Gibbons Challenged Hillenbrand to a Fight
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Toronto Blue Jays manager John (not Jay) Gibbons challenged recent adoptive parent and apparent clubhouse cancer Shea Hillenbrand to a fight on Wednesday, according to both Hillenbrand and Gibbons.
This was after Hillenbrand wrote "the ship is sinking" and "play for yourself" on the Blue Jays' clubhouse bulletin board. Gibbons said it was either him or Hillenbrand who would go.
Hillenbrand was designated for assignment in the middle of Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers. The ESPN.com article mentions that Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi (notably a Billy Beane apostle) was in the middle of acupuncture treatment when he heard about Hillenbrand's words. Ricciardi said that several teams had already called about trade possibilities with Hillenbrand.
An unhappy player, his seemingly arrogant manager, and the organization that didn't really want him all seem to have ended up with what they wanted. Now everyone in the baseball world knows that Hillenbrand adopted a baby. Now Gibbons doesn't have to fight one of his players and got rid of a player that he said killed the clubhouse. Now Ricciardi still has control and says he will never tolerate a player that critical of an organization. All's well that ends well.
Source
- ESPN.com
Date
Thu 07/20/06, 8:21 pm EST
