Kirk Gibson one of many candidates to be the Dodgers next manager
Former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson has become the latest candidate for the same position with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gibson interviewed with the club Monday, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.
Gibson not only has previous experience as a manager, but was a member of the Dodgers for three seasons during his 17 year playing career. Gibson won the MVP in his first year with the club, and hit one of the most iconic home runs in postseason history with Los Angeles during the 1988 season. The Dodgers would go on to win the World Series that season.
Following his retirement, Gibson worked as a television analyst for a few seasons before becoming the Diamondbacks bench coach in 2007. In 2010, he replaced A.J. Hinch as the team’s manager. Gibson held that position for five seasons, compiling a .485 winning percentage.
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His biggest highlight with the club was in 2011, when the team surprised many by going 94-68. The Diamondbacks were knocked out of the postseason during the NLDS, but Gibson was named the National League Manager of the Year following the season.
Toward the end of his tenure, things didn’t go so well. Gibson became known for his no nonsense, old school style. That led to the Diamondbacks becoming somewhat famous for retaliating and escalating a number of situations that led to brawls.
After he was fired in 2014, Gibson was out of baseball during the 2015 season. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in April, but vowed to fight through it. The fact that Gibson feels healthy enough to interview for this position suggests that he’s doing well in his battle with the disease.
Despite the fact that Gibson has experience, and a history with the organization, it’s unclear whether he’s a serious candidate for the position. That’s because the Dodgers have seemingly interviewed every available person out there to be their next manager.
Yeah, that’s nine candidates for one position. Wallach, by the way, is current Dodgers bench coach Tim Wallach. Bowden ran out of characters in his tweet since there were so many names to mention.
Honestly, that makes it tough to know exactly what the Dodgers are thinking here. Bud Black, Bob Geren, Kirk Gibson and Ron Roenicke all have major-league experience, Dave Martinez and Tim Wallach have been popular candidates for managerial openings for a couple years and Darin Erstad, Gabe Kapler and Dave Roberts are names that have popped up out of nowhere.
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Kapler is already a member of the team’s front office, and was considered possibly the favorite for the position shortly after Don Mattingly agreed to part ways with the team, but all of these candidates have emerged since then.
It could be that the Dodgers are making it look like they’ve vetting a ton of candidates before hiring Kapler, or it’s possible the early reports that the team was strongly considering him were false.
Basically, it’s impossible to know exactly what the Dodgers are going to do. Given the team’s payroll, and recent playoff experiences, expectations are sure to be through the roof no matter who is brought it.
In that sense, it’s important the team’s front office makes the right decision here. Would a veteran manager be better equipped to handle that type of stress? Or is it time some young blood got a shot? Maybe it’s more important that the person hired is already familiar with the organization?
The Dodgers are wise to interview a number of candidates who bring different things to the table, it’s just a mess to try and sort through all of them at this point.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
