Kirk Gibson on Reds’ Dusty Baker: ‘He didn’t want to play by the rules’
Mar 4, 2013, 11:57 PM | Updated: Mar 5, 2013, 12:47 am
Don’t expect Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson and Cincinnati Reds skipper Dusty Baker to exchange Christmas cards this year.
Prior to the spring training matchup between their teams Monday, Gibson and Baker had a bit of a tiff over the use (or non-use) of the designated hitter.
The game was being played at Salt River Fields, and as the home team the D-backs could choose. They wanted their pitchers to hit. Baker felt differently.
“I think we had just a little locker room conversation between the two of us,” Gibson told Arizona Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf Monday. “Two very competitive people.
“He didn’t want to play by the rules today and we made him do that. He voiced the way he felt to me and I voiced the way I felt back to him, not a big deal.”
OK then.
Gibson said he could have “let them” use the DH during the game while he could bat his pitcher, but said he wanted to play a National League-style game Monday, nothing more.
“They didn’t want to, they had to and he didn’t like it,” he said. “We played a great National League game [Monday] and we move on.
“If he’s pissed off about it I don’t really give a s***.”
But for the record, Gibson said he respects Baker and feels this will not be a lingering issue, and the Diamondbacks won the game by a score of 3-1.
