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Shea Hillenbrand done as a Blue Jay! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Parmcat
- Start date
Northern Voice
Footballguy
He's Gone
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=970081600908
Seething Hillenbrand sent packing
Refuses to sit in dugout with teammates
Gibbons blasts DH in front of club
Jul. 19, 2006. 09:44 PM
GEOFF BAKER
SPORTS REPORTER
A furious Shea Hillenbrand lashed out at Blue Jays manager John Gibbons on Wednesday night after the team designated him for assignment.
Hillenbrand packed his bags during the game and headed back to his Toronto home a few hours after a bizarre series of events that saw the designated hitter criticize the team’s management. A clubhouse incident before batting practice, that Hillenbrand said was “meant to be humourous and fun for teammates” and involved other players besides him, led to Gibbons ripping him in a closed-door clubhouse meeting afterwards.
When the game began, Hillenbrand remained in the clubhouse and refused to head into the dugout. Gibbons later entered the clubhouse during the game and informed him that he was being designated.
“I appreciate the Jays for giving me an opportunity, but this unfortunately is just something with Gibby,’’ Hillenbrand told The Star before leaving the ballpark, adding that the manager was using the pre-game incident as an excuse for dumping him.
“From the beginning of the season, there were times when I wasn’t playing and there would be no justifiable excuse,’’ Hillenbrand said. “He said that if I had a problem with the team or what was going on, I should come into the manager’s office and talk to him.
“But then, he would get mad at me when I did that and accuse me of being a selfish player.’’
Hillenbrand said Gibbons "reamed him out" in front of teammates during Wednesday’s closed-door meeting and called it an “unprofessional’’ act by a manager he had a longstanding personality conflict with. The DH said Gibbons had ripped him in a private conversation two months ago, around the time the Jays were trying to trade him to the Los Angeles Angels for Adam Kennedy.
Hillenbrand is a free-agent after this season and has expressed disappointment at being relegated mainly to DH duty. He is hitting .301 with 12 homers and 39 RBIs, but his bat has been slumping for the better part of a month.
The biggest reason for the conflict between them, Hillenbrand said, is that the reasons Gibbons was giving for him not playing as often as he’d like were not justifiable.
“For whatever reason, he just didn’t like me," Hillenbrand said. “Maybe he thinks I’m selfish and only care about myself and not the team, but that’s not true. It’s just that when I see something I don’t think is right, I’m going to speak my mind about it.
“Maybe he’s not used to that, I don’t know. But I’m a professional too, I take pride in my work and I wasn’t happy with the way they were using me.’’
The Jays have 10 days to trade or assign Hillenbrand to their minor-league system, something they almost certainly would not do. In that case, he would be given his release.
Hillenbrand said he’ll miss his teammates, who he thanked for being “supportive” of him during yesterday’s difficult moments.
“The thing is, I loved it here,’’ he said. “I really liked the guys, my teammates. I think they’re guys who want to win and play the game hard. It’s just all about Gibbons right now and it’s really too bad things have gotten to this stage.’’
Earlier in the day, Hillenbrand had been furious to learn he was not in the lineup for Wednesday night’s game. He had rushed back from Los Angeles on Tuesday to rejoin the team after he and his wife, Jessica, adopted a newborn girl.
Hillenbrand had expected to play Tuesday as well – saying the team knew he’d be arriving just before game time – but was on the bench as Toronto’s offence was shutout for the final eight innings of a 5-2 loss.
“I was very surprised,’’ Hillenbrand said during batting practice on Wednesday when asked about again not being in the lineup. “They knew I was going to be here. I should have just stayed home.’’
As other reporters began approaching to hear what he was saying, Hillenbrand went on to rip management for having a “what have you done for me lately?’’ attitude towards players. He said players lack confidence in team management’s ability to make it a better club and implied it’s why the Jays are still third in the division
“I love my teammates, but I’m just waiting to get traded . . . they should have traded me two months ago.’’
Gibbons told reporters before the game that Hillenbrand was out of the lineup because he’d been inactive since playing last Friday night. Hillenbrand got on a plane for Los Angeles after the game to finalize the adoption of the newborn girl, who has been named Dakota Grace.
“He’s been out four games,’’ Gibbons said. “He needs to work in the field a bit.’’
