9301060302
DETROIT FREE PRESS
930211
Thursday, February 11, 1993
METRO FINAL
1F
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1993, Detroit Free Press
GIBBY GIVES IT ANOTHER SHOT - AND WHY NOT?
The last time I saw Kirk Gibson, he was wearing black- and-green
camouflage clothes. His beard was wild and unkempt. He had a plate of ribs in
front of him and was chomping like a happy man. He and a few friends were on
their way hunting, somewhere up north, and he had stopped to do a radio
interview. This was November, just three months ago, and while I cannot
remember every detail, I can tell you this: The last thing on his mind was
baseball.
"Nah, I'm through with that part of my life," he said. "There are other
things. I've got my business affairs, my family. I got lots of things I've
always wanted to do. And besides, if I can't play the game at the level I'm
used to, I don't think I'd want to play.
"I'm retired."
He finished his ribs. He did the interview. Then he jumped in his wheels,
laughing with his buddies, and for all I knew, as of Wednesday, he was still
up in a tree somewhere, taking aim at his new life.
Whoops. Now they tell us Kirk Gibson is a Tiger again. Not a coach. Not
an adviser. A player. An active baseball player, this same Kirk Gibson who
hasn't played the sport since early last season in Pittsburgh, where he lasted
about as long as a nap, this same Kirk Gibson who hasn't really played up to
his standards since that unforgettable World Series swing in 1988, when the
ball left Dodger Stadium and he limped around the bases as stars fell from
the sky. A guy gets a moment like that in life, he really doesn't need much
else. And I don't believe Kirk Gibson needs to return to baseball.
So why is he doing it? My guess is the Tigers made him an offer he
couldn't refuse. My guess is the marketing minds of the new Mike Ilitch regime
saw Gibson out there, cleaning his guns, and figured: Why not? Everybody liked
to watch this guy. Even when he was wicked and abusive and foulmouthed and
unshaven, they liked to watch him. Kirk Gibson grabbed your eyes and held them
hostage, he was arresting, he always had that over Jack Morris and Alan
Trammell and even Cecil Fielder, guys who actually have won more games for the
Tigers than Gibson has. This is a simple fact of the entertainment business: A
draw is a draw.
Gibson is a draw.
Ilitch and company know it.
Admit it. You're intrigued, right?
No injury can take away his attitude
And let's be honest here: What can it hurt? The Tigers were not exactly
kicking down the door last year. True, unless Gibson learned how to throw a
fastball out in the woods, he is not filling the biggest void on this
pitching-poor team. But what's he gonna hurt? If he takes the 23rd spot on
the roster instead of some other journeyman from God-knows-where, hey, whom
would you rather have?
Gibson, 35, is a winner: I say that meaning he knows how to win, he
loathes losing, and every time his team loses, he kicks it in the shins.
Managers love this. It makes their job easier. So you can understand why
manager Sparky Anderson was a happy guy when reached Wednesday:
"I talked to (Gibson) early in the winter and told him I wanted him
back," Anderson gushed. "He gives you that something extra."
Well. He gives it to you if he's healthy. We can only hope he is. Gibson
was never the same after messing up his legs in LA. He took painkillers and
shots over the years when he knew it was the wrong thing to do -- he was that
kind of player -- and it cost him. The speed is not there. Not the way it
once was. The power is not there. He'll need a lot of hours in the weight room
to sing that tune again.
What is there, you figure, is the attitude. The old attitude, with a
little bit of new sensibility. Gibson has changed since he last played in a
Tiger uniform. He is no longer the wild man, leaving a path of flames and
stunned faces in his wake. He's been married for some time now, he's got
kids, he owns more real estate in downtown Detroit than a lot of developers,
he travels with a briefcase full of calculators and investment reports. In
short: He had his fun, sowed his oats, made his memories, and was smart with
the money. He's told me many times, "I'm set for life."
So why is he coming back?
Hope springs eternal for aging athletes
Well. We'll find out more at his press conference this morning (Gibson
was reportedly at Harsens Island Wednesday night and unavailable for
comment.) It's a gamble, yes. But a low-stakes one for both sides. I doubt
Gibson will stick it out if he's no more than a pinch-hit player. That's not
his style. But the money was probably there, and Gibson sees guys like Dave
Winfield in his 40s, being reborn, winning championships, and maybe he
figures, what the heck?
I'll tell you this much: He wouldn't be coming back if Tom Monaghan was
still running the club.
But Monaghan isn't. And Gibson, for all the hunting and desktop plans he
had, was suddenly looking at his first spring without a baseball team since
before he could shave. I always remember what Muhammad Ali said when asked why
he kept fighting, after his prime, when the fights were flabby and slow and
not worthy of him. "I'm a boxer," he said. "A boxer boxes."
And a baseball player plays baseball. The last time any of us spoke to
Gibson, he said he would be at Opening Day "sitting in the Tiger Den seats."
The most we can hope for now is that he doesn't actually belong there.
INTERVIEW; KIRK GIBSON; BIOGRAPHY; DTIGERS; AGE