Gibby

Tales of a Baseball Lifer

De: John Gibbons, Greg Oliver, Josh Donaldson - foreword

Narrado por: John Gibbons

Over eleven years and two separate managerial stints with the Toronto Blue Jays, John Gibbons endeared himself to fans with his folksy manner and his frequent battles with umpires: "Here comes Gibby!" Winning helped too. Under Gibbons's management, the Jays made the American League Championship Series in 2015, ending a twenty-two-year playoff drought; then they did it again in 2016. Along the way the team defied odds, won over a nation, and with one flip of a bat produced one of the most iconic moments in MLB history. Now, in his memoir, Gibby shares the story: an on-field career that didn't pan out, but a managing career that did . . . eventually.

Raised in a military family, he played his first competitive baseball in Newfoundland and Labrador, and, with the family now in San Antonio, Texas, Gibby, a catcher, developed into a first-round draft pick of the New York Mets. While Gibbons only played eighteen major league games, he did earn a World Series ring as the 1986 Mets bullpen catcher and knew all the characters from that team, including Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, and Gary Carter. In 1990, Gibby began his journey as a coach and manager. An old teammate, J. P. Ricciardi, hired him to work with the Jays, and he moved his way up the ranks and into the hearts of baseball fans.

©2023 John Gibbons and Greg Oliver (P)2023 Tantor

Love John Gibbons’ Candor!

Lifelong Blue Jays fan and Gibby’s my favorite Jays manager, but wasn’t sure what to expect because sometimes sports figures won’t be too forthcoming in telling their stories. Not the case with John Gibbons. His story and all of the equal parts hilarious and challenging tales from his youth through keeping at it all over the minor leagues until he caught the right lucky breaks to get to major league baseball, together with the admirable humility he demonstrates by acknowledging how much good and bad luck factor in a baseball career trajectory, makes for one heck of a book. It’s the best book I’ve read in a very long time. I highly recommend it. Lots of wisdom and laughs along the way, and hearing Gibby tell it himself makes it all that much better. Five stars-plus.