Gibbons said he didn’t know what time Hillenbrand was to arrive on Tuesday so he didn’t pencil him into that night’s lineup. Hillenbrand said he’d originally hoped to be back on Monday, but had to stay an extra night in Los Angeles to sign some legal documents.
Told that team officials claimed they didn’t know when he’d be back, Hillenbrand laughed.
“That’s b.s.,’’ he said. “They knew exactly when I was coming.’’
Hillenbrand is also upset that no one from the team’s front office has talked to him since he got back.
“Not one person from the front office has even come up to congratulate me,’’ he said. “It’s all the (other) people like you (media) guys. But nobody from higher up. That’s a disgrace.’’
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=970081600908
Seething Hillenbrand sent packing
Refuses to sit in dugout with teammates
Gibbons blasts DH in front of club
Jul. 19, 2006. 09:44 PM
GEOFF BAKER
SPORTS REPORTER
A furious Shea Hillenbrand lashed out at Blue Jays manager John Gibbons on Wednesday night after the team designated him for assignment.
Hillenbrand packed his bags during the game and headed back to his Toronto home a few hours after a bizarre series of events that saw the designated hitter criticize the team’s management. A clubhouse incident before batting practice, that Hillenbrand said was “meant to be humourous and fun for teammates” and involved other players besides him, led to Gibbons ripping him in a closed-door clubhouse meeting afterwards.
When the game began, Hillenbrand remained in the clubhouse and refused to head into the dugout. Gibbons later entered the clubhouse during the game and informed him that he was being designated.
“I appreciate the Jays for giving me an opportunity, but this unfortunately is just something with Gibby,’’ Hillenbrand told The Star before leaving the ballpark, adding that the manager was using the pre-game incident as an excuse for dumping him.
“From the beginning of the season, there were times when I wasn’t playing and there would be no justifiable excuse,’’ Hillenbrand said. “He said that if I had a problem with the team or what was going on, I should come into the manager’s office and talk to him.
“But then, he would get mad at me when I did that and accuse me of being a selfish player.’’
Hillenbrand said Gibbons "reamed him out" in front of teammates during Wednesday’s closed-door meeting and called it an “unprofessional’’ act by a manager he had a longstanding personality conflict with. The DH said Gibbons had ripped him in a private conversation two months ago, around the time the Jays were trying to trade him to the Los Angeles Angels for Adam Kennedy.
Hillenbrand is a free-agent after this season and has expressed disappointment at being relegated mainly to DH duty. He is hitting .301 with 12 homers and 39 RBIs, but his bat has been slumping for the better part of a month.
The biggest reason for the conflict between them, Hillenbrand said, is that the reasons Gibbons was giving for him not playing as often as he’d like were not justifiable.
“For whatever reason, he just didn’t like me," Hillenbrand said. “Maybe he thinks I’m selfish and only care about myself and not the team, but that’s not true. It’s just that when I see something I don’t think is right, I’m going to speak my mind about it.
“Maybe he’s not used to that, I don’t know. But I’m a professional too, I take pride in my work and I wasn’t happy with the way they were using me.’’
The Jays have 10 days to trade or assign Hillenbrand to their minor-league system, something they almost certainly would not do. In that case, he would be given his release.
Hillenbrand said he’ll miss his teammates, who he thanked for being “supportive” of him during yesterday’s difficult moments.
“The thing is, I loved it here,’’ he said. “I really liked the guys, my teammates. I think they’re guys who want to win and play the game hard. It’s just all about Gibbons right now and it’s really too bad things have gotten to this stage.’’
Earlier in the day, Hillenbrand had been furious to learn he was not in the lineup for Wednesday night’s game. He had rushed back from Los Angeles on Tuesday to rejoin the team after he and his wife, Jessica, adopted a newborn girl.
Hillenbrand had expected to play Tuesday as well – saying the team knew he’d be arriving just before game time – but was on the bench as Toronto’s offence was shutout for the final eight innings of a 5-2 loss.
“I was very surprised,’’ Hillenbrand said during batting practice on Wednesday when asked about again not being in the lineup. “They knew I was going to be here. I should have just stayed home.’’
As other reporters began approaching to hear what he was saying, Hillenbrand went on to rip management for having a “what have you done for me lately?’’ attitude towards players. He said players lack confidence in team management’s ability to make it a better club and implied it’s why the Jays are still third in the division
“I love my teammates, but I’m just waiting to get traded . . . they should have traded me two months ago.’’
