On Sunday, Cito Gaston returned to the win column as Blue Jays manager for the first time in 11 years.
The last time that a Cito Gaston-managed Blue Jays team won a game, Carlos Garcia drove in a pair of runs, Benito Santiago hit a solo home run and five Blue Jays pitchers combined for an eight-hit shutout as they beat the Yankees 3-0 in New York.
The date was September 19, 1997.
They lost their next four games and, after Roger Clemens lost for just the seventh time that season en route to his first of two Cy Young awards in Toronto, Cito was relieved of his duties and replaced for the remaining five games of the season by Mel Queen. On the day of the dismissal, Joe Carter honoured the greatest manager in the history of the franchise by doffing his World Series-winning #29 jersey and wore Cito's #43.
It had been 3,929 days (10 years, 9 months and 3 days) between wins for the now 64-year old skipper. And on Sunday, Lyle Overbay, Scott Rolen and Adam Lind - three underachieving cogs in the Jays dismal offensive machine this season - all had a hand as they ended their seven-game losing streak, a range of games that included the firing of John Gibbons and three of his coaches.
Make no mistake. These are not fun times to be around the Blue Jays. The team was absolutely brutal, going over a week between wins. Any time that people lose their jobs, there should be no celebrating. John Gibbons was a good and decent man and the fact that his career record as Jays' manager was 305-305, the irony of that should not be lost on anyone. His teams were neither great nor horrible during his tenure. They were never as good as what the front office thought they should be, or as bad as the hand-wringing fans were led to believe they were. Just average, perhaps a perfect reflection of their now-departed manager.
I personally grew quite fond of 'Gibby'. He did the best with what he was given and had to steer this team through several land mines: The insubordination of Shea Hillenbrand, the defiance of Ted Lilly, and a roster that just couldn't stay healthy for an extended period. The fact that he was able to win fifty percent of the time should be applauded.
I was lucky enough to have spent a half hour of captive time with John during a recent series in New York. I was a couple of people behind him in the taxi line at the New York Hilton and he offered to share a cab to Yankee Stadium. On the ride, we talked baseball, of course, but we also talked about life, family and philosophy, and when the journey ended, I felt that we knew a lot more about each other than when the sun rose that day. And I also felt that we gained a measure of respect for each other.
As for his firing on Friday, we all knew that it was inevitable. After the Jays came within six outs of getting no-hit by another underachieving ex-Jay Dave Bush in the series finale in Milwaukee, the only thing left to do was make some changes on the bench staff.
Will the bringing back of an old school manager, combined with some old school coaches, snap the Jays to attention and send them back into playoff contention? Hard to say after just three games, but Cito's endorsement of Lind as his close-to-everyday left fielder paid instant dividends, and the power strokes displayed by Rolen and Overbay under the team's new, 'see ball, hit ball' offensive approach give reason for guarded optimism.
On a weekend where Roy Halladay took a line drive off his head (thankfully he won't miss a start) and Shaun Marcum went on the disabled list with a barking elbow, it seems nothing is ever easy in Blue Jay-land. Not anytime soon, at least. But if the calm, cool demeanour of Cito Gaston, which worked back in the day and delivered a pair of World Series titles to the title-starved sports fans of Toronto, can at least change the karma around this team, then maybe the second half of the season can be fun.
GREAT WEEKEND FOR CANADIANS
- Finally got a chance to see Trail, BC's Jason Bay in person and I'm quite impressed. He slammed a two-run home run off Jesse Litsch on Saturday, picked up an RBI on Sunday, and made all the plays in the field. If the rumours are true that the Pirates might be entertaining offers for the 29-year old left fielder then I would hope the Jays would shown some serious interest.
- New Westminster's Justin Morneau extended his hit streak to 11 games with RBI hits in each of the Twins' wins as they swept the N.L. West-leading Diamondbacks.
- Montreal's Russell Martin went 6 for 12 against the Indians, his two-run bomb providing the margin of victory on Sunday for the Dodgers.
- Toronto-born Joey Votto, who makes his first trip to the Rogers Centre starting Tuesday with the Reds, made his first trip to Yankee Stadium a successful one. He homered on the third pitch he ever saw in the 'House That Ruth Built' and later singled and doubled. Votto ended up going 7 for 12 as Cincinnati took two of three from the Yankees. If you get a chance, you should come down to the RC and check out this fine, young Canadian hitter for yourself.
- And finally, Gibsons, BC's Ryan Dempster saved the best for last, allowing just a single run as he pitched into the ninth inning as the Cubs sent the White Sox back to the South Side with a big bag of nothing. 14-straight home wins for the Cubbies and a 9-0 home record for Dempster. I'm starting to get the feeling that the Cubs quest to win their first World Series in a century's worth of seasons is going to capture the hearts and minds of all baseball fans, and that the journey might take them through Boston in late October.
