John Gibbons Unfiltered

Former Jays manager discusses winning, chemistry and much mpore

On this week’s Exit Philosophy, Griff and Mal welcome former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons for his view on the just-completed World Series, his new gig as bench coach with the Angels, and much more. The former skipper, who took his Jays to consecutive ALCS in 2015-16, explains the similarities between his first playoff team that lost to the Royals and the difficulties of repeating the next year. He explains the phenomenon of playing for an entire country and how it affected him and his players, plus how Jays fans compare to others around baseball. He describes his favourite memories from Winter Tours past, including driving tanks in Edmonton with his head sticking out the turret and the icicles forming and worrying whether his Jays tank-mate one tank over, Colby Rasmus, might go rogue. Gibby shares his thoughts on clubhouse chemistry, on winning, and how the bottom line is that talent is the overriding factor. He talks about his first stint as Jays manager, being appointed out of the blue in New York while eating a post-game sandwich in the clubhouse, his famous dustup with Ted Lilly, and the details of the clubhouse clash with Shea Hillenbrand. He talks about his relationship with the late Davey Johnson. It’s all vintage Gibby.