Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Kirk Gibson Discusses Rivalry, Clears Air On Comments

ox281262487414764106A few weeks after some seemingly disparaging remarks about a certain Dodgers player, Arizona Diamondback manager Kirk Gibson clarified the comments and discussed the alleged rivalry between the two clubs.

Last month, Gibson was speaking about the players that his team sent to Australia for promotion and asked if the Dodgers were too good based on their representation. The Dodgers sent A.J. Ellis and many believed it was a shot at the catcher. According to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, Gibson had nothing but praise for the 32-year-old catcher:



Maybe it didn’t come off that way, but I wasn’t criticizing A.J. Ellis. He’s a nice player. He’s an emerging player. I respect him, the way he plays the game and what he’s done for that team.

Gibson also shared his thoughts on the tension between the two teams and the rivalry:

I think that it’s a good rivalry. We’re in each other’s division. We play each other a lot. It’s fierce. That’s the way it should be. We compete the way we should compete.

The two teams will square off in Australia as a part of the MLB Opening Series in March. The 56-year-old said that the focus would be on trying to win the games. He also said that he doesn’t hate the Dodgers any more than any other team and that in reference to the brawl that occurred between the two teams, the incident was apart of baseball.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks were involved in one of the most violent brawls last season and finished in the top two spots of the division. The Dodgers angered the Diamondbacks even more when they clinched the National League West title in Arizona and proceeded to celebrate by jumping in the pool at Chase Field. Before the game, the Diamondbacks had asked the Dodgers to keep the celebration to a minimum for security reasons.
Most of the talk has come from the Diamondbacks side as GM Kevin Towers and owner Ken Kendrick both fired shots at the Dodgers this off-season. It’ll be interesting to see how much of the talk translates onto the field as the two teams will play another 19 times in 2014.

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Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

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