Gibbons told reporters before the game that Hillenbrand was out of the lineup because he’d been inactive since playing last Friday night. Hillenbrand got on a plane for Los Angeles after the game to finalize the adoption of the newborn girl, who has been named Dakota Grace.
“He’s been out four games,’’ Gibbons said. “He needs to work in the field a bit.’’
Gibbons said he didn’t know what time Hillenbrand was to arrive on Tuesday so he didn’t pencil him into that night’s lineup. Hillenbrand said he’d originally hoped to be back on Monday, but had to stay an extra night in Los Angeles to sign some legal documents.
Told that team officials claimed they didn’t know when he’d be back, Hillenbrand laughed.
“That’s b.s.,’’ he said. “They knew exactly when I was coming.’’
Hillenbrand is also upset that no one from the team’s front office has talked to him since he got back.
“Not one person from the front office has even come up to congratulate me,’’ he said. “It’s all the (other) people like you (media) guys. But nobody from higher up. That’s a disgrace.’’
Northern Voice
Footballguy
Didn't he leave Boston after asking Epstien to "trade him right now, ######!"
Giant Wooden Badger
the Beav
Explanation? Haven't heard this before.
HarryManback
Hot Pead
DING!!!
scoobygang
Footballguy
I'm sure they did. I do remember Hillebrand making the typical "these beancounters don't know anything about baseball" comment when he was traded. This was right when the idea of sabermetrics was just becoming known to the average fan.I'm sure that even today plenty of players don't give a crap whether Hillebrand hacks at everything as long as he hits near .300.
That is probably why a lot of the players liked him so much. It was an interview on Baseball Tonight (strange that they would have a piece about the Red Sox), but I'm sure most baseball players at the time did not like to be quantitatively qualified by a bunch of number crunchers. Kind of surprising that Ricardi would go after him with his low walk rate, and relatively low OBP.
David Yudkin
Footballguy
He's officially designated for assignment, so they have 10 days to trade him or release him. I would be a bit surprised if they released him outright right away when they can make him wait for 10 days.
Borat
Footballguy
There had been trade rumors going around about Hillenbrand for awhile because he had a low salary and because Boston had just brought in Bill Mueller (who would go on to play Gold Glove-caliber defense along with winning a batting title and a World Series in Boston). If I'm not mistaken, Hillenbrand drove in the winning run or just had a great game or something the night before, and then he appeared on his weekly interview for this particular radio station the next morning, and he said, "Yeah, trade me now, ######," as if he was talking to Theo Epstein. I believe he was traded the following day.
randall146
Footballguy
After he forced the Sox to trade him he compared it to when they traded away Bagwell. 
Tough As Nails
Glave Master
Tony Batista down?oh...wait....I guess he is
TommyGilmore
Footballguy
Rumor has it that Hillenbrand demanded to be traded because Toronto organization didn't congratulate him after adopting a child.
Giant Wooden Badger
the Beav
This makes a lot more sense.
Sabertooth
Footballguy
Isn't Shea a girl's name? Nice.
dirtyhalos
capital letter hater!
:fingerscrossed: ANGELS!!!!!!
need any help at 3b they can get
need any help at 3b they can get
Northern Voice
Footballguy
He's a bit of a sieve defensively. That said the Jays do/did want Kennedy (or Kendrick...
).Milwaukee considering making an offer
dirtyhalos
capital letter hater!
Kennedy makes sense for angels imo ........ he's a FA iirc and they can play Howie or Chone at 2b without much troubleHe's a bit of a sieve defensively. That said the Jays do/did want Kennedy (or Kendrick...
Northern Voice
Footballguy
Yeah, this was on CBS a couple days ago (pre-meltdown):
The Los Angeles Daily News suggests the Blue Jays and Angels may be trading partners before the upcoming deadline. Among the names being mentioned: Angels pitchers Dustin Moseley and Joe Saunders and infielders Adam Kennedy and Howie Kendrick.
The Los Angeles Daily News suggests the Blue Jays and Angels may be trading partners before the upcoming deadline. Among the names being mentioned: Angels pitchers Dustin Moseley and Joe Saunders and infielders Adam Kennedy and Howie Kendrick.
PC Load Letter
Irregardless.
Don't tell that to Chipper Jones' kid.
