DBacks closing in on Kirk Gibson

[The Commish]

Gibson may join Diamondbacks' staff
Former Major Leaguer would serve as club's bench coach


By Steve Gilbert / MLB.com

PHOENIX -- The Diamondbacks could have a bench coach by the end of the week, and the frontrunner appears to be former Major Leaguer Kirk Gibson.

Gibson, who played for the Tigers and Dodgers during a distinguished 17-year career, would replace Jay Bell, who elected not to return this year in order to spend more time with his family. Bell will remain on as an advisor to manager Bob Melvin.

The 49-year-old Gibson was part of World Series-winning teams with the Tigers and Dodgers and was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1988.

Known for his fiery demeanor and all-out playing style, Gibson served as bench coach for Detroit in 2003-05 as part of Alan Trammell's staff.

The move would solidify the Arizona coaching staff with first-base coach Lee Tinsley, bullpen coach Glenn Sherlock and pitching coach Bryan Price returning to the roles they held last year.

Kevin Seitzer was recently named hitting coach, while Triple-A manager Chip Hale will replace Carlos Tosca as the club's third-base coach. Steve Gilbert is a reporter for MLB.com.


http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/...t_id=1737628&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb




Sounds like a good hire. Too bad we can't hire a new manager.

 

[BC867]

How true. But the one thing Bob Melvin needs, if he must stick around, is a Bench Coach with a contrasting personality. Hell, he just needs one with a personality.

It's too bad that Chip Hale's success record, skills and experience will be underutilized as 3B Coach. I hope that another team doesn't steal him away with a better offer down the road.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

This would be a tremendous hire for Arizona.

Gibson has a fire in his ass, great leadership skills and and is the type of guy that some of these younger guys will relate to.

I honestly do see him being the "Manager In Training" and will be the heir apparent to Bo-Mel.

 

[Ryanwb]

I like Gibson, but he needs to wash the stink of losing off of him from the Alan Trammell years.... yuck

 

[devilfan02]

Anyone with emotion, please. I'm getting sick of all these robots. If Gibson has "fire" then he's worth a shot. He'll be a bench coach for cripes sake, at least he might get some of these younger guys going

 

[BC867]

It's too bad that Bob Melvin won't let him handle the PR part of the job, too.

What an uplift it would be to not have to watch Melvin during post game interviews, picking at his face, covering his mouth as he speaks, and playing the role of bystander and dreamer rather than motivator.

 

[devilfan02]

It's too bad that Bob Melvin won't let him handle the PR part of the job, too.

What an uplift it would be to not have to watch Melvin during post game interviews, picking at his face, covering his mouth as he speaks, and playing the role of bystander and dreamer rather than motivator.

This is off topic so sorry. Is there any truth to BoMel's morbid fear of clowns? My firend, who is also a huge Dback fan, told me that at last years spring training a guy dressed in a clown costume stood next to the Dbacks dugout and waited for BoMel to notice him. Supposedly Melvin freaked out and got the guy kicked out of the ballpark. Anyone heard this story as well? Sorry for the off topic post, thought it was funny

 

[FinleyLover]

Yeah, as far as we know, it's true. He is afraid of clowns. Thus, our little pet name for him, Clarabell. Hee hee hee... Someone ought to send him a copy of Stephen Kings' "It". I am a little freaked out by clowns, and that book scared the crap out of me!

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

MEDIA CIRCUS: The fallout from Clowngate continued yesterday, a day after the Diamondbacks unleashed two clowns during their first game against Melvin, the former Arizona bench coach.
Melvin moved to minimize his fear of clowns, which sparked the prank.
"It's so blown out of proportion, this whole thing," he said. "I was talking to (Diamondbacks manager Bob) Brenly during the playoffs about something that happened with some kids or something, and somebody must have heard us talking about it. Then it was in the paper in L.A. about the clowns.
"It's not like I'm going to go into a coma or something because I see a clown."
The culprit turned out to be Arizona outfielder Luis Gonzalez, who hastily called around Monday morning to hire the clowns, introduced at Tucson Electric Park as Bob and Melvin.
"It was Gonzo, and ironically, he was the one who got hit (with a pitch)," said Melvin -- the manager, not the clown. "But I didn't know about it until after the game. I said, 'You know what, you're the only one who's stupid enough to spend that kind of money,' and he started laughing."
Ah, but revenge is sweet. The Mariners were back at Tucson Electric Park yesterday to play the White Sox, who share the facility, while the Diamondbacks were two hours away in Surprise playing Texas.
"It was a nice vacant clubhouse on the Arizona side this morning," Melvin said, grinning. "I could have meandered over there. We'll see what comes out of that."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/112097_mbok12.shtml

 

[FArting]

they signed him

 

[PDXChris]

Kirt Gibson and Ryne Sandberg were my my baseball heros growing up being that I grew up a Cubs fan and lived in L.A. the years Gibson played there and that is when I started to really follow baseball. I am excited about this.

