Lilly-Gibbons argument leaves manager bloodied
Associated Press
TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons wound up with a bloody nose after tangling with Toronto pitcher Ted Lilly near the dugout during Monday night's game against Oakland.
AP Photo/Aaron Harris
Lilly (left) reacts negatively as manager Gibbons tries to take him out of the game in the third inning on Monday night.
After the game, Lilly said to reporters, "There were no punches thrown."
Lilly was pulled in the third inning, when the Athletics scored seven runs to close to 8-7 on the way to a 12-10 win. Gibbons chewed out the pitcher, who refused to give him the ball.
When Lilly left the mound for the locker room, Gibbons followed him. A team trainer and a number of players then ran down the stairs. Cameramen near the dugout saw Gibbons push Lilly first.
Canadian Press photographer Aaron Harris, one of a handful of photographers to witness the skirmish, said Lilly was waiting for Gibbons in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.
"Gibbons just went at him," Harris said. "It looked like Gibbons grabbed him and they disappeared. Then the whole dugout emptied back there. It was mayhem down in the tunnel."
Interviewed after the game, Gibbons declined to give details of the incident but said, "We've hashed all that out."
Lilly said that his manager was not happy with how he was throwing.
"At a time I was already upset with myself, I didn't handle it well at the time. It wasn't very good, but this thing could have gone over a little better if I would have held my emotions."
Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells tried to downplay the brawl.
"Two guys were upset," he said. "It happens at home and it happens here. That's life. You just have to deal with it."
Gibbons challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight in July after the infielder wrote on the clubhouse bulletin board that the "ship was sinking." Hillenbrand declined to fight, and was later traded to San Francisco.
Associated Press
TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Gibbons wound up with a bloody nose after tangling with Toronto pitcher Ted Lilly near the dugout during Monday night's game against Oakland.
AP Photo/Aaron Harris
Lilly (left) reacts negatively as manager Gibbons tries to take him out of the game in the third inning on Monday night.
After the game, Lilly said to reporters, "There were no punches thrown."
Lilly was pulled in the third inning, when the Athletics scored seven runs to close to 8-7 on the way to a 12-10 win. Gibbons chewed out the pitcher, who refused to give him the ball.
When Lilly left the mound for the locker room, Gibbons followed him. A team trainer and a number of players then ran down the stairs. Cameramen near the dugout saw Gibbons push Lilly first.
Canadian Press photographer Aaron Harris, one of a handful of photographers to witness the skirmish, said Lilly was waiting for Gibbons in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.
"Gibbons just went at him," Harris said. "It looked like Gibbons grabbed him and they disappeared. Then the whole dugout emptied back there. It was mayhem down in the tunnel."
Interviewed after the game, Gibbons declined to give details of the incident but said, "We've hashed all that out."
Lilly said that his manager was not happy with how he was throwing.
"At a time I was already upset with myself, I didn't handle it well at the time. It wasn't very good, but this thing could have gone over a little better if I would have held my emotions."
Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells tried to downplay the brawl.
"Two guys were upset," he said. "It happens at home and it happens here. That's life. You just have to deal with it."
Gibbons challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight in July after the infielder wrote on the clubhouse bulletin board that the "ship was sinking." Hillenbrand declined to fight, and was later traded to San Francisco.
