ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons reacted to the backlash over his comment about players "wearing dresses" by saying Wednesday that he meant no offence with his attempt at "a little humour" while trying to "calm a situation down."

"Honestly, I understand there’s an uproar, I don’t get that, and I never have, that’s not the way I think," he said during his daily briefing with media. "I tried to inject a little humour into kind of a tense situation, that’s kind of who I am. No ill intent. But I do think we need to lighten up in the world."

Still fuming after a replay ruling on baseball’s new slide rule negated a ninth-inning relay and led to a controversial 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, a visibly frustrated Gibbons told reporters, "Maybe we’ll come out wearing dresses tomorrow, maybe that’s what everybody’s looking for."

The knee-jerk comment quickly went viral, with some fans taking to social media to denounce the quip as sexist.

Gibbons, a gregarious sort known for his playful banter and being respectful with people, repeatedly said he couldn’t understand the kerfuffle.

"My wife, my mom and my daughter found it kind of funny, they know me," he said. "I do think the world needs to lighten up a little bit. I move on from that."

Asked later if he worried that the comment might change people’s perception of him, Gibbons replied: "I know who I am, I know where my heart is. What I do is I show up every day and do the best job I can, try to treat people the way I want to be treated. It amazes me in the world nowadays how simple things, try to calm a situation down, add a little humour to something, it gets thrown out of whack. No malicious intent on my side."