There are many in baseball -- players, coaches, general managers and the like -- who simply don't have time for you if you never wore the uniform. They can make you feel small, like they're surrounded by an imaginary boundary, and if you didn't play at the big league level, you're prohibited from crossing. Those who covered the Blue Jays during the Jim Fregosi era tell me he was this way, which is why I am grateful for getting three-and-a-half years out of John Gibbons.
Gibbons, as the old saying goes, is 'good people'. He displayed a patient sensitivity to those who pressed him daily for a monotonous flow of information. He believed no question was a dumb question -- which can be comforting when you have many -- and seemingly gave as much time to the press as he did his players. John Gibbons was the type of person you liked to be around.
Based on responses to various entries, many of you thought his dismissal was overdue. You may have had ample reason to vehemently disagree with many of his managerial moves. On many occasions, I did too. But that's the beauty of second-guessing in baseball; we flog the move that lost the game more often then we acknowledge the move that won. Heck, even Terry Francona makes mistakes.
In the case of 2008, Gibbons unexpectedly got saddled with a bunch of hitters swinging bats made of liquorice. For this, he paid a price, because as Gregg Zaun said, "You can't fire the players." Three extremely decent men went with him -- Marty Pevey, Gary Denbo and Ernie Whitt.
Luckily for those of us who go to the ballpark every day, Cito Gaston is every bit as affable and friendly as Gibbons. He also happens to have better credentials. The hope is that Gaston and his crew can re-invigorate a sleeping offence in time to make a run at post-season play. But here's the question: Is there time?
As always, I'd like to hear from you on this matter. Feel free to opine below.
