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**skanji** · Oct 4th, 2004, 12:56 PM

Check out sportsnet.ca:

Quote:

Gibbons gets the gig

Former Blue Jay' catcher Ernie Whitt, who led the Canadian Olympic Team to a fourth place finish at the Athens Games, is the new bench coach in Toronto.

TORONTO (CP) -- The Toronto Blue Jays named John Gibbons full-time manager Monday, removing the interim tag by his name for the past two months.

This has been on for an hour...Ernie Whitt did NOT get the job!!!

**actyper** · Oct 4th, 2004, 12:58 PM

ESPN also reports he got the job.

**skanji** · Oct 4th, 2004, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by actyper

ESPN also reports he got the job.

I thought Jon Gibbons got the job. ESPN is probably reporting it from Sportsnet...

TSN doesn't say anything about Whitt...Sportsnet has an error...and a pretty big one...

**bdckr** · Oct 4th, 2004, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skanji

I thought Jon Gibbons got the job. ESPN is probably reporting it from Sportsnet...

TSN doesn't say anything about Whitt...Sportsnet has an error...and a pretty big one...

I think it is saying that Gibbons got the job of manager.
Whitt got bench coach.

**skanji** · Oct 4th, 2004, 01:40 PM

**Degenerate** · Oct 4th, 2004, 02:41 PM

it was reported a couple days ago that Ernie Witt would get the job.

**gman** · Oct 4th, 2004, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdckr

I think it is saying that Gibbons got the job of manager.
Whitt got bench coach.

That's what confused me by the first post. These 2 announcements do not exactly contradict each other.

**gman** · Oct 4th, 2004, 03:17 PM

This one has both of their names mentioned.

Quote:

TORONTO - John Gibbons, who took over as manager of last-place Toronto in August, was given a one-year contract by the Blue Jays on Monday.

Photo
AP Photo

Gibbons was appointed interim manager on August 8, when Carlos Tosca was fired after the team went 47-64. Under Gibbons, Toronto went 20-30.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi liked Gibbons' upbeat attitude and how he handled the bullpen.

"We're just going to see. Hopefully as things go forward we'll extend it," Ricciardi said of Gibbons' contract.

The 42-year-old Gibbons had been the Blue Jays' first-base coach since Tosca took over from Buck Martinez on June 3, 2002.

Gibbons, a former catcher who had 50 career at-bats over 18 games with the New York Mets (news) in 1984, 1986 and 1987, spent seven seasons as a minor league manager with the Mets organization, working his way up to Triple-A Norfolk. He compiled a 482-420 record in the minors, then joined Toronto as its bullpen catcher in 2002.

"I've been called a players' manager. I guess you could say I am," Gibbons said. "I understand the struggles of the game as a player."

He is a former minor league teammate of Ricciardi, who is modeling the Blue Jays after his previous employer — the small-market Oakland Athletics (news).

Toronto finished 67-94, the most losses for the Blue Jays since 1980 (67-95).

The Blue Jays fired pitching coach Gil Patterson and first base coach Joe Breeden last week.

Also on Monday, former Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt was hired as the new bench coach and Brad Arnsberg as the club's new pitching coach. Arnsberg was previously a pitching coach for the Florida Marlins (news) and the Montreal Expos (news)