The player, in brief: In an 11-season career, almost all with the Braves and Padres, Gaston was an OK outfielder with decent power. He had one great season in 1970 with the Padres, hitting .318 with 29 HR and 93 RBI. He never came close to those numbers again, finishing with a .256 average, 91 HR and 387 RBI in 1,026 games.
Post-career, in brief: Gaston was considerably more successful as a manager, winning back-to-back World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. He was fired in 1997 after four losing seasons, but returned from 2008 to 2010 before retiring.
My collection: I have 13 of his cards, from 1969 to 1979. I would be interested in trading for 1971 Topps Super #52.
I had the opposite experience...I pretty much only knew him from his 70's cards, so I didn't understand why he became "Cito".
ReplyDeleteWhat I really can't understand is how it took him 10 years to get another job after the Jays let him go. The guy had won two straight World Championships! I can't think of any other coach/manager in any sport who won two championships and then when he lost that job didn't get another for that long. (And if there is someone like that, I'd think they either didn't want another job, or had a big scandal, neither of which seem to apply here.)
I knew him by both names equally, but never and still don't know why Cito? Guess you are making me quickly google it now, lol.
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ReplyDeleteI never knew Glaston as anything else but Clarence although I guess I Cito sounds better to him than Clarence..but I always thought Clarence Gaston was a great baseball name
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