A Manager's Box!
Wednesday, March 05 2008 @ 07:45 AM EST
Contributed by: Magpie
I found something indescribably ancient on my computer, and I'm going to share it with all of you!
What brought this on? The discussion of Shawn Green, which turned, as it often does around these parts, to his early days with the team and his difficulty in winning Cito Gaston's trust. Because, Cito, as local mythology would have it, had no use for young players.
John Northey was quick to puncture that bit of revisionism, and others joined in. We all like to talk about Cito. Those were good times. October baseball and all. I had something to add myself. And I also had a memory of researching this very issue... long, long ago. When I still had hair upon my head.
And buried in an obscure folder on my hard drive, having somehow survived the migration across several generations of computers, I came across an ancient text file.
It was a Manager's Box for Cito Gaston, prepared at some point during the 1995 season.
The concept of the Manager's Box was developed by Bill James in one of the old Baseball Abstracts - as I recollect, he wanted to advance the discussion of managers by identifying some specific things to focus on. Something, in mid-1995, prompted me to draw one up for Gaston. I have no idea why. Here's what I did - second thoughts, almost thirteen years later, are in italics.
THE MANAGER: Cito Gaston
AGE: 51 (Gaston was born on March 17, 1944 - he'll be 64 in two weeks.)
MANAGERS FOR WHOM PLAYED IN THE MAJORS: Billy Hitchcock, Preston Gomez, Don Zimmer, John McNamara, Clyde King, Connie Ryan, Dave Bristol, Bobby Cox, Chuck Tanner. (Gaston always said that if he had any model as a manager , it was Preston Gomez, who was a long-time Dodger coach who had the thankless job of being the first manager of the San Diego Padres.)
CHARACTERISTICS AS A PLAYER: An outfielder on some of the worst National League teams of his time, he had one inexplicably brilliant season in 1970 when he hit .318 with 29 HRs. He never did anything even remotely close to that either before or after, except at A Ball. He played on six teams that lost 100 games, and another three that lost more than 90. He was Henry Aaron's roommate in 1975, and it was Aaron who urged him to become a hitting instructor in the Braves organization.
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Team Year Par W L Pct. + or -
Tor 1989 68 77 49 .611 9
Tor 1990 86 86 76 .531 0
Tor 1991 68 72 57 .558 4
Tor 1992 86 96 66 .593 10
Tor 1993 89 95 67 .586 6
Tor 1994 64 55 60 .478 -9
Tor 1995 76 56 88 .389 -20
Tor 1996 74 74 88 .457 0
Tor 1997 71 72 85 .459 1
TOTAL 683 636 .518 1
(PAR was a way of setting an expectation for the club based on its performance in the previous two or three seasons - you took the previous season twice, the year before once and used the cumulative winning percentage of those three seasons to set an expectation for the upcoming year.)
WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BALL CLUB
IS HE AN INTENSE MANAGER OR AN EASY-TO-GET-ALONG WITH TYPE? He is easy enough to get along with. He is so physically intimidating (he's listed at 6-4, 220 and he looks quite a bit bigger than that) that his players are probably rather grateful that he is easy to get along with. Still, he gains and maintains, almost effortlessly, a remarkable degree of respect and loyalty from all his players, young and old, both system products and guys from other organizations. All you have to do is play hard for him, and respect the people around you. He notably does this with players who had major battles with other managers. Devon White, who battled with Doug Rader, says he owes Cito his career. Gaston and George Bell were downright fond of one another. Todd Stottlemyre sent an open letter to the Toronto papers after he left the team in which he said that he would jump out of an airplane anytime Cito asked him to. We hear this sort of stuff from his ballplayers all the time, and don't think much of it anymore. However, Gaston will not get along with a player who he doesn't think is serious about their work, and absolutely refuses to put up with them. His response is always the same, from Junior Felix (wouldn't take instruction) and Kelly Gruber (dreadful work habits) to David Wells (wouldn't get in shape or take directions) and Derek Bell (wouldn't take the game seriously). He gets rid of them, and doesn't much care what he gets in return. I don't think Pat Gillick was the guy who wanted to trade Derek Bell for Darrin Jackson. But Gaston wanted Derek out of his life. (And at that particular moment, being the man who had just managed the team to a World Series title, Gaston had the clout to get what he wanted. David Wells got his unconditional release that same spring.)
