Adored John Gibbons gets the send-off he deserved

When John Gibbons was asked about what kind of reaction he expected at his last game at Rogers Centre, he gave one of the more John Gibbons answers possible.

“I’ve never been a big fanfare guy. I just live my life low-key. So, hopefully I don’t have to go to the mound too often. I’d like finish off with a win at home. Let’s put it that way.”

The Blue Jays manager got his wish in one way, but in another he didn’t. Whether he liked it or not, the fanfare was inevitable. It came in droves any time he exited the dugout into the view of the 22,828 at Rogers Centre.

It started with the manager’s walk out to give his lineup card to home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman — a task he usually leaves to bench coach DeMarlo Hale — and it continued all game long.

“I wasn’t going to do it. I never do it. But it made sense. A.J. Hinch is a buddy of mine and I hadn’t seen him in a while. And this particularly group of umpires, I like them all. Sometimes you have to play the part, like it or not.”

When the game concluded, the Jumbotron stayed trained on Gibbons as he shook hands with his players and he gave the fans one last wave on the way back into the dugout, even giving the crowd an old-fashioned “I can’t hear you” sign before he strode in. As he settled into his post-game interview he was even hit with a Gatorade shower from Kevin Pillar.

“Coaches usually take blame for losses and give their players credit for wins,” Pillar said. “So it was kind of nice to have him be front-and-centre for once and see how all the fans that we have here enjoyed him and supported him and showed him how much he means.”

If he was looking to avoid the spotlight, that mission was an unmitigated failure, but ultimately he didn’t seem to mind.

“I told you guys before, I’ve never been into that. It’s kind of embarrassing to me.” he said. “But it just felt different today.”

More important to Gibbons, if he’s to be believed, was the fact he was able to end on a victory with a 3-1 win over the Astros.

It took a few things for it to come together for that to happen. They included but was not limited to: Sean Reid-Foley being utterly dominant across 3.1 innings, six different relievers combining for 5.2 innings of scoreless ball against a sturdy, albeit incomplete, Astros lineup, Reese McGuire’s first career MLB home run, and 28-year-old rookie Jon Berti’s first MLB hit.

“I actually felt better for Berti today than I did myself,” Gibbons said. “We’ve tried to get him up here a couple of times but it just didn’t line up. He’s been in the minor leagues for a long time and he’s loyal and great Blue Jay as anybody.”

The young squad the Blue Jays are running out have plenty of motivation to play for themselves and their future, but an outgoing manager and a hyped-up stadium certainly didn’t hurt.

“We told him we wanted to go out there and get the win for him,” said Randal Gricuk, who delivered a two-run home run in the first. “Obviously you can’t control it, but it was good for him to go out on a high note in his last game.”

As much lip service was paid to the win, what happened on the field felt secondary. The most meaningful aspect of Wednesday’s contest was the connection between Gibbons and the fans. Win or loss, emotion would have permeated Rogers Centre. Thousands bid farewell to the friendly face of their favourite franchise, while Gibbons was able to soak up the kind of adoration that a man in the somewhat thankless job of managing a baseball team rarely elicits.

The emotionally-charged atmosphere was far from lost on Gibbons, who seemed genuinely touched in the aftermath — even if his way of expressing it was a joke.

“I never cry. My lip might shake a little bit.”

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