Toronto Blue Jays bench boss John Gibbons is one of baseball's more easy-going managers. So it may come as a surprise to learn that he has been ejected from more games than any other manager, coach or player in Major League Baseball this season.
In fact, Gibbons has more ejections than the entire team totals for every club in baseball expect for the Pittsburgh Pirates (13) and Detroit Tigers (10), according to Close Call Sports, a site that tracks MLB ejections.
Gibbons was thrown out of a game for the eighth time during Sunday's loss to the Boston Red Sox, matching the Blue Jays franchise record with Bobby Cox. (The Blue Jays lead all teams with 16.)
Perhaps most impressive about Gibbons's feat is that it comes during baseball's replay-review era, where managers or umpire crew chiefs can appeal a call on the field to the MLB headquarters in New York.
There, officials in a video room make a final judgment, using visual proof to either confirm (backs up the original call), overturn (enough evidence to reverse the call) or allow a call to stand (not enough evidence to overturn).
In doing so, they have removed much of the arguing that those close calls – tags, foul balls, plays at the plate – used to generate. And as a result, a lot of the debate that once went on between managers and umpires is moot.
Gibbons took issue with the umpiring crew's handling of a call late in Sunday's loss to the Red Sox after catcher Russell Martin hit what appeared to be a double into the right-field corner. The call on the field was reversed, and the manager was thrown out of the game after arguing.
Here is a look at how Gibbons managed to get himself kicked out of games this season.
April 27
A complaint about a checked swing sent Gibbons to the showers early for the first time in 2016. He didn't even have to leave the dugout. Umpire John Tumpane heard Gibbons shout after what he considered a missed call on a strike.
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May 15
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This was a big day in Gibbons ejection lore. Most remember it for the infamous punch that Texas Rangers infielder Rougned Odor delivered to the face of Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, but it was also the day that Gibbons earned himself a suspension for returning to the field after he had already been kicked out of the game.
May 16
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Although replay review has eliminated a lot of the back and forth between managers and umpires, what it doesn't cover is balls and strikes. And arguing balls and strikes is a fast way to get kicked out of a game. That's what happened when Gibbons fumed over a third-strike call made against Toronto's Troy Tulowitzki.
May 22
After American League MVP Josh Donaldson was thrown at twice by Minnesota Twins right-hander Phil Hughes, Gibbons came out of the dugout to voice his opinion, and was thrown for the game for the fourth time this season. It capped off a busy week for the Jays manager, who was tossed three times in eight days.
Bruce Kluckhohn/AP
June 24
Gibbons was particularly hot after the home plate umpire reversed a call that would have allowed Toronto's Darwin Barney to reach base safely on a dropped third strike. Turns out, it was a foul ball.
July 1
Gibbons was seeing red on Canada Day when he and slugger Edwin Encarnacion got the boot for arguing a strike called by home plate ump Vic Carapazza.
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Sept. 4
Another argued strike, another ejection for Gibbons. This time, he was sent off for complaining after Russell Martin watch a called third strike go by him.
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