Jays manager John Gibbons says he overreacted in blow-up with pitcher

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This article was published 22/08/2006 (7013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO (CP) – It was an overreaction, it was unfortunate and now it’s over.

That was the Toronto Blue Jays’ story Tuesday as they tried to tidy up the mess created a day earlier when manager John Gibbons and left-hander Ted Lilly argued on the mound and engaged in a physical confrontation in the tunnel between the dugout and clubhouse. General manager J.P. Ricciardi stood behind his manager, Gibbons said he was embarrassed while Lilly, like many of his teammates, said nothing. Just another day for the Blue Jays, who beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3.

“I overreacted. I wasn’t proud about it. It’s over,” a tight-lipped Gibbons said before the game. “It’s over, man.”

Perhaps, but the image of Gibbons jawing with his pitcher on the mound and then following Lilly down to the tunnel will remain seared in the minds of fans who rarely get to see such things play out in public.

And it has raised questions about Gibbons’ temper, coming about a month after he challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight during a team meeting because the disgruntled infielder ripped the team.

Ricciardi, who said Gibbons’ job was never more secure than after the Hillenbrand incident, again defended his manager, who is signed through the 2007 season.

“Gibby’s a good manager,” said Ricciardi. “It’s just an unfortunate incident, it happened. He went all last year and didn’t have one incident, took over the club in August the year before and didn’t have one incident, just one of those years where a couple of things have gone wrong. But I also think you have to take the whole situation and who was involved in those incidents.”

Ricciardi said the troubles with Hillenbrand and Lilly were different because “the first one was a player wanting to get out of here, the second was just in the heat of a battle. The pitcher didn’t think he should come out, I personally thought the manager made the right move.”

Lilly won’t face any discipline for arguing with Gibbons on the mound when he was pulled from Monday’s 12-10 loss to the Athletics. Staked to an 8-0 lead, Lilly gave most out of it back in the third and refused to hand over the ball after trading words with Gibbons.

The two then clashed in the tunnel leading out of the dugout after Gibbons followed his pitcher off the field. The Athletics broadcast seemed to capture Gibbons with a bloodied nose and TV cameras later showed team trainer George Poulis wiping Gibbons’ face with a towel.

Gibbons denied there was any blood, saying the towel was for some, “Crusty chew.”

“In hindsight Gibby probably should have just went to the corner of the bench and I think he knows that, too, and let Ted cool off,” Ricciardi said. “He didn’t, that’s the unfortunate thing about what happened.”

As for Lilly, Ricciardi said: “You’re taught in this game to give the manager the ball and get off the mound. That’s protocol. . . .

“They both made a mistake, they have to live with it.”

Lilly next pitches Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.

Lost in the mayhem was that the Blue Jays blew an 8-0 lead in a loss that dropped them further out of post-season contention. It’s unclear how players are viewing the incidents but how they perform in the coming weeks of playing out the string could serve as a referendum on Gibbons’ future.

“This can be a big distraction for any team. Hopefully it doesn’t get to us,” said catcher Bengie Molina. “Every single player is different. I have a lot of respect for Gibby and I hope everybody does.”

They looked sharp Tuesday behind a solid A.J. Burnett, who went 6 2-3 innings, and a two-run homer from Vernon Wells. All trips to the mound were peaceful.

“They bounced back after a tough night, a tough loss and a tough situation,” said Gibbons. “But that doesn’t surprise me.”

Gibbons acknowledged that the second incident could alter people’s opinions of him, but said he was comfortable with his reputation. He also tried to play down the significance of the altercation with Lilly.

“It’s not a common thing but it happens,” he said. “He’s a competitor, I’m a competitor. You’re going to have come friction sometimes in every walk of life. Things don’t always escalate to that and not in front of the cameras, either.”

Gibbons, 44, became a big-league manager for the first time during the 2004 season when Carlos Tosca was fired in August, taking over on an interim basis. He got the job full-time after the season and was given a contract extension through the 2007 season in April 2005.

Molina said he had never before seen a manager challenge a player to a fight. Some baseball people say it happens on rare occasions, very rarely in public.

Ricciardi doesn’t think the incidents will hurt Gibbons’ status in the room.

“I don’t think he’s lost the respect of any player,” said Ricciardi. “We’re winning 8-0 last night, the lead is falling apart right in front of us, any manager in baseball would take the pitcher out. I don’t see how you lose the respect of your team.”

Lilly, the club’s No. 3 starter earning $4 million US and eligible for free agency in the fall, is 10-11 this season with a 4.64 earned-run average in 25 starts. In theory, he could be traded if he clears waivers but the Jays are more likely to let him play out the string.

Hillenbrand, who was designated for assignment and traded the Giants after his confrontation with Gibbons, told reporters in San Francisco on Monday night that he wasn’t surprised by the latest incident.

“Stuff like that has been going on all year,” he said. “They say I’m the cancer of the team and things are still happening, so I don’t know how you can make that assumption or statement.”

Ricciardi refused to engage his former player in a war of words, instead lamenting the loss.

“A pitcher wasn’t doing his job and was taken out of the game,” he said. “We shouldn’t blow an 8-0 lead. Gibby was trying to manager his team to win the game. Forget the argument, we lost the game. I can live with the argument, I’d rather have the win.”