When Your Past Come Back to Haunt You

Have you ever wondered if something that you did in the past will someday come back to haunt you. For people who enter the political world, this question seems to pop up all the time during a campaign or while in office. But, how often has this question popped up in the sports world, especially to a MLB manager? For Kirk Gibson, the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, this is the exact question that he was faced with this season.

 
Entering his first full season as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kirk made it a priority to banned any items from the clubhouse that could cause distractions, including cell phones, iPads, toy guns and toy planes. Unfortunately, he never thought of placing this ban on YouTube. As a result, a couple of veteran players found an old Right Guard deodorant commercial that Gibson filmed in 1989 and decided to turn a screencap of their sudsed-up skipper into fashionable neck ties, as part of a team-building practical joke. Who were the guilty culprits, you ask? FOX Sports Arizona reports it was the team's closer J.J. Putz and second baseman Kelly Johnson (was recently traded to the Toronto Blue Jays) that concocted this devious plan. While Putz denies any involvement, Johnson did nothing to combat the the accusations of his involvement. In an amusing interview with FOX Sports Arizona, Johnson said the following:

I (made) 40. I wanted to make sure that everyone got one. We got the staff, the coaches ... Anyone gets called up, it's like 'Welcome to the big leagues, here's a tie.        

So what did Gibson think of these comments from his then second baseman. As you might suspect, the hard-nosed Gibson did not find the prank all that funny.

I think they're both guilty, Gibson told Fox Sports. And there will be retribution toward them at some point this year ... I don't aim to get even, but I do aim to get ahead.

It turns out that Gibby was just joking with these comments. It could be that his tough demeanor, has been softened as a result his team's performance on the field this season.

Here is the commercial that created this mess for Gibby and some laughter for the rest of the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.