Gibbons on Gibbons
Former Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons (left) seemed happy to see all the members of the Baltimore media that tracked him down in the Marlins clubhouse today. He was mildly disappointed, however, that he is not in the lineup for today's game against his old teammates.
"I was kind of looking forward to playing against (my) old friends,'' he said.
Gibbons took a circuitous route back to major league training camp. He played for the independent Long Island Ducks and spent time at the Double-A and Triple-A levels with the Milwaukee Brewers last year. Now, he's competing for an outfield role with the Marlins.
"So far, so good,'' he said. "I can't complain. They're treating me great over here."
Jay also has no complaints about how he was treated by the Orioles, who released him last spring.
"I'm disappointed the way it ended,'' he said. "I didn't fulfil the contract the way I wanted to, There is no resentment. They were great to me."
He was asked if he felt like he was made a scapegoat for his involvement in baseball's steroid scandal, but he wouldn't really go there.
"If I hit .300 and they released me, yeah'' he said, "but I'm not a scapegoat because I hit .230."
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Comments
Dare I say...classy?
Posted by: Lee | February 27, 2009 12:27 PM
I always felt kind of bad for Gibby - seemed like a good guy - too bad he stunk up the field and wasted a lot of Angelos' asbestos earnings. Of course, Gibby was a no-tool player - couldn't hit, field, run, no power, no arm. Very indicativr of the the type of player the old regime used to sign to long-term deals.
Posted by: Kenny from Pikesville | February 27, 2009 12:29 PM
Good luck to Jay! I hope he makes it back to the Majors.
Posted by: UT Cal | February 27, 2009 12:54 PM
Judging by that pic, he still looks sleepy. Get that boy some Red Bull! It'll give him... performance enhancement.
Posted by: Pete | February 27, 2009 1:11 PM
I wish him nothing but the best. Even though things didn't pan out, he had plenty of potential. Adding Gibbons through the Rule 5 draft was a good move by the old regime. Three times he hit at least 23 home runs, he never struck out more than 89 times, and his career OPS+ was 101.
If Gibbons had stayed healthy, his career averages might have looked something like this:
AVG/OBP/SP/2B/HR/RBI
.260/.314/.453/34/25/84
Fact is, Gibbons wasn't bad - he was hurt. He might not be David Ortiz, but his tenure in Baltimore was hardly a failure. Even if it ended badly.
Posted by: Bryan | February 27, 2009 1:34 PM
While it's kind of difficult to dislike Gibby, there are plenty of likeable politicians as well, and look at how we feel about them. And there is no question that had he been a quality player - say, in the Brian Roberts mode - he would have been forgiven and would still be here.
Still, politics is not the only profession that reeks of hypocrisy, and a .230 hitter is a .230 hitter. And with the outfield having improved as much as it has, where was Jay going to play? First base? I'd rather have Wiggy. Hell, for that matter, I'd rather have Kevin Millar. DH? You can plug anyone in there and get equal whining about it from anyone.
And don't forget that there is a reason why players get juiced - it makes them better. How's his go-deep abilities these days?
So good luck to the Gibbmeister, but both team and player are better off with his being down there.
Posted by: Fang Guy | February 27, 2009 1:49 PM