2025 CONN SMYTHE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

His given names are Clarence Edwin. You might ask: Who’s that? Well … say, hear or read “Cito” and you’ll instantly recognize that person. You’ll also immediately remember his unprecedented impact in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball and Canadian sports.

The Bruce Power and Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario 74th Conn Smythe Sports Celebrities Dinner honours the one and only Cito Gaston with the 2025 Conn Smythe Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to Canadian sports!

Gaston is the 11th recipient of this distinguished accolade. Cliff Fletcher (2016), Paul Beeston (2017), Paul Henderson (2018), Jerry Howarth (2019), Michael (Pinball) Clemons (2020), Wayne Gretzky (2021), Joe Carter (2022), Eric Lindros (2022), Marnie McBean (2023) and Darryl Sittler (2024) are the others to have had this tribute bestowed upon them.

Born in San Antonio, Texas on St. Patrick’s Day in 1944, Gaston graduated from Holy Cross High School (where he was a three-sport all-star) in 1962. Signed by the Milwaukee (Atlanta) Braves in 1964, the outfielder made his Major League debut as a pinch runner with Atlanta on September 14, 1967.

During his time with the Braves, Gaston roomed with the legendary Hank Aaron.

“I mean, how many guys get a chance to room with their idol?” Gaston recalled during an interview with John Iaboni in PlayBall! the official game program of the Blue Jays. “Hank was like my Dad; he taught me how to tie a tie. He taught me to be responsible, stand on two feet and also think about what you did. If you have a good day at the ballpark, enjoy it and leave it. If you have a bad day, think about what you did wrong and see if you can do it better the next time but don’t bring it back to the ballpark the next day, just leave it there.”

Selected by San Diego in the Expansion Draft of 1969, Gaston played for the Padres from 1969 through ’74. He represented the club in the 1970 MLB All-Star Game during a season that included his career best in home runs (29) and runs batted in (93).

Traded back to Atlanta following the 1974 season, Gaston played for the Braves until 1978 before ending his MLB career that season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over 11 MLB seasons, Gaston played 766 games with San Diego, 258 with Atlanta and two with Pittsburgh, swatting 91 home runs and knocking in 387 runs.

Aaron took three swings at bringing Gaston back to the Braves in a coaching capacity before his protégé accepted and served as minor league hitting instructor in 1981. Starting in 1982, Gaston moved to the Blue Jays as the club’s first full-time batting coach along with manager Bobby Cox – and Toronto’s fortunes took off. That included a club-record 99 wins in 1985 when the Blue Jays won their first AL East title and played in their first ALCS. Throughout that climb, Gaston relished his role as a teacher and groomed numerous rising talents such as George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby, Fred McGriff and Cecil Fielder.

Cox rejoined the Braves in 1986, but Gaston was quite content maintaining his hitting coach role in Toronto under manager Jimy Williams. When the club struggled with its 12-24 start in 1989, Gaston had to be coaxed into replacing Williams as interim manager on May 15. The Blue Jays made Gaston the club’s “permanent” manager on May 31, 1989.

As Gaston likes to say “the rest is history” – and he was right!

The Blue Jays went 77-49 with Gaston at the helm in 1989 as they marched to their second division title. Gaston then became the first black manager in MLB history to win the World

Series when he skipped the Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series’ Championships in 1992 and ’93 despite a double-digit roster turnover for those squads.

Along with those remarkable achievements, Gaston’s run from 1989 to ’97 also included two ALCS titles, four AL East pennants and managing the AL All-Stars in 1993 and ’94. He then returned to manage the Blue Jays from June 20, 2008 through the end of 2010. In Blue Jays annals, Gaston is first in games managed (1,764) and wins (913). Gaston earned his spot on the Blue Jays Level of Excellence with the official ceremony on July 30, 1999.

During another one-on-one interview with PlayBall! game program in his final season as manager of the Blue Jays in 2010, Gaston offered this thought: “What I want to say to the fans and to the players is thank you … I appreciate you; I really do – and my heart is always going to be here. I’m always going to be a part of this city. I lived here for 20 years and I still love it here.”

Welcome back, Cito … we salute and congratulate you on this well-deserved 2025 Conn Smythe Lifetime Achievement Award!