The Toronto Blue Jays may be leading the American League East, but some trouble appeared to be brewing from within on Wednesday when reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson got into a heated dugout confrontation with manager John Gibbons. On Friday, Gibbons did his best to downplay the incident.
“One thing that really drives [Josh] is his intensity. He wants to be the best,” Gibbons said in an interview on MLB Network Radio. “He’s on a different level than a lot of guys. He wears it on his sleeve, that’s just what he does.”
Gibbons and Donaldson got into each other’s faces after the latter struck out in the third inning of Wednesday’s 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees (video here). Donaldson, for his part, poked fun at the incident after the game, claiming that the root of the issue was Gibbons’ affinity for his new cologne.
Here's Josh Donaldson post-game on dust-up with Manager John Gibbons, and his new Tom Ford cologne #bluejays pic.twitter.com/AQcgpKmixi
— Faizal Khamisa (@SNFaizalKhamisa) August 17, 2016
Gibbons couldn’t help but play along with his star third baseman. “In all honesty, Josh, he’s got some nice-smelling cologne,” he continued on Friday.
Part of what sets Donaldson apart is his competitive fire and his passion for the game, and Gibbons understands that. As long as the three-time All-Star continues to produce and smells good while doing so, who are we to judge?
H/T theScore