IS HE MORE OF AN EMOTIONAL LEADER OR A DECISION MAKER? He is clearly an emotional leader.
IS HE MORE OF AN OPTIMIST OR A PROBLEM-SOLVER. He's definitely a optimist. In 1995 we're seeing the downside of that. The season just got away from him while he waited for players (Hentgen, Olerud, Molitor, Guzman) to work out their problems. In particular, he is always optimistic about the hitters who have produced in the past for him; he'll keep running them out there through their slumps if he thinks the player can still do the job. He stuck with Maldonado in 1992 through a horrible slump even though Derek Bell was back off the DL and ready to go. He'll pull the plug much quicker on a pitcher; he decided Stieb (1992) and Darwin (1995) were both finished after about 10 starts, and he dumped Mike Flanagan in 1990 even quicker than that. (Of course, I strongly suspect that, with a few exceptions - Henke,
Hentgen, maybe some others - Gaston is one of those baseball guys who
just doesn't like pitchers as a species. As Yogi Berra said, they're
all liars and crybabies anyhow.) Gaston is a problem solver in the sense that he will attempt to address a specific problem that a player is having. He spent his formative years as a hitting instructor, and I suspect he gets a great deal of personal satisfaction out of teaching.
HOW HE USES HIS PERSONNEL
DOES HE FAVOUR A SET LINEUP OR A ROTATION SYSTEM? He most definitely likes a set lineup.
DOES HE LIKE TO PLATOON? Not that much, really. He will platoon, to some extent, the young players just coming into the league. I think he likes to let them start their careers hitting with the platoon advantage, so they can enjoy some success and develop their confidence. (Olerud, Hill, Myers, Green were all platooned when they came up.) This is something that the Blue Jays organization has done ever since Bobby Cox brought Gaston to town: Barfield, Bell, McGriff, Fielder, and Gruber all spent time as platoon regulars before getting a whole job. Gaston doesn't make nearly as much use of the set platoon arrangements that both Cox and Williams had before him. Gaston did develop a nice platoon arrangement in 1989 with Lee and Liriano at 2B (both switch-hitters, but Lee started against LH pitchers, Liriano against RH pitchers); but he gave the whole job to Lee in mid-1990. He never did use Borders/Myers as a strict platoon arrangement like Whitt/Martinez. He liked Borders better, and played him more.
DOES HE TRY TO SOLVE HIS PROBLEMS WITH PROVEN PLAYERS OR WITH YOUNGSTERS WHO STILL HAVE SOMETHING TO PROVE? HOW MANY PLAYERS HAS HE MADE REGULARS OUT OF WHO WERE NOT REGULARS BEFORE AND WHO WERE THEY? He likes to see that kid come up from AA and step into the lineup. He has made regulars out of Pat Borders, Greg Myers (platoon), John Olerud, Nelson Liriano, Junior Felix, Glenallen Hill (platoon), Ed Sprague, Alex Gonzalez, Shawn Green, and Sandy Martinez; he tried to make regulars of Derek Bell, Carlos Delgado, and Randy Knorr. That's 15 players in less than seven seasons, most of which were spent in close pennant races. By my count, Bobby Cox made first-time regulars of five players in four years: Upshaw, Fernandez, Iorg (platoon), Bell, Barfield; Jimy Williams three players in less than four years: Gruber, McGriff, Fielder (platoon). Gaston has also made rotation starters out of Todd Stottlemyre, John Cerutti, David Wells, Juan Guzman, Pat Hentgen, and is trying to the same with Edwin Hurtado. Cox gave the first shot at the rotation to Jim Gott and Jimmy Key; Williams to Jeff Musselman. So despite Gaston's local rep as a guy who plays veterans, I think you would have to say that he like to play the kids.
