John Gibbons

For other people named John Gibbons, see John Gibbons (disambiguation).
John Gibbons

Gibbons with the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 5
Catcher / Manager
Born: Friday, (1962-06-08) June 8, 1962
Great Falls, Montana
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 11, 1984, for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
October 4, 1986, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
(through 2015 season)
Batting average .220
Home runs 1
Runs batted in 2
Games managed 1,096
Win–loss record 555–541
Winning % .506
Teams

As player

As manager

As coach

John Michael Gibbons (born June 8, 1962[1]) is the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Gibbons briefly played in the Major Leagues as a catcher with the New York Mets, in the mid-1980s.

Early life

Gibbons was born in Great Falls, Montana and raised in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended Douglas MacArthur High School.[2][3] The son of United States Air Force colonel William Gibbons, he had his first Little League Baseball at-bat while playing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, where the family lived temporarily.[4]

Playing career

After being selected by the New York Mets with the 24th overall 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. Gibbons served as the Mets' bullpen catcher during the 1986 postseason, in which the Mets won the World Series.[3][5]

Coaching and managerial career

Minor leagues

Gibbons began his coaching career with the Mets in 1991 as a minor league hitting instructor. In 1994, he joined the Capital City Bombers, the Mets' South Atlantic League franchise, as a coach.

Gibbons began his successful minor-league managing career in the Mets' organization with the Kingsport Mets, guiding them to the Appalachian League championship in 1995. He followed that by guiding the St. Lucie Mets to the Florida State League title the next season. In 1998, he led the Eastern League's Binghamton Mets to the playoffs, and then immediately followed that with three seasons as manager of the Norfolk Tides. He led the Tides to the International League playoffs in 2001.[6]

Toronto Blue Jays (2002–2008)

Gibbons in 2007

Hired by the Toronto Blue Jays' former 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.[7]

After Ricciardi fired manager Carlos Tosca in 2004, Gibbons was promoted to the manager position. The Blue Jays went 20–30 with Gibbons at the helm. At the end of the 2004 regular season, Gibbons was given a one-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, B. J. 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. Although they finished 10 games out of first, it was the first time the Jays had finished higher than third since 1993, when they won their second of two consecutive World Series titles.

With the Blue Jays mired in a slump that put them five games below .500, Gibbons was fired on June 20, 2008. He was replaced by former Jays manager Cito Gaston.[3] He finished with a record of 305 wins and 305 losses.[8]

Kansas City Royals (2009–2011)

On October 10, 2008, Gibbons was hired as the bench coach by the Kansas City Royals, replacing Dave Owen[9] who became the third base coach.

San Antonio Missions (2012)

Gibbons was hired at the end of the 2011 season to manage the San Diego Padres' Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions.[10]

Second stint with Toronto (2013–present)

On November 20, 2012, it was announced that Gibbons was re-hired as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays[11] on a two–year rolling contract.[12] Gibbons was named to the 2013 American League All-Star coaching staff by Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland.[13] The Blue Jays finished the 2013 season with a 74–88 record, putting them last in the AL East.[8]

In 2014, the Blue Jays were six games up in the AL East title race on June 6, 2014, but posted a 45–54 record from that point on, including a 9–17 record in August. They would finish the season with a record of 83–79,[8] good enough for third place in the AL East,[8] and 5 games back of a wild card spot.[14]

On June 22, 2015, the Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 8–5 for Gibbons' 500th managerial win.[15] On August 2, Gibbons was ejected for the third time in the 2015 season, for arguing with umpire Jim Wolf. Gibbons returned to the field later in the game during a bench-clearing incident, and was subsequently suspended 1 game.[16] On September 25, 2015, Gibbons and the Blue Jays ended the team's 22-year playoff drought by clinching a playoff berth.[17] 5 days later, the Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 15-2, and clinched the American League East.[18]On October 14, 2015 the Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers to win the American League Division Series after losing the first two games of the series. The Blue Jays moved on to play in their first American League Championship Series since 1993. They would however, lose the series to the eventual world series winners the Kansas City Royals 4 games to 2.

Managerial record

As of October 23, 2015
Team From To Regular season record Post–season record
W L Win % W L Win %
Toronto Blue Jays 2004 2008 305 305 .500 DNQ
2013 Present 250 236 .514 5 6 .455
Total 555 541 .506 5 6 .455
Reference: [8]

Controversy with players

Notes

  1. 1962 calendar
  2. John Gibbons safe — but sound — choice to manage Blue Jays: Griffin Toronto Star. Accessed on November 25, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "John Gibbons". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  4. Elliott, Bob (20 November 2012). "Toronto Blue Jays to name John Gibbons manager". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  5. "Former Blue Jays manager Gibbons interviews with Pirates". Inside Pittsburgh Sports. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/John_Gibbons
  7. Chisholm, Gregor. "Postseason a 'long time coming' for Gibbons". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "John Gibbons". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  9. MLB News, Videos, Scores, Standings, Stats, Teams, Players – FOX Sports on MSN
  10. Brock, Corey (November 10, 2011). "John Gibbons hilights Padres' Minor League hires". MLB.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  11. Chisholm, Gregor (November 20, 2012). "John Gibbons returns to be Blue Jays manager". MLB.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  12. Crasnick, Jerry (January 1, 2015). "John Gibbons' 2016 salary locked in". ESPN. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  13. Chisholm, Gregor (June 13, 2013). "Gibbons named to AL All-Star coaching staff". MLB.com. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
  14. Griffin, Richard (September 29, 2014). "Jays need to make changes but John Gibbons not one of them: Griffin". thestar.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  15. "Blue Jays beat Rays 8-5 for John Gibbons' 500th win". usatoday.com. June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  16. Davidi, Shi (August 4, 2015). "Blue Jays’ Sanchez, Gibbons suspended by MLB". Sportsnet. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  17. Davidi, Shi (September 25, 2015). "Blue Jays clinch playoff spot in unexpected fashion". Sportsnet. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  18. "Blue Jays clinch first AL East title since 1993". Sportsnet. September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  19. 403 Forbidden
  20. 1 2 3 "New Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons endorsed by former antagonist Shea Hillenbrand". Toronto Star. November 21, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  21. ESPN – Lilly-Gibbons confrontation leads to 'mayhem' in tunnel – MLB
  22. ABC News: ABC News (Archive.org cache) Archived August 28, 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  23. MLB: Jays release Frank Thomas – Posted Sports

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Gibbons.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Dave Owen
Kansas City Royals Bench Coach
2009–2011
Succeeded by
Chino Cadahia
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