 

[Dback Jon]

Great hire!

 

[RedRamage]

Hey all, Tigers fan here. I'm poking around your board with the Lions and Cards playing this Sunday and figured I'd look into the baseball forum.

For what it's worth, if anyone is interested in some Tigers talk, MotownSports.com is a great site. Like your website here it's a general site for all Sports in Michigan.

Now then, on to Gibson.

First, let me say that I'm suprised that Gibson agreed to do this. Back when Trammel first became manager for the Tigers there was a lot of talk about hiring Gibson (along with other 1984ers). Gibson was very reluctant to do it initially. Unlike some of the guys hired (Trammel, Parrish) Gibson had never tried his hand at coaching. He was the color guy for Tigers games played on Fox Sports Net, but never a coach. Trammell finally convienced him to do it, but I think it was more a sense of duty to the Team (Gibson was born, bred, and raised in Michigan and was a Tigers fan from his early years) and to his friend Trammell, rather than a desire to do it. I'm guessing that he must've enjoyed the experience, dispite not having great teams or success while being the bench coach with the Tigers.

He is a firey guy, and from his days a color guy, he really seemed to have some insights into the game... he was always talking about little extra things that players should be doing and pointing out when they did or didn't do 'em. He also has the hardware (two rings, MVP) to make an impression on the young guys.

As I mentioned above, he obviously got the bug to come back to the coaching game, so this is good step for him, learning under an established coach.

Should make for some interesting games at the very least between the D'backs and Cubs, that's for sure!

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I havent posted on here in several months, but actually might again return back on a regular basis....

I dont mean to "pat myself on the back", but here's a thread from 08/05:

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=57969&highlight=kirk+gibson

People may laugh at the following suggestion.... Most of you know that I grew-up as a Tiger fan (before I moved out here and converted over to only following the Dbacks), and my favorite player while growing-up was Kirk Gibson.... True... some (especially the media) portray him as a "jerk", but that was mainly during his playing days.... He's been the Tigers bench coach the last few seasons and has done a lot better than most suspected.. People thought that he would clash with the younger players or get too buddy-buddy with the veterans, but he's maintained some balance....

Here's someone with a proven winning record at every level...played for both Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda and Jimmy Leyland....someone who when he made his 2nd tour of duty as a Tiger (in the early-mid 90s) was credited for helping a young Bobby Higginson, Tony Clark, Travis Fryman, and couple others gain a better understanding of the game and also to know what it takes to win...

True ... he's never managed at the Big League level, but he's always proven himself also as a fast-learner.. very adept.... Well-respected all throughout the game and also is excellent with younger players.... That's someone the Dbacks should seriously consider... If not now.. but perhaps in a couple of years because he will be a top managerial candidate by then.... I just dont know though if he'd be willing to depart from Detroit though, but one never knows....

I didnt know until looking it up today, but Kirk Gibson (who was originally Alan Trammell's bench coach) had since become the Tigers hitting coach (happened some time w/in the past couple of months) and most of the Tigers hitters have responded quite well..... Here's someone who had some ability, but also had to hone his skills.. began as a college football RB and then successfully made the transition into a ML calibre OF'er through sheer dedication and committment.... Perhaps I should be getting too carried away in regards to Gibson since he probably wouldnt want to leave Detroit since he's a native of the Detroit suburbs and his family is deep-rooted there....

But who fits into Gibson's class is Matt Williams.... Gibson (before he joined Trammell's staff) similar to Williams was did some color-commentating for their respective Fox Sports network.... Contrary to Grace...I could sense this in Gibson and now w/Williams.. is that they take the game of baseball extremely seriously... know the fundamentals... willing to call-out players whenever they're going about the game in the wrong way (rather if they're nonchalant, not trying their hardest..etc) and that they're very astute... that no one will second guess or question their baseball IQs and also proven winning attitude...

The likes of Gibson and Williams are the ones you take seriously..whereas Melvin and Brenly before him are ones who you laugh at whenever they try to exhibit any sense of leadership.... which is rare to begin with....

I'm just elated that the Dbacks made that bold of a move... If the they get off to a horrid start to the '07 season, please dont be stunned if he ultimately becomes Melvin's successor.... Gibson exhibits all the attributes of a manager that the Dbacks are in dire need of....