Tony At 10: GIBBONS, ONE MAN'S OPINION; BLOG # 2135, FRI MAY 04, 2018

THE MESSAGE:

The following is taken from an article by Sportswriter Stephen Brunt. I have interspersed some comments that indicate my displeasure at the choice of John Gibbons as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.

THE BLURB:

HE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT A HIT AND RUN IS!

THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB OR NOT

BY STEPHEN BRUNT IN DUNEDIN, FLA. COMMENTS BY TONY @ TEN

GIBBONS SAYS,

“Baseball is not all X’s and O’s, unlike other sports like football.” “I think managing is just about holding the group together. The game a lot of times dictates what you’re going to do." NO FOOLIN'. THAT IS SUCH A PREDICTABLE STATEMENT FROM A PREDICTABLE STRATEGY. "Someone might have a different philosophy, but the game kind of sets itself up. I’ve always believed that it’s a manager’s job to hold them all together over a long season and run a pitching staff." BUILDING AN ATTITUDE WITH WHICH THE PLAYERS BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT THAT EACH SITUATION, EACH INNING, EACH GAME IS CRUCIAL FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE TEAM! THE PLAYERS MUST READILY ACCEPT MANAGERIAL DECISIONS FOR ANY OCCASION AND ACCORDINGLY WILL HOLD TOGETHER. PROBLEMS ARISE WHEN DECISIONS ARE NOT WELL PREPARED AND DO NOT CONSTANTLY PUT PRESSURE ON THE DEFENCE!

GIBBONS GOES ON:
"Very rarely does anybody outsmart anybody [else] in this business. THAT IS CERTAINLY CORRECT WHEN THE FIRST ANYBODY IS JOHN GIBBONS! Usually what it comes down to is one team plays better than the other.” OR THE OPPONENT'S MANAGER IS SMARTER AND BETTER PREPARED!

GIBBONS CONTINUES,

“The bottom line is, it goes back to who you are,” Gibbons explains. “If I’m not John Gibbons then I’m a phony and they see right through that." IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU ARE PHONY! "I came in with these guys as a certain guy. It’s my personality. I can’t change. And if I did change, I’m not sure that would be any good anyway…SERIOUSLY???

“I am very loose. I trust them to do their job." PERHAPS IT WOULD BE SMART TO HELP THEM DO THEIR JOB BETTER BY USING A VARIETY OF TACTICS DESIGNED TO GIVE THE OPPONENTS SOME DOUBT AS TO WHAT TO EXPECT IN ANY SITUATION. "When Josh [Donaldson] came over here a couple of years ago — he and Russ [Martin] — they really turned the culture of our team with their mentality and the way they went about their business … We added some toughness. I could see what they were doing in the clubhouse in the way they motivated players, and that was what we had been looking for a lot of years. So, I said, ‘This is perfect. They’re in charge of that.’ If there is ever a time I need to step in and change something, I’ll do that." THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN YOUR ACTIONS WERE EITHER ABSENT OR INCORRECT.

WHY DID YOU ALLOW THAT STUPID CLUBHOUSE PARTY AFTER CLINCHING THE PENNANT 2 SEASONS AGO? THEY STILL NEEDED TO PLAY GAMES TO CLINCH THE HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE IN THE PLAYOFFS! YOU ARE THE MANAGER!!!

GIBBONS GOES ON,
"But the thing about being a coach or a manager is, if you have to take charge and do something all the time, you’re in trouble. It’s really got to be in their hands…" YADA, YADA, YADA

Gibbons was fired in June 2008, with the Jays falling to five games under .500 after losing an interleague affair in Pittsburgh. His family happened to be visiting. After he got the bad news, they all climbed into a van and made the long drive home to San Antonio. Talking about that day now, he says he felt more relieved than defeated. The team brought Gaston back to succeed him, in what sure felt like a cynical nostalgia play. You can’t go home again, right? Except, it turns out, sometimes you can. TOO BAD GIBBONS DIDN'T STAY HOME!

“I knew how the business worked,” Gibbons says. “The front office has every right to have their own guy in place. To me that’s smart. So, it was kind of a feeling-out process. They were watching how I did my thing. I think I’m pretty easy to work with. I’m stubborn in some of my own things but I think I can get along with anybody. The bottom line is it all comes down to results. That’s how you survive or you disappear.” SECOND GUESSING YOUR DECISIONS IS EASY BECAUSE MOST OF THEM BACKFIRE!

Gibbons wanted to learn what high performance was about. He wanted to learn if there were ways to be more effective and efficient. He wanted to learn if there were more robust analytical investigations into lineup construction that would help him. THINGS LIKE WHOM TO BAT WHERE, WHO IS THE OPPONENTS' PITCHER, WHEN DOES A SACRIFICE MAKE SENSE, OR IS A HIT AND RUN A GOOD MOVE, OR SHOULD I PINCH HIT FOR A BATTER, WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION, WHOSE AVERAGE IS .037 WHEN SHOULD I LIFT THE PITCHER? MAYBE AARON LOUP ISN'T THE RIGHT CHOICE. DON'T ASK WALKER WHAT TO DO; TELL HIM WHAT TO DO!

It is safe to say that John Gibbons has never in his life uttered the phrase “robust analytical investigations into lineup construction,” but it seems that wasn’t a deal-breaker TO GIVING GIBBONS A CONTRACT EXTENSION.

“You know I don’t do everything right,” Gibbons says. YOU'VE GOT THAT RIGHT. “Nobody does. I'D SETTLE FOR 50% FROM YOU. The beauty of baseball is everybody has got their own ideas of what you should do in a game, what you should do in the big picture. Putting a team together, how you run a team. I’m the guy who has to answer for how I do it. PICK UP THE BLOODY PHONE OR LISTEN TO THE FAN IN THE FRONT ROW IN SEAT 103 OF SECTION 221! And I’ve always believed you do it the way that you think is right and then you can answer for that, good or bad. If you’re not doing it that way and something goes wrong, you end up kicking yourself.” YOU MUST HAVE MANY BRUISES ON YOUR ASS.

“I’m getting a little bit older now, so whatever happens happens. That’s how I take it,” he says. BRILLIANT STRATEGY! Someday, sooner or later, by choice or by circumstance he’ll be heading back to San Antonio for good. And he’ll be just fine with that.