MLB: Whatcha gonna do, Brother, when Ted Lilly runs wild on you?!
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2556925



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.

It was not known whether any punches were thrown.

Lilly was pulled in the third inning, when the Athletics scored seven runs to close to 8-7. 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 of the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.

Cameramen near the dugout saw Gibbons push Lilly first. A television camera later showed Gibbons with a bloody nose.

Gibbons challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight in July after the infielder wrote on the clubhouse bulletin board that the "ship was sinking." The Blue Jays designated Hillenbrand for assignment during the game and later traded him to San Francisco.

Gibbons better hope Latrell Sprewell never visits the clubhouse, or else he could hurt.

Our team leaders should really do something about this... except they're too busy shopping for homes in Texas.

Clearly, the Blue Jays need to rehire the guy who lied about serving in Vietnam. Even that would boost the leadership being shown by the coaching staff.

I mean, seriously, who the hell over the age of 15 or not drunk off their ass challenges people to fights?

The Jays desperately need to get new people in positions of power. Between J.P. and Gibbons, they're going to end up losing any player worth anything in the next five years.

Guess everyone owes Shea Hillenbrand an apology.

Saw the ESPN clip on it. That was outstanding. I wonder if we get to see the LL WS clip as well.

This is what I was just going to say. It sounds like Gibbons has lost control over there.

I'm sick of Gibbons. He needs to go.

Agreed. I'm not sold on J.P. and we should've let him go to Boston years ago when he wanted to leave.

So what city will the Jays relocate to?

Ummm they aren't going anywhere.

Yeah, last thing they'd want to do is lose someone like Ted Lilly. :)

How is Gibbons going to reestablish his authority after getting his nose bloodied by a guy whose last name is "Lilly?"

It's like getting your jaw broken by someone whose last name is "Petunnia" or "Mariggold." You instantly become a laughingstock.

There's only one guy who could fight with a Gibbon. Or was that an Orangutan?

Lilly isn't the biggest issue. If rumors are to be believed, Wells is sick and tired of J.P. bringing up his name as an underperformer this year (in addition to wanting to play closer to home) and is likely to be (at least attempted) to be traded in the offseason so the Jays don't lose him for nothing the way they did Delgado.

Considering J.P. wanted to dish Rios this last offseason, sent Hinske to Boston of all places and has a manager that would appear to not be endearing himself to at least a portion of the players, they're managing to make Toronto look like a really nice destination for potential free agents.

It's not a good time in Toronto even though they currently have their best lineup in quite a few years. Sure, a Catalanotto/Johnson/Rios outfield wouldn't be too bad, and if they can fix the SS situation this offseason, they could even come into next improved. But the odds of bringing in character guys and not having to completely overspend on any free agent when your team is starting to get a reputation like this, well, gets pretty slim.