DOES HE PREFER TO GO WITH GOOD OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OR DOES HE LIKE THE GLOVE MEN? He likes complete players who will form a set lineup for him. In many ways, Gaston is reminiscent of the Cincinnati version of Sparky Anderson, and he has been criticized in much the same way, i.e. "anybody could win with that lineup". However, except at catcher, he will not play a man who does not hit, and in the past he's been willing to put up with defensive shortcomings if necessary (his 1990 outfield was George Bell, Mookie Wilson, and Junior Felix.) But as the years roll by, he seems to be growing less tolerant of defensive weaknesses. Especially behind the plate - his problem with Randy Knorr was with his defensive performance (which was, indeed, dreadful).
DOES HE LIKE AN OFFENSE BASED ON POWER, SPEED, OR HIGH AVERAGES. Power and high averages. His idea of a rally is single-double-single-homer. He understands the importance of getting on base, but he wants his hitters to be aggressive and put the bat on the ball. Gaston's always trying to get Olerud to be more aggressive and pull the ball more often. He doesn't want his hitters reacting to what's offered; he wants them to force the action. His approach hasn't really changed the Toronto offense much since he took the managing job, but after all he did spend the previous eight years coaching the Toronto hitters (and receiving buckets of praise for it from fans, media, and players). I don't think he's all that interested in the running game, although you have to like the way his teams run (they steal as often as anybody without getting caught nearly as much). He has two guys who are really fast on the bases (White and Alomar) and two guys who are really smart on the bases (Carter and Molitor). They can do what they like, and no one else is allowed to run.
DOES HE USE THE ENTIRE ROSTER OR DOES HE KEEP PEOPLE AROUND SITTING ON THE BENCH? He uses the front end of his roster as much as he can; he often has one or two players who barely get even 100 ABs in a season.
DOES HE BUILD HIS BENCH AROUND YOUNG PLAYERS WHO CAN STEP INTO THE BREACH IF NEED BE OR AROUND VETERAN ROLE PLAYERS WHO HAVE THEIR OWN FUNCTIONS WITHIN A GAME. If he has young players, they're generally in the lineup. His bench consists of veteran players who have a function within the season (not the game) and that function is to spell the regular from time to time. When he took over in 1989, he had Tommy Lawless who wasn't much good for anything but pinch running. Gaston gave up on keeping a player for that role in mid-1990. He clearly believes that a young player needs to play, and that an older player is best suited for handling the 150 or so ABs that is about all a reserve on his bench can generally hope for. People like Tabler, Coles, Huff, Maldonado.
GAME MANAGING AND USE OF STRATEGIES
DOES HE GO FOR THE BIG INNING OFFENSE OR DOES HE LIKE TO USE THE ONE-RUN STRATEGIES? He's a big-inning manager all the way. He doesn't bunt much, and while his teams generally steal a lot of bases, its usually just two or three players who account for almost all of his running game. He's got some terrific percentage base stealers, and he lets them pick their spots. The rest of the lineup will not run at all.
DOES HE PINCH HIT MUCH, AND IF SO, WHEN? He pinch hits less than anyone in baseball, mainly because he almost always has his nine best hitters in the lineup. He almost never uses a pinch hitter before the 8th inning. I can remember him letting Alfredo Griffin bat for himself with two out and two on in the 7th inning, trailing by four runs (incredibly, it WORKED; Griffin blooped a base hit and drove in the runners, and when his spot came up again in the ninth inning, with the team down by a run this time, out came the pinch hitter.)
