“Do have a question for you though that was touched on during a game (by Rance, I think)--why was Cito not managing in the years between Jays' gigs? I certainly don't mean to tell you your biz, but maybe there's a column there?”
Now you know why I like him so much--not only is he a provider of thoughtful feedback, he provides ideas for articles when there’s not much cookin’ on the ol’ hot stove.
In Howard Bryant’s excellent book: “Juicing the Game” there was the following point made about the evolution of how major league teams are run:
…Alderson said … “If an organization is worth its salt--we’re talking about maybe the paradigm corporate existence where the corporation has a reputation, it’s been doing things for a long time, it’s innovative and has continuity--why would you turn that company over to not a middle manager, but a lower or upper manager? … the attitude was, ‘We have a philosophy and we’re going to find a manager who is going to implement that philosophy. We’re not looking for someone to tell us how to run the team, or upon which theory it should be predicated. We already have that. We want someone that is going to implement it for us…
“…we’re not hiring you for your philosophy. We’re hiring you because we think you fit ours.”
The on-field philosophy, how a team would approach the daily task of winning, no longer originated in the manager’s office, but in the front office. This created tension on two fronts. The first was that the manager became something of a lame duck. If a manager believed he was the ultimate authority once the game began, he found out swiftly and severely how wrong he was.--pg. 244
That’s it in a nutshell.
I had the privilege of speaking at length with Cito Gaston a few years ago and to this day he remains my favourite and most memorable interview. He was candid, forthright, never clichéd and spoke his mind whether or not he was saying what you wished to hear.
His honesty was refreshing and quite frankly remarkable.
The thing I came away with is what I had suspected for quite some time--he is very much his own man and holds himself accountable to his conscience. He will do what he feels to be right and take whatever consequences that result from that stand.
Gaston is not a man that will let someone else tell him how to handle the troops under his watch. He gets to know the men in his charge and treats them in a way that shows he respects what they can do while at the same time motivating them to give their best and being accountable to themselves, the team and their abilities.
After our conversation ended I understood why his players respected him so and loved playing for him. If a player was busting his butt for the team they knew that Gaston had their backs--there is no subterfuge or ulterior motives in Cito’s approach.
Doubtlessly, teams that interviewed him for managerial positions were looking for men, as stated above, that would follow orders from the higher-ups unquestioningly whereas Gaston was going to do what he felt was right regardless of the wishes of the front office.
In short--he was too much an independent cuss for most teams. Gaston has a philosophy, an approach to the game and demands it be respected. Yes, a club can give Gaston general guidelines (‘We’re rebuilding so play the kids’ … ‘We expect to be competitive so play the best you have and optimize the roster’ etc.) but when it comes to the clubhouse and what happens between the lines Cito is in charge and calls the shots.
Most teams didn’t want someone like that and went in a different direction.
Right now, with major question marks surrounding the starting rotation and concerns about the offense, it is very difficult to look at 2009 with any degree of real optimism but the fans can be assured of this much: the players will be held accountable and excuses will not be tolerated. If there was any degree of a laissez-faire attitude under John Gibbons it will be gone in the coming season. Since the Toronto Blue Jays are not in rebuilding mode we can rest assured that Gaston will take his mandate to win very seriously.
Best Regards
John
1 comments:
So, John, perhaps we both need to re-think our evaluation of Jays braintrust -- I believe it was Labatts who gave him the high hard one back in the 90's, and now your suggesting JP and the Michael Corleone wanna-be are the only management team confident enuf ( or desperate enuf ? ) to give him another shot ? Hmm...
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