| Jean-Luc Nicolas. 23rd August, 2006 - 5:39 am
 Until a month ago, I had a fleeting hope that Cito Gaston was still the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Or maybe even Buck Martinez, but then I remembered how he was at the helm for Team USA?s underwhelming performance in the World Baseball Classic. Little did I know their current manager began his tenure with the Toronto organization as the bullpen catcher back in 2002.
There surely is nothing like working your way up the ranks from the very bottom. Hell, a few months ago, I was watching the Yankees at Padres from the 1998 World Series and guess who was operating the speed gun, one Theo Epstein. Look where Ted Kennedy?s eventual successor is today.
It still is a funny sidenote and something that has to be at least in the back of the minds of these Blue Jays, first Shea Hillenbrand, then Ted Lilly, who practice insubordination like J.P. Riccardi practices denying Vernon Wells reports by former staffers.
Managers should laugh off and ridicule players for whining demonstratively about not being congratulated for adopting a baby.
When a pitcher refuses to hand over the ball when he feels it is time for him to be relieved, then a manager should definitely challenge players to a fight/duel, as if they were Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson. The challenge is even more justified when the said pitcher has a sub-.500 record in both his career and for the season and an ERA that has never touched the 3?s while in Canada.
There are only five active pitchers who have the career capital to even consider doing what Lilly did on Monday evening; Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and John Smoltz (apologies to Greg Maddux for his omission and his Chavez Ravine renaissance).
Lilly, who will be a free agent in just over two months, deserved to get his arm broken for what the utter lack of respect for authority he showed on Monday. Scores of his former teammates supported Lilly following the incident, describing him as someone that is well-liked in the clubhouse.
The comments made by Hillenbrand clearly showed that he felt vindicated with how Gibbons responded to Lilly?s behavior. Like younger siblings, Hillenbrand fought the battle against the manager in order for Lilly to come out of the incident unscathed, both physically and with how the Blue Jays front office will handle the situation.
Lilly, who was already halfway back over the border, wouldn?t have re-signed even if this would not have happened.
Gibbons, who already went to management and threatened to resign if Hillenbrand wasn?t traded, is now in an impossible situation. Lilly would be very difficult to trade, as he would surely be claimed off waivers, so Gibbons must appear on the radio and sound remorseful for what has happened. He also will soon be oiling up that catcher?s mitt because after a season that was greatly hyped in Toronto due to the free agent signings of B.J. Ryan and A.J. Burnett, he will be relieved of his duties as manager.
I have a feeling Riccardi would be the one to end up with the bloody nose if Gibby is reluctant to relinquish the reins.
P.S.: Good luck to Toronto manager #11, who will inherit a team with Vernon Wells in a lameduck season. Who knows though, maybe they can bring back Bobby Cox?
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