DOES HE USE THE SAC BUNT OFTEN? Nope. He'll bunt late in a tie game, and occasionally with the bottom of his lineup earlier on. But it still adds up to very seldom. I almost get the feeling that the only reason he's bunting sometimes is just so the other team can't take it for granted that he won't.
DOES HE LIKE TO USE THE RUNNING GAME? He's got nothing against it. White, Alomar, Molitor, and Carter are all terrific percentage base stealers, and he lets them run at their own discretion. But they don't run as much as you might expect. He wants to see the batter advance the runners, and he does not like his base stealers taking the bat out of their hands.
DOES HE DRAW THE INFIELD IN MUCH? More than you would expect. I can't explain it - it seems strange for a big-inning manager. I think he just hates to give something away. Or he hates to play from behind.
IN WHAT CIRCUMSTANCE WILL HE ISSUE AN INTENTIONAL WALK? Only when the guy at the plate scares the devil out of him, and even then only when he doesn't have his bullpen ace on the mound (look at how often he had Henke walk someone on purpose - basically, never). He only walks the really big hitters. He likes to get a platoon advantage while he's at it, but he doesn't seem to care whether or not it sets up a double play. The hitter is always the key element. He absolutely will not allow Frank Thomas (or, before him, George Brett) to beat him. This year, Thomas went for 2-27 against Toronto with 10 walks and 1 HR (it tied a game at 1-1 in the 7th, and came on a 3-0 fastball from Leiter). After 1995, he will probably grant Albert Belle the same respect.
DOES HE HIT AND RUN VERY OFTEN? Not at all; he has a team of free swingers, who strike out a lot, and they are collectively lousy at the hit-and-run. So they don't use it. What often looks like a hit and run is simply the batter swinging at a pitch during a SB attempt. Gaston does not have his players take pitches so the runner can steal. If a hitter thinks he can hit a pitch, Gaston wants him to try to hit it.
ARE THERE ANY UNIQUE OR IDIOSYNCRATIC STRATEGIES THAT HE PARTICULARLY LIKES. No. (But as Caramon reminds us, Gaston was notorious for stealing signs and catching the opposing pitcher tipping his pitches. Finding new ways to gain a competitive advantage - is it strategy or tactics?)
HANDLING THE PITCHING STAFF
DOES HE LIKE POWER PITCHERS OR PREFER TO GO WITH THE PEOPLE WHO CAN PUT THE BALL IN PLAY? He likes power pitchers. When he took over, his rotation consisted of Dave Stieb and four (four!) left-handed finesse pitchers. Within a year, he had dumped two of the lefties (Musselman and Flanagan) and got David Wells and Stottlemyre into the rotation. He did not like having Tom Candiotti in his rotation, and he has stuck with Guzman from Day One. Jimmy Key went to the bullpen in the 1992 post-season, while Guzman stayed in the rotation.
DOES HE STAY WITH THE STARTER OR GO TO THE BULLPEN QUICKLY. Well, he stays with the starter longer than most managers, but he always gets to his bullpen eventually. His hook is slow but you can depend on it coming. His 1990 staff had 6 complete games between them. That was different in 1995; at one point in August, he had a bullpen consisting of Tony Castillo and five kids who had less than 15 ML appearances.
DOES HE LIKE THE FOUR MAN OR THE FIVE MAN ROTATION. He's a five man rotation manager all the way, particularly since Galen Cisco replaced Al Widmar as the pitching coach. Widmar liked a four man rotation (Toronto used one until 1983), and Widmar always liked to go to a four man rotation in September. Gaston went along with that in 1990, didn't like the results, and hasn't tried it since.
