Article:John Gibbons Fired

John Gibbons  has been fired by the Toronto Blue Jays  and former manager Cito Gaston  will take as interim manager. The Blue Jays have lost 13 of their last 17 games and are mired in last place in the AL East division.

The firing of Gibbons is the third this week with the Mets letting Willie Randolph  go and the Mariners sending John McLaren  packing earlier this week. Astros manager Cecil Cooper  may be the next in the firing line. The Astros  are only half a game ahead of the last place Reds in the NL Central and have been a major disappointment this season. They had played better earlier in the season but have reverted back to their losing ways.

J.J. Ricciardi  had a particularly hard decision to make since he had to fire his former minor league roommate Gibbons when they both were with the Mets farm system in the 1980's.

The Blue Jays  are 28th in the majors in home runs with 49 in 74 games. They are 3rd in ERA behind the A's and White Sox with a 3.64 ERA. They only have three players with more than 5 homers this season with Matt Stairs  having 8, Vernon Wells  7, and Lyle Overbay  with 6. Rod Barajas  leads the team in batting average with a .290 mark. Lyle and Overbay lead in RBI's with 28 each which is not much considering that league leader Josh Hamilton  has 74.

Tonight new manager Gaston takes the helm in Pittsburgh tonight where they will be playing the Pirates with Roy Halladay  8-6 facing Zach Duke  4-4.