By ALAN ROBINSON, AP
June 21, 2008
PITTSBURGH - Manager John Gibbons was fired by the last-place Blue Jays yesterday and replaced by Cito Gaston, who led the team to World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 before being fired himself in 1997.
The Blue Jays began the day 35-39, having lost five straight and 13 of their last 17 games to fall 101/2 games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.
"We've underachieved at this point with a good club," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "There's a lot of the season left and we've got a chance to turn things around. . . . We needed someone to spark us."
Gaston said the Blue Jays' season "starts over again tonight - we've got to get to where we should be. There's a good club here."
Ricciardi said Gaston will manage the rest of the season and then be evaluated.
Gibbons' $650,000, one-year contract was to expire at the end of the year. He is the third major league manager fired this week, following Willie Randolph of the Mets and John McLaren of the Mariners. Randolph was fired early Tuesday and McLaren on Thursday.
This is the first time there were three managerial changes in a four-day span within a season since May 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Back then, Jim Essian replaced the Chicago Cubs' Don Zimmer, Johnny Oates took over from Baltimore's Frank Robinson and Hal McRae succeeded the Kansas City Royals' John Wathan.