DOES HE USE THE ENTIRE STAFF OR DOES HE TRY TO GET FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE TO DO MOST OF THE WORK. He uses his entire staff, and he likes clearly defining their roles on the staff. He likes to have a closer, a one-inning setup guy, two interchangeable middle men (so he doesn't have to use either on consecutive days) and a guy who can come in early if the starter explodes or pick up miscellaneous innings. He doesn't carry a lefty specialist in his pen; he has Castillo now, but he's never used him in that Honeycutt-type role (this was before we had the term LOOGY, as you can see!). On this team, Castillo's just another of the pitchers in the pen. When Bob Macdonald was here, he functioned more as a junkman than lefty specialist.
HOW LONG WILL HE STAY WITH A STARTER WHO IS STRUGGLING? Depends on the pitcher, of course, but he'll usually give his starter a chance to get out of trouble, especially if its his veteran ace. He really doesn't like getting pitchers up in the bullpen unless they're definitely going into the game, and he sometimes can get caught if his starter loses it suddenly. If his starter gives up five runs in the second, and there's no time to stop it (this year, Darwin gave up five runs on seven pitches after getting the first two outs of the inning) Gaston is quite likely to send him back out for the third. He also seems to prefer changing pitchers between innings. (This would change over the years - Gaston seemed to become less decisive about handling pitchers in his final few years here. There was much more unnecessary bullpen activity, more slow hooks, and more quick hooks. He may no longer have known who he could count on anymore.)
ARE THERE ANY PARTICULAR TYPES OF PITCHERS OF WHOM HE IS FOND? Right handed closers with 95 MPH fastballs and great control... I guess everyone likes them, though. Within the organization, he is regarded as the guy who supported Woody Williams last year, and Hurtado this year. What they have in common, I couldn't tell you.
IS THERE ANYTHING UNIQUE ABOUT HIS HANDLING OF PITCHERS? Not really; he does with the pitchers what he does with the rest of the team. He sorts out the roles, and he looks at the kids. He'll always take a good look at a rookie. He brought up Darren Hall to be the closer in 1994, although Hall had never even pitched in the majors. He's done some impressive things over the years. Gaston turned a reluctant David Wells into a starter in 1990 (Wells enjoyed his time in the bullpen and wasn't sure about becoming a starter again); if Wells had been serious about conditioning he'd still be here. The first thing Gaston did upon getting the job in 1989 was to bring order to the bullpen, which was a utterly chaotic mess when he took over. By the end of the year, he had sorted out the arms, defined their jobs (Henke closes, Wells and Ward set him up) and it was terrific. He also put a stop to Jimy Williams' endless rotation/bullpen shuffle (Williams sent Dave Stieb to the bullpen in 1986, 1987, and 1988, Jim Clancy went to the pen in 1988, and Cerutti went back and forth non-stop all three seasons under Williams.)
WHAT IS HIS STRONGEST POINT AS A MANAGER? Easy - his players love him and will charge through walls for him. His actual handling of the game and the lineup is conventional enough; he certainly doesn't see his role as being a chess-playing strategist. He wants to do what he can to help his players so that they can go out and win the ball game. He operates as a teacher, a motivator, and positive-thinking psychologist. To my mind, repeating as World Series champs in 1993 was a tremendously impressive feat, and Gaston probably deserves a lot of credit for it. Not just because its so hard to repeat, but because his team had lost its shortstop (Lee), third baseman (Gruber), left fielder (Maldonado), and DH(Winfield) from the lineup (gotta admit, the front office filled the DH hole for him pretty good.) His pitching staff lost its closer (Henke) and its two best starrters (Cone and Key). His biggest winner (Morris) went from 21-6 to 7-12. To top it off, they dismissed two more pitchers (Stieb, who was done anyway, and David Wells, who wasn't). They won again anyway, and the fact that losses on this scale didn't even seem to discourage anyone probably has a lot to do with the manager.
IF THERE WERE NO PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL, WHAT WOULD THIS MANAGER PROBABLY BE DOING? Phys-ed teacher and vocational guidance counsellor at some inner-city school.
Anyway - there's the format. So it naturally occurs to me - what would this look like for John Gibbons? How many of these questions can we answer?
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