SAN DIEGO — There was a new nameplate on manager Kirk Gibson's desk in the San Diego clubhouse.
A Diamondbacks logo and the words “Deal With It” were printed on the raised brass plate, which was slotted into grooves cut into two 50-caliber bullets.
Gibson could not have been prouder.
"Pretty cool,” Gibson said in a classic understatement.
The D-backs adopted that motto after a clubhouse visit from a team of Navy SEALs in Arizona early last year. Shortened to DWI, it found its way onto whiteboards and message boards at various times through the year.
"We try to keep things in perspective when we are in the middle of a game and things start to get hairy and fall apart,” Gibson said. "We all know what we’re dealing with is much easier than what they deal with. They’re dead.
"You think of the situations (the SEALs) go in, some of the things you’ve read about. They have a decent idea of what is going on, but they never really know what they are up against. (Bleep) happens. And there are bullets flying everywhere, people sneaking around. Their job is to accomplish their mission and all live.
"It helps us keep things in perspective. We appreciate what they do, number one."
One of the members of the SEAL team — Gibson did not want to name him — who spoke to the D-backs last year returned Tuesday and gave the plaque to Gibson before visiting with several players in the clubhouse.
The SEALs used C2 explosive to craft the plate, placing explosive over the entire piece of brass before cutting out the logo and the words. When detonated, the explosive flattened the parts of the brass that were not exposed.
"They like explosives, if you didn’t know," Gibson said with a smile.
The SEAL group followed the D-backs last season, Gibson said, but was deployed when the D-backs were in the playoffs. The SEAL who presented the plate had just returned from overseas, Gibson said.
"He was working. Top secret. Couldn’t tell me about it," Gibson said.
Or he would have to kill you, one reporter said.
"I’m sure he could," Gibson said.
Big laughs.
"He’s a sharp shooter. He teaches sharpshooting. That’s one of the things he does."
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