Richard Griffin's column in the Toronto Star today is about Toronto Blue Jays' Manager John Gibbons. Nice man. Slightly below-average manager. Probably history in about eight months. At least he'll take his former minor-league roomie, J.P. Ricciardi, out the door with him. However, the question that Griffin posed at the end of the article wasn't about Gibbons, it was about Clarence Gaston.
Why, Griffin wonders, has no team hired two-time World Series winning manager Gaston, beyond the Blue Jays themselves, who gave him a second tour into disaster?
The answer? He's not very good. Never has been. Although he was EXACTLY the right manager for the 92-93 Jays that won it all. When he had to 'manage' in 1994, he couldn't. Simple as that. I should point out that Gaston WAS offered other jobs back in the 90's, but he realized he wouldn't be stepping into conducive situations and turned down jobs. I heard Milwaukee and Anaheim. He wanted the ChiSox job, knowing that good things were happening there talent-wise, but Kenny Williams tossed his former batting coach over for Ozzie Guillen. It worked for at least one championship year.
I simply don't get what so many fans don't get. Just as different players have different talents, thus we have pitchers, infielders and catchers, good, great and not-so-great players, smart and dumb players, we have managers who's skill sets make them ideal in one spot and dunderheads in others.
Joe Torre is the classic example. Today, he's revered in the baseball world for his low-key approach to the zoo known as the New York Yankees. Under his gentle thumb, the Yankees re-emerged as world-beaters. His genius wasn't quite on display in his earlier managerial stints in Atlanta, St. Louis and with the Mets. He only ever won one division title in the three stops before the Yanks. But the Yankees needed somebody with an even keel, a low sense of self-importance and enough of a strategist to change pitchers at the right time. Result: Success in a major way. He only started losing in post-season again, when his pitching dried up.
Gaston probably could have done exactly the same job, quality-wise. He could be sitting with rings on his OTHER hand, if he'd been hired instead of Torre. But we'll never know.
In reality, the key component of Gaston's coaching success was his LACK of an ego in the two pennant years. Casey Stengel once opined that a manager could never win a game, but he could lose up to ten a year by interfering too much. He also said the key to managing was keeping the ten guys that hated his guts away from the ten that weren't sure. He viewed managing as people-bossing, rather than strategizing.
Gaston never got the Manager of the Year award during the Blue Jays' title runs. I didn't think he deserved the award in either year. However, in at least one of the years (his first) leading up to the title autumns, I thought it was beyond question he was the best manager in baseball. The voters disagreed and termed Gaston just a gatekeeper and scorecard-filler. Later on, they were proven right.
Gaston's ego exploded after remaining anonymous, despite the two titles. He became angry. He engaged in a nasty little verbal fight with Bob McCown, the eminence grise of the Toronto radio station, The Fan 590. His managing style, great for a team of veterans who knew what to do and when to do it, turned out to be less successful for a team needing guidance and decision-making.
Should that have been surprising? Only to fans who don't get managers have different talents.
The supposed big thinkers of managedom have rarely been successful. Gene Mauch and Tony LaRussa have two titles between them, LaRussa getting both. He won his during years when the A's and the Cards were stacked. In other words, he has about the success rate that Gaston enjoyed. Mauch NEVER had the talent it took to win, all he could do was keep it close and/or interesting with his stunts. He could never WIN games, according to Stengel, although he often put weaker teams into position to win with his coaching.
Smart, creative managers can pull little bits and pieces out of players that the players in question never knew they had. In hockey, these guys are called three-year hires, because their act only works for about that length of time. After that, they players learn all the psychological ploys, all the wisdom that can be imparted, and start tuning out. Baseball is rift with them, but they are more like one or two year wonders. Billy Martin was the instant fix in year one for many teams, and a disaster after that. It's the day after day, 162 games a year schedule that compresses brilliance and psychological destruction.
Managers CAN destroy talented teams. Martin comes to mind, as does Joe Morgan. Not the Hall of Famer and broadcaster Joe Morgan, but Boston Joe Morgan, who prolonged the Curse long enough for Schilling and Francona to finally put it to rest.
Clarence Gaston was a better than average player, a pretty good batting coach, a good and bad manager, and an imposing figure in retirement. Where he will stay.
Hope that answers the question, Richard.
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