Yesterday afternoon managers Dusty Baker and Kirk Gibson refused to shake hands at home plate and exchanged some heated words before the Reds-Diamondbacks game because Gibson refused to allow the designated hitter to be used after Baker requested it.
Here’s how Gibson explained the situation to Steve Gilbert of MLB.com afterward:
I had it happen last year with a team, they tried to put the DH in there and that’s not the way it’s done. I wanted to play a National League game. I notified them several times and they just wanted to do it their way and they couldn’t do it. So they didn’t like that. But we play by the rules here, that’s the way it is. We go over there we play by their rules. It’s very simple.
Baker wanted to use the DH in order to get Shin-Soo Choo some at-bats despite the outfielder’s quadriceps injury and mostly took the high road afterward, saying: “We didn’t have a very pleasant encounter at home plate. That’s how it goes. It’s over.”
