Fashion Statement

Clare called yesterday morning, and I could almost feel the steam coming out of her ears through the phone.  “Did you hear what that guy for the Blue Jays said?”

By that she meant Toronto manager John Gibbons, upset after his team lost a game in Tampa because of the Chase Utley Rule, which basically says a player can’t slide into second with malicious intent.  Well, the umpires ruled that Jose Bautista did exactly that with a slide that found at least one hand around the second baseman Logan Forsythe’s right leg.  The bases were loaded in the top of the ninth, and Forsythe made a bad throw that would have allowed two runs to score, giving Toronto the lead.  Instead, it was game over.

Mr. Gibbons was none too happy in his post-game comments.  “Maybe we’ll come out wearing dresses tomorrow,” he told reporters.  “Maybe that’s what everybody’s looking for.”  In fact, no, they’re not.  Speaking for my daughter, we’re looking for grace under pressure.  Gibbons lifted a curtain to show something else.  It only got worse, or dumber, the next day when Gibbons reacted to criticism over his remark:  “It doesn’t offend my mother, my daughter, my wife, who have a great understanding of life.  I do think the world needs to lighten up a little bit.”

But John, the world was doing just fine until you said the new rule was turning baseball into “a joke.”  Guess the joke’s on you.