It was a story that some Blue Jays fans have been waiting almost a decade to hear: What really happened during the infamous dugout blowup between Josh Donaldson and John Gibbons?
During a game at Yankee Stadium in August 2016, Toronto’s MVP third baseman and its manager at the time got into a heated verbal confrontation after an at-bat, leading to the two having to be separated by other members of the team.
While the pair originally had tried to play down the incident, with Donaldson claiming that Gibbons asked him what cologne he was wearing, fans were eager to know exactly what had been said in the visitors’ dugout.
During an appearance on an episode of the Get It Done League podcast – which features ex-Jays Donaldson and Russell Martin – Gibbons shared what really happened on that hot summer day in the Bronx.
What did Gibbons say?
During the episode, Donaldson broke out a bottle of the infamous Tom Ford Cologne, which drew laughs from the group, which also included host Arash Madani.
After recapping what fans already knew – Donaldson had slammed his bat into the dugout railing after striking out, sparking the argument – Donaldson asked Gibbons to share his side of the story.
“I’ve heard your side of the story, and it’s totally wrong,” Gibbons began. But I’m going to give everybody the facts here.”
Gibbons explained that CC Sabathia was pitching for the Yankees that day and that he was “probably the only left-hander in the league” that gave the slugger trouble. However, Donaldson insisted on playing and was the DH.
“Your first at bat, I think you were sword fighting, it was three pitches,” Gibbons said. “You step out of the box and you look right at me and you walk back to the dugout then disappeared.
“Right next at-bat, same thing, man … second time, same thing. As soon as you turn out of the box, you’re looking right at me, and I go, ‘What is this?’
“Then you’re walking down and you take that bat whack right next to me, and so then you walk in and think I said, and I thought, ‘you know what? Hey, I can’t let this happen.’”
Gibbons then said that the pair had a “few choice words” before Troy Tulowitzki stepped in and played the role of peacemaker.
Donaldson then explained that he had simply been frustrated after “getting his doors blown off” by an 88-mph pitch from Sabathia and that he probably should’ve taken the day off when offered.
What did they say back in 2016?
When the incident originally occurred, both declined to elaborate on what actually had been said during the exchange.
“I was coming back to the dugout and hit my bat against the thing,” Donaldson said during a post-game interview. “Gibby asked me what kind of cologne I was wearing. I said, ‘It’s this new cologne called Tom Ford, I just got it.’
“He got pretty close to me and got a good whiff of it, and I was like, ‘Hey man, back up.’ I was like, ‘I’ll give you some after the game.'”
Donaldson also joked that Tulowitzki, who had stepped in between the two, also “liked (the cologne) too.”
In Gibbons’ 2016 version of the story, the manager said that he was simply giving Donaldson an “I told you so,” of sorts.
“I told him after the first at-bat, ‘Get a new bat, that one ain’t working,'” Gibbons said. “He took the same one up there the second time, that didn’t work. He chose to break it, so I went down and told him, ‘You should have listened to me.'”