Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 Blue Jays fire manager Carlos Tosca By HAL BOCK, AP Sports Writer August 8, 2004 AP - Aug 8, 5:37 pm EDT More Photos NEW YORK (AP) -- Carlos Tosca won't finish this season with Toronto, partly because the Blue Jays got off to such a terrible start. Toronto dropped its first eight home games, marking the beginning of a disappointing season. Tosca finally paid the price Sunday when the manager was fired less than an hour after the Blue Jays were beaten by the New York Yankees for their fifth straight loss. Tosca was replaced by first-base coach John Gibbons, who will take over as interim manager for the rest of the season. ``We've been accustomed to playing our best ball at the end of the year and this year we're not going to get an opportunity to do that,'' Tosca said. ``One thing I've always prided myself on is that the players have given a good effort.'' Tosca is the third major league manager to be fired this season, following Houston's Jimy Williams and Arizona's Bob Brenly. ``We have six or seven weeks left in the season and the team showed signs of not playing hard,'' said Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi, who hired Tosca on June 3, 2002. ``We have an obligation to try and do as well as we can. It wasn't an easy decision. It never is when you have to tell someone who does what he loves that it's being taken away from him.'' Coming off their sixth consecutive third-place finish in the AL East, the Blue Jays added Ted Lilly, Miguel Batista, Pat Hentgen and reliever Kerry Ligtenberg to the pitching staff last offseason and hoped to contend for a playoff spot. But they got off to a slow start, losing five of their first six games and 18 of 26. A string of injuries depleted the roster -- AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay was on the disabled list for two long stretches because of a bad shoulder and first baseman Carlos Delgado missed 33 games with a ribcage injury. Hentgen struggled mightily and has since retired. Ligtenberg, Justin Speier and the rest of bullpen failed time and again, and last season's powerful offense fell off dramatically. Toronto slipped into last place in the division, and Ricciardi said he saw an air of resignation in the Blue Jays' effort. ``We may have been starting to mail it in a little bit,'' he said. Tosca was told of the decision after an 8-2 loss to the Yankees dropped the Blue Jays to 47-64, a season-high 17 games under .500 and 24 1/2 games behind first-place New York. Toronto is 18-37 on the road and in the middle of a seven-day, seven-game trip. ``The team seems to have hit the skids and we had to do something,'' team president and CEO Paul Godfrey said. Tosca's contract was up after this season. He said he hoped the Blue Jays would turn things around. He also said he hoped to stay in baseball and would wait until the end of the season to seek other opportunities. ``I know baseball is what I do for a living,'' Tosca said. ``It's in my blood and I will be looking for another opportunity to carry that through.'' Tosca, 50, was the fifth native of Cuba to manage in the major leagues. He had been the team's third-base coach before becoming the sixth major league manager without any playing experience. He finished with a 189-191 record in a little more than two seasons. Gibbons, 41, is a former catcher who spent seven seasons managing in the New York Mets' organization. He is in his third season with Toronto, serving first as the team's bullpen coach before moving to first base. He played in just 18 big league games for the Mets after they picked him in the first round of the 1980 draft. The Blue Jays were shut out by the Yankees on Saturday, the ninth time Toronto has been held scoreless this season. In the opening game of the series, Toronto lost 11-4, the 11th time the pitching staff allowed 11 or more runs in a game. This season has been a complete disaster. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Anglesault Report post Posted August 9, 2004 This season has been a complete disaster. Not entirely. If you follow the "Well, at least we're not the 62 Mets/03 Tigers" model that made last year's Royals a parade worthy success, you guys are doing damn well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord of The Curry 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 T.O needs Cito Gaston back up in this piece. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DerangedHermit 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 The fact that I don't even know who the hell Carlos Tosca was says everything about the Blue Jays. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treble 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 I think it says more about where the team plays than it does about the team. Oh, and I defintitely second Kahran's disaster comment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 This season has been a complete disaster. Not entirely. If you follow the "Well, at least we're not the 62 Mets/03 Tigers" model that made last year's Royals a parade worthy success, you guys are doing damn well. Woah the Royals had a parade last year? Then again no one knows when the Royals will see another +.500 season, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted August 9, 2004 When Gregg Zaun is battling for the team lead in OPS with a mark of .801, that can't be a good thing. And just think - next year, they'll essentially roll out the same team, sans their super-slugging franchise first basemen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
