Before Gabe Kapler became the manager of a first-place baseball team, he was the manager you probably wanted fired after his first 48 hours on the job. As you may already know, prior to that he was Director of Player Development for the Dodgers, a health and lifestyle blogger, an enthusiast of various self-lubricating oils, fitness freak, minor league manager, and Major League player.

What you may not know is that once upon a time Kapler was also named the 1998 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball Weekly, USA Today, and The Sporting News. He parlayed his monster season that year into an endorsement deal with K-Swiss, which I was surprised to learn still exists, and said deal helped spawn this masterpiece of a commercial that looks like it was directed by the same group that did the Spice Girls’ music videos. It’s like if Dunk-a-roos, dial-up modems, Nintendo 64, and pogs were put into a blender and blasted out into a 30-second sneaker ad, this is exactly what would come out. H/T to myself for coming across this gem, which can be viewed after the jump:

Three thoughts:

1. “Before you can throw like an MVP, catch like an all-star, or hit like a hall of famer, you’ll have to work like a Gabe Kapler.”

It’s absolutely criminal if he hasn’t dropped this line in front of the team yet. These words need to be featured on a sign for the players to tap before they take the field.

2. The opening shot body rotation, the freeze frame/text drop, Jock Jams-like beat, and quick cuts of highlight plays and workouts is total heat. The guy hadn’t even appeared in a Major League game and he was scoring endorsement deals. What an absolute babe.

3. I’m absolutely in on a pair of these fresh ass white K-Swiss trainers: