Josh Donaldson's cologne quote became Blue Jays folklore almost a decade ago, and John Gibbons just blew up the whole story.
Everyone remembers the moment. Donaldson struck out for the third time against the Yankees, smashed his bat off the dugout railing, and got into it with his own manager.
When reporters asked what the argument was about, Donaldson had an answer for the ages.
"Gibby asked me what kind of cologne I was wearing, and I said it's this new cologne called Tom Ford," Donaldson said at the time. "I just got it. I can give you some after the game."
That quote turned into a Tom Ford marketing moment and one of the most repeated Blue Jays soundbites of that era.
Gibbons finally set the record straight on Donaldson's own podcast, Get It Done League, with Russell Martin and Arash Madani sitting in as hosts.
He watched the CC Sabathia matchup unfold exactly how he expected it would that day.
Gibbons still remembers exactly how bad those at-bats were
"Sabathia was the only left-hander in the league who gave Josh trouble," Gibbons said on the show.
He planned on sitting Donaldson that day but put him in the lineup as the designated hitter anyway, and it went about as poorly as Gibbons feared.
"The first at-bat, he was sword fighting on three pitches," Gibbons laughed. "The next at-bat, same thing."
Gibbons joked that Donaldson's swings that afternoon were rough enough to help push Sabathia toward Cooperstown all on their own.
The third strikeout brought the slammed bat and the confrontation, with Gibbons standing just feet away in the dugout.
"I remember thinking, I can't let this happen," Gibbons said.
Both men left Toronto within the same year. Donaldson got traded to Cleveland, and Gibbons parted ways with the Blue Jays after the 2018 season.
Gibbons is still coaching in this league too, working as a bench coach for the Los Angeles Angels under manager Kurt Suzuki.
It's funny how a cologne joke outlived almost everything else from that era, and now the real version might end up being even better than the myth.
Was Donaldson's cologne story better as the myth, or now that Gibbons revealed the truth?
Also read on Blue Jays Insider :
Toronto Blue Jays acquire former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder
