John Gibbons is a really big fan of Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. Heading into the final full month of the MLB season, the Rays trail the New York Yankees in second place in the American League East and are neck-and-neck with Seattle for the top spot in the Wild Card standings.
Exceptional guidance from Tampa's bench by Cash remains the driving force for the club's overall dominance. For the past eight seasons at the helm, Cash has taken a mixed cast of veterans and young prospects, with MLB's 24th smallest team payroll ( $90 million-plus), and has them competing on the same level as the richest franchises.
Cash carries on with a very blue-collar mentality. Getting the most out of his players is an attitude he grinded out during his playing days. 246 MLB games were the reward for sloshing through 10 seasons in the minors for nine different teams.
From being undrafted out of college to being selected back-to-back as American League Manager of the Year, and just two seasons back from leading the Rays to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the route Cash traveled is one that Gibbons can both identify and appreciate.
"I love him," says Gibbons of the former Florida State standout. "I'm one of his biggest fans. We managed against each other. He's a lot like me. He's had to fight for everything."
Finishing his playing career after the 2012 season, three seasons later Cash would be the Rays' skipper. Spending the 2013 season as a scout for the Blue Jays, followed by two seasons as the bullpen coach on Terry Francona's staff in Cleveland, Cash's post-playing days were fast-tracked to Tampa.
"I knew (Cash) was going to be successful. He paid attention to the game," recalls Gibbons, now a special assignment scout for the Atlanta Braves. "He asked questions."
Cash's lunch pail approach to his career is the same route Gibbons traveled that ultimately saw him manage the Jays for parts of 11 seasons. Hired in 2003 by Toronto, first as the club's bullpen coach, then first base coach, and during the 2004 season replacing Carlos Tosca as manager, Gibbons earned the top field job.
A decade of managing and coaching in the minors has a way of educating those serious about leading in the big leagues. Gibbons crisscrossed baseball's landscape for seven clubs as a player in the minors (Cash suited up for nine minor league teams).
Gibbons, who last managed Toronto in 2018, describes Cash as a "natural when dealing with people, and attributes much of his success with the Rays due to his flexibility in dealing with a multitude of situations that may arise during the course of a game.
"Kevin's one of the game's really good guys," explained Gibbons recently during a phone conversation from his home in San Antonio. "He's never had anything handed to him. I love watching him on TV."
With more than 1,500 MLB games managed, after 18 as a player with the New York Mets, Gibbons knows talent when he sees it. Kevin Cash is one of the most talented bench bosses in the game because of the old fashion way, as Gibbons sees it, he's earned it.
John Gibbons can be followed on Twitter @johngibbons05.
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