walk the long, narrow hallway that extends from Victory Field, the home of the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians, and hang a right upon entering the home clubhouse. That’s where you’ll find manager Brian Esposito’s office, complete with a coffeemaker, a leather couch and a poster from a Sandlot promotion that occurred in 2018, Esposito’s first season in charge.
It’s fairly standard stuff, but there’s something else visible — Esposito’s golf bag — that might prove the most useful in his current position.
A 40-year-old former fifth-round pick who played his last professional baseball game in 2012, Esposito has steadily climbed the managerial ranks by relying on a philosophy he has actually ripped from his own golf game.
Which is to say one of significant struggle and frustration, always keeping in the back of his mind that baseball, like golf, is hardly easy.
“We talk to these [minor league] guys all the time about not being a finished product,” Esposito said. “I’m well below a finished product playing golf.
“Golf has kept me grounded, and it’s helped me remember that the game is hard.”
Stories of Esposito’s golf game— or lack of one — can elicit a funny response.
“Oh, yeah,” Clay Holmes said, chuckling. “I played with him a couple times in 2018. I will fully back that up; he was really bad.”
But again, in a season where the Pirates’ MLB club has experienced significant turbulence, it could also be instructive. Much like he has on the golf course, Esposito has grown as a manager, too.
Could Esposito wind up managing the big club? That’s a question for down the road, but if the Pirates shake up their coaching staff, the former catcher’s credentials certainly make him someone worth considering.
“He has shown the ability to be a taskmaster as far as staying on top of things,” Clint Hurdle said. “Developing relationships, I think he continues to grow and do that extremely well.
“It’s been fun watching him grow and watching the things he’s been able to do with the club and the challenges they’ve had this year.”
A great setup
Esposito was a fifth-round pick of the Red Sox in 2000 and enjoyed a 13-year professional playing career that also featured stints with Anaheim, Texas, St. Louis, Colorado, Houston and Chicago (Cubs).
He played more than 750 minor league games and appeared in three major league contests — one with St. Louis in 2007, two with Houston in 2010.
Both promotions resonated with Esposito and ultimately pointed him in this direction.
With the Cardinals, Esposito took note of Tony La Russa’s brutal honesty. Yadier Molina was hurt. And Esposito, with a career OPS of .557 in the minors, was never going to be the guy. St. Louis ultimately signed veteran Kelly Stinnett and returned Esposito to Class AAA Memphis.
“I respected the honesty I got from him,” Esposito said. “I didn’t like that I got sent out, but hearing the truth from [La Russa], that meant something to me.”
The second story involves another one of Esposito’s former managers, Marc Bombard, with Class AAA Round Rock (Astros) in 2010. Bombard pulled Esposito into his office and started talking about the future.
Just not the one that Esposito envisioned.
“He told me I was going to get a chance to go to the big leagues,” Esposito said. “Before I left, he told me, ‘You’re going to be a really good manager one day.’
“I said, ‘That’s great, Bomby, but can I go to the big leagues now and try to be a really good big league player one day?’
“He laughed and said, ‘That’s what you’re going to do. You’ll play a little bit. You’ll be able to do some things, but I think you’re going to be a really good manager one day.’ ”
The seed was planted, and the thought started to grow in Esposito’s head.
Working with pitchers in the bullpen, Esposito began taking mental notes on how would handle certain situations. On the bench, he’d sit next to his club’s manager, asking questions about in-game strategy and kicking around scenarios in his head.
“It was great to play for 13 years,” Esposito said, “but I think those 13 years got me prepared to do what I’m doing right now.”
‘A great feel’
Esposito had plenty of prep work, but neither his pseudo-apprenticeship nor his job responsibilities now are the least bit conventional.
As manager of a Triple-A club, Esposito is often saddled with some unique challenges. Use this hitter with guys on base. That pitcher should go two innings no matter what. So and so is here on a rehab start.
One step away from the big leagues, Esposito’s team becomes part-time competitor and part-time practice squad, whatever the Pirates need him to do. In between, Esposito must manage the egos of guys who are inches away from their lifelong dream.
“It’s one of the tougher roles in the game,” Hurdle said. “I heard a long time ago, you’re going to have 24 players on a Triple-A team. Eight like you, eight don’t like you, and eight aren’t sure.
“You try and keep those groups separated.”
Another one of Esposito’s former players, Kevin Newman, said the manager excels by offering subtle tips on professional baseball games are played, stuff you would never think about until you’re doing it.
It’s likely something that comes easy to Esposito, who isn’t far removed from squatting behind home plate and very much looks like he could still do it.
“A lot of things that you don’t think about, but when you’re put in a major league setting are very applicable,” Newman said. “Ways to look at the game differently. Ways to study your opponent differently. That was a big takeaway for me.”
Holmes appreciated Esposito’s candor. Besides spending most of his career as a catcher, Esposito actually pitched some starting 2003, when the Red Sox decided to experiment. Esposito later picked it up again in 2008, when he was with Class AA Tulsa in the Rockies system.
“He has a great feel for what’s going on,” Holmes said. “He gives you your space, but he also knows when he needs to say something.”
‘He’s not bad now’
Navigate a major league clubhouse, ask players their golf handicaps, and you’re bound to hear a few small numbers.
With Esposito, you get something else.
“I don’t know,” Esposito said when asked his handicap. “A wheelchair?”
If he plays nine holes, Esposito said he’ll shoot anywhere from 38 to 58. He did say he’s better in Florida (his offseason home) than anywhere he plays in-season. “If I play up here in the tall grass, I’m not nearly as good,” Esposito said.
But no matter the score, even when he reaches triple digits on 18, it doesn’t make Esposito want to stop. If anything, it’s additional perspective, realizing that he’s tried and tried, done everything he could do, but the game is just hard.
“It really helps me appreciate how hard it is to do this job every day, especially a player when you talk about their results mattering and what’s at stake for them,” Esposito said. “I’m playing a game here that I’m just trying to be really good at. It’s hard. It’s humbling. You show up at the course, you have a clean slate, the next thing you know you’re four or five holes in, and you’re not nearly where you want to be.
“It could be easy to sit back and watch guys mishit a golf ball. But when you’re the guy doing it, you don’t really want to hear how crappy you are.”
There is good news, Holmes said. While Esposito probably should table any thoughts of qualifying for the U.S. Open, his game has gone from terrible to passable.
“I golfed with him in the spring a couple times. He’s not bad now,” Holmes said. “He can hang around, and he’ll be pretty good. He deserves a little more credit now. He’s obviously put some work in and figured something out.”
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Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: August 15, 2019, 3:31 p.m.
