Gibson humble, deflects credit for award

Published Apr. 7, 2012 1:57 p.m. ET

foxsports

April 7, 2012

Kirk Gibson accepted his NL Manager of the Year plaque in a pregame
ceremony Friday with humility, keeping the words of mentor and former
Detroit manager Sparky Anderson in his heart.

"Players make the manager. It’s never the other way around," Gibson said, quoting Anderson.

Gibson felt the same way about his 1988 MVP award won with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"Those
are team awards. I am pretty humble and shy about receiving individual
awards, to be honest with you. There is a screwed-up mechanism in my
mind that feels like when I stand up and individually accept an award,
it takes something away from my team, which I would never want to do,"
Gibson said.

"If the whole team could have gotten award, like a
World Series trophy and rings, that would be fun. I would have enjoyed
that. It’s just the way I was brought up. My father, my mother just made
me a team guy, and it’s always been that way. Was never allowed to
celebrate individuality."

Gerardo Parra received his Gold Glove
and Daniel Hudson and Justin Upton received their Silver Slugger bats at
the ceremony Friday.

If you are expecting to see Gibson’s plaque at Chase Field, don’t.

Gibson
is not a big displayer, and he plans to keep it in storage before
eventually auctioning it to raise money for his foundation, the Kirk
Gibson Foundation. His 1988 MVP plaque and World Series trophy already
have been sold to raise money for the foundation, formed to provide high
school seniors with a scholarship to his alma mater, Michigan State.

"My
goal is to be able to give four scholarships a year by the time I leave
everybody. I’m not there yet, but I’m trying all I can to build that
foundation up," Gibson said.

-- Jack Magruder