Walking into a hotel lobby in downtown Toronto, hours ahead of a game two of the World Series, it’s filled with Jays fans sporting team hats and jerseys. Their subtle glances and smiling faces make it clear everyone knows who is standing in the corner -- Cito Gaston, the legendary Blue Jays manager who guided the team to World Series wins in 1992 and 1993, the last time the team claimed the championship.
The current team is fresh off a Game 1 win, where Gaston threw the ceremonial first pitch and the energy in the city is electric. Gaston is soaking it all in, reliving his glory days with fans and energized by the current team’s success. As we talk toward our interview location, he shares some of his interactions with fans before we arrived, happily signing autographs and chatting baseball.
Gaston says the energy in the city was “unbelievable” as he watched people from his hotel room window hours before the game. He gets excited just talking about it.
“People around just having a good time, they’re here early at the ballpark. I think the whole city and country’s excited about what’s going on with the Blue Jays and they should be. It took us a while to get back here but we’re here and hopefully we’re gonna win it all,” said Gaston with an elevated tone and a smile on his face.
With the team finally back on baseball’s biggest stage, there has been a lot of comparison between the team now and the Jays who won. When asked about that last big win Gaston immediately points to the differences between his own teams.
“Well, ’93 was a different year for us because we had won in ’92 and it was almost surreal. You’d be here again in this parade that you’d done last year, but the team was completely different. People have no idea,” Said Gaston, referring to his roster.
“We carried 25 guys; we changed 14 guys. We kept 11 players and we came back and won again, which was so amazing. But it was a different team because we did something you can’t’ do every day and that’s outscore everybody.”
But in terms of the emotion, he says, it’s mixed. “Sometimes, you know, people don’t realize it’s relief, happiness and relief, because that’s what you want to do, is win,” Gaston said.
Comparing the squads he says this team “never quits,” and that reminds him of his 1993 lineup, pointing to their patience and their ability to score on more than just home runs.
“This team here hits doubles, singles, triples, and then they hit a home run - and so they’re coming at you,” said Gaston, who spent some time with the team in the dugout the day prior. Speaking to their camaraderie, he points out friendships and fun “and ‘Vladdy’ has more fun than anyone” he says with a laugh.
That comradery, similar to his team in 1993, is crucial.
“This team, they love each other, they pull for each other, they play for each other. You can see how excited they are when someone hits the home run in the dugout. Those guys go crazy,” said Gaston.
While he knows this team has a tough road ahead of them in this series, he’s confident the Jays can get it done, although at the beginning of the season, he wasn’t so sure.
“I wouldn’t have thought they were gonna make it because they had so many guys in the bottom of that lineup that you didn’t know what they were gonna do. But look, they all showed up,” said Gaston, admitting that’s how they were able to win -- because of the strong bottom line-up. He pointed to George Springer’s home run a couple nights prior, not unlike his own team of ’93.
“You go back before Joe hit the home run -- the bottom of our lineup got on base,” said Gaston, adding “so it gives us a chance to get back up to the top of our lineup. That’s what their guys do all the time. The bottom of that lineup’s been just great this year. When I first saw them, I didn’t know about the bottom of that line up.”
Gaston congratulated them on stepping up to the plate and doing an “absolutely great job.”
More than three decades after the Jays last won the World Series, Game 1 marked the return of a franchise icon, with Cito Gaston throwing the ceremonial pitch, all in celebration of the team’s history.
“It was great. John caught the pitch. I told him before we went on, I said, ‘John this is going to be the shortest pitch you’re ever going to see,’” Gaston said with a laugh, admitting he was a little nervous beforehand.
During warmup in the bullpen, he had thrown it right into the ground, pointing to his shoulder replacement a few years ago. But it was the more than 40,000 fans in the stadium who made that moment so special for the ‘Jays royalty’, as humble as he is during our conversation you can tell he loves the game and the people who support the players.
“It’s one of those things that, you know, you turn around and you wave at everybody. You’d like to stand there for at least another 20 seconds, just take it all in. But it doesn’t go that way because they gotta get on with things,” said Gaston.
With much admiration for current manger John Schneider, whom he describes as a “player’s manager,” we chat about the players, their on-field performances and how things have changed for them and the game over the years.
When asked why he thinks it took 32 years to get back to this moment, his answer is simple.
“It’s not easy to win. It’s just not easy. You gotta get the right mixture. Believe it or not, everybody’s not all in sometimes,” said Gaston, adding: “You have winners, and you have people who say they’re winners. This team is winners. They’re a team full of winners.”
And as much as this team is called the Toronto Blue Jays, Cito Gaston knows all too well this team is playing with the backing of an entire country.
“That is awesome. No one can say that. No one can say that in the world. This is a whole country’s team,” said Gaston. That energy and momentum is felt by the team, something Gaston enjoys seeing all these years later.
“You can’t ask for anything more than having a whole country behind you. As long as you don’t take the weight on your back that you gotta do it — you just go out and do it, that’s all.”
After thanking the Jays legend for taking the time to speak, I asked if he wanted to add anything else. He simply finished the interview with a smile and a subtle cheer.
“Go jays…. Go Jays go!”
