Tonight’s Blue Jays game versus the Yankees will be the last time Cito Gaston will ever manage this team in Toronto. I hope the game will take on a celebratory air and Gaston receives all the accolades and applause he deserves for being a loyal foot soldier to this organization for almost thirty years.
In advance of his final game, Cito did the classy thing (basically this column will be a far departure from yesterday’s diatribe against AJ Burnett) and wrote an open letter to the city of Toronto that was featured on the front page of the Toronto Star this morning.
In the letter, Gaston basically thanked fans for all of their support over the years and described, rather eloquently, how much the city means to him. That is the proper way to leave a sports city that has been a part of you for so long. Not surprisingly, Roy Halladay did the same thing when he left town.
Gaston will always be remembered for bringing two World Series titles to the Blue Jays organization. One thing I will never understand is how Cito went thirteen odd years without getting another managerial job in Major League Baseball. It’s a travesty that his talents as a bench boss were not utilized until he returned to the helm of the Jays in 2008.
Cito is and always has been the prototypical player’s manager. He will stick with his guys through thick and thin and always give them a chance to play through a slump. Baseball is game about confidence and having the manager’s support when you feel your game slipping away from you is integral to on-field success. Also, players’ managers will have their guys’ backs in disputes with umpires, evidenced by Gaston getting thrown out of the game last night after two close calls went against the Jays. Cito getting out of the dugout to argue quickly probably kept John Buck in the game.
That’s why it was so disheartening last year when there rumours of a mutiny against Cito by a small pocket of players who didn’t want him back as manager for this season. No names were released, but apparently the entitled millionaires on the Jays roster didn’t like his old-school approach.
Oh, you mean he didn’t coddle your ass and had the audacity to call you out behind closed doors if he felt there was a perceived lack of effort? The horror!! Suck it up and act like adults. That was a stain on Gaston’s career and through no fault of his own.
(Travis Snider, you didn’t like all the advice you were getting from the coaching staff trying to help you hit major league pitching. Sorry, of course you know everything about hitting at this level at the age of 21. How did the minor leagues treat you last year? Maybe Cito knows a lot more than you thought, eh? Jackass)
Nevertheless, Talkin’ with Tewks will always be indebted to Cito Gaston for everything he has done for this organization and I sincerely hope that the standing ovation for Cito tonight is long and loud.
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