It shouldn't surprise you to learn that Diamondbacks' manager Kirk Gibson and Cardinal's manager Tony La Russa go way back. Way, way, back. Back to 1978 when Gibson was in the minor leagues and was playing against teams coached by La Russa.
↵Asked to describe their relationship, Gibby used a lot of words like "prepared" and "competitive" but he didn't mention the phrase "friendly". That makes a lot of sense when you think about these two guys.
↵Monday night they kick off off their first meeting as opposing managers in 2011. You can just picture them staring out of their respective dugouts into each other's eyes trying to guess what each might do next.
↵La Russa will surely do something crazy with his bullpen, like have a guy come in and throw one pitch. Gibby's managerial record is much shorter but it's a fair guess that his moves will be aggressive. As he likes to tell us, he's fond of "forcing the issue".
↵Should be fun.
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