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"He thought he should have been left in the game," Gibbons said of Lilly. "I didn't think so."
Yeah but that doesnt give the manager the right to wait for him in the tunnel and start a fight. They are both wrong in my opinion but I still think the manager is not going to get much respect from his players with the way he handled the situation. It seems there is a respect issue already with the way things are coming out.
I agree with that. If Gibbons wasn't such a douche already, Lilly might not have reacted the same way to being pulled.
NOTEBOOK
Jays GM faults manager following scuffle
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi thinks manager John Gibbons made a mistake in confronting pitcher Ted Lilly near the team’s dugout.
"In hindsight he probably should have just gone to the corner of the bench. I think he knows that, too," Ricciardi said yesterday.
Gibbons and Lilly exchanged words on the mound during a pitching change in the third inning of a 12-10 loss Monday night.
Given an 8-0 lead, Lilly was removed after allowing five runs in the third. Gibbons chewed out his pitcher, who refused to give him the ball.
When Lilly left the mound for the clubhouse, Gibbons followed him. A team trainer and several players ran down the stairs of the dugout. Cameramen near the dugout saw Gibbons push Lilly first.
"I overreacted. I wasn’t proud about it," Gibbons said.
Gibbons and Lilly said no punches were thrown, though the trainer was shown on camera tending to Gibbons’ bloody nose in the dugout. Earlier yesterday, Gibbons expressed regret during a weekly radio appearance.
In July, Gibbons challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight after the infielder wrote on the clubhouse bulletin board that the "ship is sinking." Hillenbrand declined to fight and was later traded to San Francisco. Ricciardi said Gibbons’ job was more secure than ever after the Hillenbrand confrontation. Asked whether that is still the case, Ricciardi said it is.