Former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber was recently called upon to be a “Pitch Talks” panelist at an event around last weekend’s Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies. Things didn’t go well.
Gruber was on hand to support friend a former teammate Lloyd Moseby, who was inducted. But upon being called to the stage, Gruber made derogatory comments to host Ashley Docking and generally appeared to be intoxicated.
As a result of his actions, Gruber was asked not to participate in any more events around the Hall of Fame ceremony, or “Pitch Talks” panels.
Per Gregory Strong of Canadian Press Sports, Gruber did issue one comment.
“There’s two sides to every story and I would love to tell mine,” Gruber said. “Maybe what I said was taken the wrong way. My intention for being there was to honour my teammate and buddy Lloyd, and the interview part went south for a variety of reasons which I will detail at a later date.”
Maybe his eventual explanation (assuming one comes) will shed some light on this. Until then, though, this was not a good look for Gruber.
Gruber played from 1984-1993. He was a Blue Jay through the 1992 season and was a part of the franchise’s first World Series championship team. He retired after an 18-game stint with the then California Angels in 1993.
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