Gibbons has the right to be part of exit talks
It was exactly 14 years ago Wednesday that then-first base coach John Gibbons was appointed Blue Jays interim manager following a losing day game at Yankee Stadium.
He was in the clubhouse eating a sandwich when Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi brushed past him on his way to fire Carlos Tosca and said, “Don’t leave.”
“(J.P.) went in and told Carlos and then he came back to me and said, ‘We’re going to make you the interim manager,’ ” Gibbons recalled. “It caught me off-guard. A lot of times you kind of sense things. It was a whirlwind day.”
For the remainder of that 2004 season, Gibbons was unsure of his future, what with the interim tag on him. Could he have believed that 14 years and 771 victories later he would be sitting in that same chair in his Rogers Centre office, as he was yesterday, talking about his 1,532 games and two trips to the ALCS?
“No chance, I was just worried about that next day,” Gibbons smiled. “Because you’ve got the interim tag on you, you think maybe I finish the season if it goes good. But I never looked at anything longevity-wise. It was overwhelming at the time, so you just kind of go day-to-day.”
Little did Gibbons know the long and grinding road he would follow would see him ranked 84th all-time in wins as an MLB manager, just behind Eric Wedge and Buck Rodgers. There are two separate Gibby tenures, with four full seasons between gigs. Amazingly, his time as manager has been entirely in a Blue Jays’ uniform, walking the short distance to work each day in a city in which he has grown comfortable.
Now, in what is likely the final summer of his most unlikely run as Jays’ skipper, he finds himself guiding an injured, losing team going nowhere with rumours of imminent dismissal hanging over his head after each loss.
In one poll, he was ranked eighth among managers facing termination.
“Only eighth?” he laughed. “I thought it would be higher. That’s also a part of longevity. You’ve been around, you understand that those things get thrown around. It’s a production business. What also helps is you make good money in this game. It’s kind of like (Paul) Beeston used to tell me, it’s called ‘screw-you money.’ I don’t say that arrogantly, it’s just the way it is.”
Gibbons is referring to the fact he is signed through the 2019 season, with all money guaranteed. He is not nervous; the 56-year-old sits down in his office and talks with GM Ross Atkins every day. He is in the loop.
He considers all three GMs for whom he has worked as personal friends. He also understands how unusual it is for one man in one organization to survive three bosses. He does not demand — but he expects — that when the end is near regarding his time as manager, he has earned the right to be part of any such discussion.
“I don’t know if you ever earn that right, but I think the fact that I’ve been here in one spot and it’s the only place I’ve managed for so long, I’m sure that goes with it,” Gibbons said. “I’m sure they would recognize that. If you’ve been a few places and bounced around your big-league time, that’s different. I don’t necessarily expect that, but I think they would give me that.”
Many have opined about Gibbons as manager, offering the opinion that he would not be capable of running a younger roster, one without the veteran leadership with which he has been blessed, ever since 2013. They say he’s too old school and not trusting and reliant enough on new-wave analytics. They say that in 2019, if the Jays go into a rebuild with young prospects, that he should be gone.
“Yes, I could adjust, but at this point in my career where I’ve been around some really good veteran players, I’m not so sure I want to be a part of a total rebuild type thing,” Gibbons explained. “When I say that to be fair to the people that are running it, they need to have the right guy in place they think is the guy for next year and the future. They don’t want to get a constant turnover there either.
“But since I’ve been managing here I’ve had a lot of young guys come up (to the majors) and I’ve done alright. So I can handle young guys. I think I’m a confidence builder that way. But I prefer, and I think most guys do, a self-run clubhouse for the most part. Less headaches that way.”
Gibbons has learned to accept the reality of losing even as he continues to expect winning. Call it maturity, call it an acquired inner calmness.
Back in ’08, weeks before he was fired, he aired this columnist out in his Cleveland office for writing to try and get him fired. Ten years later, fans can see calmness and humour in his post-game press briefings that are carried live most nights.
“I’m confident in what I do,” Gibbons smiled.
“Am I the best manager ever? Of course not. I’ve learned (how to manage) over time and that’s part of it. I’ve made many pitching changes, some work, some don’t. You understand that.
“Early in your career you might think, ‘OK why did I do that?’ But now that I’ve been at it awhile, you go ‘I know that was the right move.’ If I had to do it again I’d do it again. It just didn’t work. That’s part of the calmness too. It’s, ‘hey, you’re probably going to get secondguessed, but that’s the nature of the beast.’ ”
The odds are Gibbons will not be back as manager in 2019.
But one would also hope that in what has become a lost season, the Jays would allow him to finish the season under his own terms and be part of the process of change.