John Gibbons

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For the American scientist (born 1929), see John H. Gibbons.

John Gibbons

Catcher, Manager

Born: June 8, 1962 (1962-06-08) (age 46)
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 11, 1984 for the New York Mets
Final game
October 4, 1986 for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Batting Average	.220
Hits	11
RBI	2
Teams
As Player New York Mets (1984, 1986) As Manager Toronto Blue Jays (2004-2008)
Career highlights and awards
1st round pick in the 1980 amateur draft

John Michael Gibbons, (born June 8, 1962, in Great Falls, Montana), is the current manager of the Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball. He is often referred to as "Gibby" by his players and other baseball cohorts.^[1]

1 Playing career
2 Bullpen catcher & coach
3 Managerial career
4 Controversy with his players
5 Managerial records
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Playing career

After being selected by the New York Mets with the 24th pick of the 1980 amateur draft, Gibbons had a very brief 18-game major league playing career as a catcher with the Mets in 1984 and 1986. He was projected to be the Mets' catcher of the future but he batted only .220, with one home run and 2 RBIs (but 16 strikeouts) in 50 at-bats. Injuries also took a toll on him so he retired as a player in 1990.

[edit] Bullpen catcher & coach

Hired by the Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Ricciardi in 2002 as a bullpen catcher, Gibbons worked his way up to first base coach in June 2002. Ricciardi was his former roommate in the minor leagues.

[edit] Managerial career

After Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi fired manager Carlos Tosca in 2004, John Gibbons was hired. Blue Jays went 20-30 with Gibbons as manager. During the remainder of the season, it was not unusual to see as many as six rookies per game on the Blue Jays' field.

At the end of the 2004 regular season, Gibbons was given a 1-year contract as the manager for the 2005 season. This contract was extended for three seasons just a week into the 2005 season. Gibbons went on to lead the Jays to an 80-82 record in his first full season as a big league manager.

Expectations were higher in 2006, after the Blue Jays acquired A.J. Burnett, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, BJ Ryan, and Bengie Molina. Toronto ended the season in second place in the American League East division with an 87-75 record, one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. It marked the first time the Jays had finished higher than third since 1993, when they won their second of two consecutive World Series titles.

[edit] Controversy with his players

On May 28, 2005, Gibbons chastised former Toronto starter Dave Bush in the dugout after the right-hander showed his displeasure on the mound about being removed from a game. The next day Bush was sent to the minor leagues. ^[2]. After the season, Bush was traded to the Brewers, where the former 2nd round draft pick became one of their top 3 starting pitchers and doubled the number of wins he had achieved in either season as a Blue Jay. ^[3]

Gibbons was again involved in controversy in July 2006, after his feud with Shea Hillenbrand came to a head. After the former Blue Jays infielder and designated hitter wrote negative comments about the team on a display board in the Blue Jays clubhouse, Gibbons confronted him in a closed team meeting and allegedly challenged him to a fight. Hillenbrand, who has a history of clashing with officials from several teams, was upset about his lack of playing time and that no one in the Blue Jays front office had made an attempt to congratulate him on recently adopting a child. Three days later the Blue Jays traded Hillenbrand, who was hitting .301 at the time, to the Giants.^[4]

Gibbons was involved in more controversy on August 21, 2006, when he got into a confrontation with another of his players -- Blue Jays pitcher Ted Lilly -- after Gibbons walked to the mound to remove Lilly in the third inning of Toronto's game against Oakland. Visibly frustrated at his own performance (having given up 7 runs in that inning to erase an 8-0 lead), Lilly initially refused to surrender the ball to Gibbons. He ultimately left the mound and headed for the clubhouse. ^[5]When Gibbons returned to the dugout, he followed Lilly into the clubhouse tunnel where, according to eyewitnesses, Gibbons confronted the pitcher about his insubordination. The two exchanged shoves, and a number of players and Blue Jays staff rushed in from the dugout to break it up.^[6] Following the confrontation, both men considered the matter resolved, and there were no apparent tensions thereafter.

The most recent controversy occurred with Frank Thomas. At the beginning of the 2008 season, Gibbons benched Thomas, who had a batting average of .167 after the first 20 games of the season. Thomas was livid over his lack of playing time. He claimed that the Blue Jays were giving him less playing time to prevent him from getting 364 at-bats in the season, which was the required amount for his $10,000,000 2009 option to become guaranteed. The Blue Jays responded the next day on April 20, 2008 by releasing Thomas. Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi met with Thomas and they agreed that the best thing for the team and for Thomas would be to let him go.

[edit] Managerial records

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
Team	Year	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Toronto Blue Jays	2004	50	20	30	.400	5^th in American League East	-	-	-	-
	2005	162	80	82	.494	3^rd in American League East	-	-	-	-
	2006	162	87	75	.537	2^nd in American League East	-	-	-	-
	2007	162	83	79	.512	3^rd in American League East	-	-	-	-
	2008	46	23	23	.500		-	-	-	-
Total		582	293	289	.503	-	-	-	-	-