"Cito knows how to work with each individual, treating everyone like a human being. He knows exactly what to say, when to say it, what to do and how to go about doing it. When you have a manager like that, it makes you want to play for the guy. We'd go to war for him. What Cito has done for the Blue Jays can't be taken lightly."
-- Joe Carter, Ebony Magazine, May 1994
One can't help but reflect back on Cito Gaston's tenure as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.
When the curtain is drawn on the 2010 regular season, Cito will remove his uniform for the final time, this time on his terms. This is unlike his first go-round as skipper in 1997 when, with five games left in a miserable season and the team mired in fifth place, then-general manager Gord Ash fired him. It had been four seasons since the back-to-back World Series championships and all the excitement and goodwill had long since dissipated, aided by a work stoppage that shutdown the 1994 World Series. In fact, in those four seasons after Joe Carter "touched 'em all", the Blue Jays were a dismal 257-321 (.445) under Gaston and all the great players from those two title years - except for Carter, Ed Sprague, Pat Hentgen and Mike Timlin - had either retired or scattered around the Majors like leaves on a crisp, fall day. It didn't help that the new ownership (Belgian beer giant Interbrew) was ambivalent towards baseball, or that the two men who built the Blue Jays into champions - Pat Gillick and Paul Beeston - had moved on to other gigs. No, when Gaston was shown the door, it was without much fanfare. Those in the media who helped grease the skids for his exit, wrote half-hearted eulogies and then went on about their business. The only one who seemed to care was Carter who, in a show of respect and displeasure towards the firing, wore Cito's No. 43 for the rest of the season.
It would be many years before Cito would return to the dugout. He was interviewed by the Detroit Tigers following the 1999 season, and the Chicago White Sox prior to 2004, coming up just short both times. He was also offered a job as hitting instructor by a couple of teams, but was growing tired of the whole interview process. He returned to be the Jays hitting coach under Buck Martinez from 2001 until May 2002 and then disappeared from the baseball landscape.
That was until June 20, 2008. With the Blue Jays sinking fast in the standings, Cito was brought in to replace John Gibbons and led the team to a 51-37 record for the remainder of the season. His contract was then extended through the end of this 2010 season, where he will move into the front office in an advisory role.
Over the years, Gaston has not always had a smooth relationship with the fans or media. Many proclaimed that he did little as a tactical manager during the playoff years, other than write out the line-up card and sit back, that the quality of talent left him to do little other than watch the game unfold. That lack of respect always grated on the veteran manager and, quite frankly, couldn't be further from the truth. His strong suit, other than the fact that he has one of the great hitting minds in this or any other era, has been that he knows how manage men and treat them with the respect that they deserve. And if that's the worst thing that you can say about a person then so be it.
The game has changed in leaps and bounds since Gaston first arrived in the Majors in 1967 with Atlanta Braves, playing alongside and learning from the great Hank Aaron. As a manager, he was a trail blazer, hanging a pair of World Series banners into the rafters at the Rogers Centre, becoming the first, and only, African-American manager to win baseball's most sought after prize. And now he's retiring from active duty. The Blue Jays will honour their longest-serving manager in a pre-game ceremony before their final home game this season, on Wednesday September 29th.
I suggest that if you are a baseball fan, you attend that game and give Cito Gaston a well-deserved send-off in front of a full house. Now, I realize that many of you have an axe to grind with the Blue Jays, Rogers Communications and Sportsnet over the switching of games to the new Sportsnet One channel. I've read all your comments full of vitriol on this and other websites. But all that should be put aside next Wednesday, to take the high road and give Gaston a night to remember.
I think the man at least deserves that, don't you?
