Curve manager takes different trek
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The journey coaches go through to get to the majors is a lot like the players they coach. They start at the bottom of the ranks and work their way up.
For Altoona Curve manager Callix Crabbe, his coaching journey is the opposite. He started in the majors before ultimately becoming a minor league manager.
He got his start as an assistant hitting coach with the Texas Rangers in 2019, a position he held for three years until he joined the Pirates organization following the 2021 season as the organization's assistant hitting coordinator and manager for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
"I'm just extremely fortunate. God has been extremely good to me," Crabbe said. "I've had a very good support staff during my family and then life experiences where I meet people and I really didn't know why I was meeting people but my God gave me an ability to have a good perspective and a wide lens to see the world."
That lens led Crabbe to the IMG Academy in Bradenton where he spent the 2012-16 seasons before creating his own business, Crabbeology Sports Development, which focused on high level hitting instruction, strategy and mental and physical conditioning.
"God put me in a situation where I went to IMG. I decided to start my own company and I learned a lot," Crabbe said. "The game was transitioning from a more older style game to a newer style game and not being in affiliated ball allowed me to dig into the weeds a little bit more than most people probably would have been digging into the weeds so I got ahead of the curve a little bit."
The time spent away from affiliated ball and his ability to relate to players and share similar experiences helped make him a highly qualified candidate for the Rangers job, something he felt like he was a great fit for from the outset.
"Getting to go right from the streets to the big leagues was really, really special," Crabbe said. "The winter the Rangers interviewed me, I felt like I was a good candidate."
What set Crabbe apart from others is his self-proclaimed superpower: Empathy.
"Something I pride myself on is motivating through empathy and also knowing when to pull the tougher lever," Crabbe said. "I tell people my superhero trait is empathy. And so if I ever don't look at a situation with the person in front of the information, I'm not going to be utilizing my greatest strength in life and understanding the person so for me on a personal level."
Being able to relate to players is a major part of the game and earning the respect of the people who are going to battle for him every game. It's also what endears him to said players and makes them want to come to battle for him as well.
For a guy like top prospect Henry Davis, it's that type of relationship that's helped him develop into the player he is today.
"He encourages me to be the best I can be, you know, that's who we are as players, you're a product of your environment," Davis said. "We have a great staff. Callix is our leader. So having people support you like that it's gonna bring the best out of everybody."
We can forget the players on the field are more than just athletes, they're human beings too. They have emotions just like those writing, watching and coaching each game and that plays as big of a factor as any in their success on the field.
"It's extremely important when you speak to a player that you try to find something that they can relate to," Crabbe said. "Because I had success as a player, I also have very unique experiences and failures.
"What I can do now is when a player is really struggling, I can actually share my stories and create the threat level that's typically a little bit higher as a professional athlete who needs to show machismo and I can downgrade them to a place where now they can actually listen because I'm showing them that I've been through a very similar situation."
Having that openness and ability to relate not only builds more respect, it opens up both the coach and player to vulnerability, something many people struggle with on a regular basis.
"It's me saying it's okay to show vulnerability, vulnerability, that's a big thing," Crabbe said.
Being able to be vulnerable is a big reason why there's continuously open dialogue between the players and coaches and why Crabbe makes sure to meet or talk with each player every day.
"Everybody wants to be seen. Everybody wants to be heard," Crabbe said. "If I don't take the moment to spend time with them, it could be 30 seconds. Think about that. Anyone that's struggling just 30 seconds can change a day."
That's what makes Crabbe who he is, an empathetic leader that commands the respect of the clubhouse, but still has an outgoing nature about him to build strong relationships with everybody around him by allowing his players and coaches to be themselves.
"You can play free, you can coach free under Callix," Curve hitting coach Jon Nunnally said. "You're doing your thing and everybody is held accountable for what they do. He brings a lot to the table."
Managing the game itself is important, but the most important thing is convincing adult men to keep coming back to a game that is riddled with failure, a game that if you fail 70 percent of the time, you are a success.
"To get a person to come every day to want, to continue to fight through the difficulties of this game is really the most important thing, right?" Crabbe said. "Somebody goes 0-for-4, they have to want to come back the next day. I have to create the environment and set the conditions for them to want to do that."
For Crabbe, the future is uncertain. He has the makeup to be a Major League manager despite only having managed for two seasons in professional baseball, but he's not worried about the future. It's all about staying in the moment and staying present in his surroundings.
"I don't know what the future holds. That's one thing I've never done. I've never tried to plan too much in that sense," Crabbe said. "I'm just going to put my head down and work and be the best version of myself."