Highlighted Year: Clarence “Cito” Gaston, 1970

Outfielder, San Diego Padres

Age: 26

2^nd season with Padres

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 190 

Prior to 1970:

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Clarence Gaston acquired the nickname “Cito” in his youth, due to his apparent resemblance to a Mexican wrestler of that name. A basketball, football, and baseball standout in high school, Gaston went on to play for an amateur baseball team and was signed by the Milwaukee Braves in 1964. That year he played Class A ball for Binghamton of the New York-Pennsylvania League and Greenville of the Western Carolinas League and batted a combined .231 with a .270 on-base percentage. The young outfielder was next assigned to West Palm Beach of the Florida State League in 1965 and, hindered by a cracked shinbone, he hit .188 with a .305 OBP. In 1966 Gaston’s next stop was with the Batavia Trojans of the New York-Pennsylvania League where he batted an impressive .330 with 18 doubles, 5 triples, 28 home runs, 104 RBIs, a .412 OBP, and a .589 slugging percentage. He finished the season with a brief stint in the Class AA Texas League with Austin. A good 1967 stint in the Arizona Instructional League had Gaston back with Austin where he hit .305 with 24 doubles, 6 triples, 10 home runs, 70 RBIs, a .365 OBP, and a .436 slugging percentage. In a late-season call-up to the Braves, now in Atlanta, he appeared in 9 games and batted .120. In the offseason he played in the Venezuelan Winter League with unimpressive results. A poor start in 1968 with Richmond of the Class AAA International League caused Gaston to be demoted to Shreveport of the Texas League where he batted .279 with 15 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs, 57 RBIs, and a .332 OBP. Returning to the Venezuelan Winter League in the offseason, he led the circuit in batting (.383) and RBIs (64) while slugging 11 home runs. In the NL expansion draft he was taken by the Padres. As a backup outfielder with the fledgling club in 1969, Gaston, hindered by minor injuries, hit .230 with 20 extra-base hits, 28 RBIs, and a .275 OBP. He played in Venezuela again in the offseason, but despite his season being cut short by a knee injury, Gaston won another batting title as he hit .360. A good fielder, he emerged as a hitter in 1970.

1970 Season Summary

Appeared in 146 games

CF – 142, PH – 4, LF – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 629

At Bats – 584 [17]

Runs – 92 [20, tied with Willie Davis & Bill Grabarkewitz]

Hits – 186 [8, tied with Bobby Tolan & Tony Perez]

Doubles – 26

Triples – 9 [5, tied with six others]

Home Runs – 29 [13]

RBI – 93 [17, tied with Deron Johnson & Willie Davis]

Bases on Balls – 41

Int. BB – 2

Strikeouts – 142 [5]

Stolen Bases – 4

Caught Stealing – 1

Average - .318 [6]

OBP - .364

Slugging Pct. - .543 [9, tied with Orlando Cepeda]

Total Bases – 317 [5]

GDP – 16 [10, tied with Jim Wynn & Dick Dietz]

Hit by Pitches – 2

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 2 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 16, 3B – 6, HR – 16, RBI – 62, AVG - .326, SLG –- .552, OBP – .373

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Most hits, game – 4 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 9 games

HR at home – 12

HR on road – 17

Most home runs, game – 1 on twenty-nine occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 on nine occasions

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 4 (.250) with 1 R

Fielding

Chances – 325

Put Outs – 310

Assists – 7

Errors – 8

DP – 0

Pct. - .975

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

24^th in NL MVP voting (5 points, 1% share)

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The Padres went 63-99 to finish sixth (last) in the NL Western Division, 39 games behind the division-winning Cincinnati Reds while leading the league in batting strikeouts (1164), and fewest doubles (208). With improved offense in their second season, the Padres were 11 wins better than their inaugural season. Still, they quickly dropped into the NL West cellar during a 7-14 April and stayed there, despite occasional forays into fifth. The pitching was a disappointment, offsetting the power production of Gaston, RF Ollie Brown, and 1B Nate Colbert. Surprisingly, they went 10-8 against the division-champion Reds.

Aftermath of 1970:

Following his outstanding 1970 season, Gaston again played winter ball in Venezuela with diminished production which carried over to the 1971 season with the Padres. He batted only .228 with 13 doubles, 9 triples, 17 home runs, 61 RBIs, a .264 OBP, and a .386 slugging percentage while striking out 121 times. The injury-plagued Gaston shifted to right field in 1972, but his production dropped further to .269 with 7 home runs, 44 RBIs, and a .313 OBP. He showed a little more punch in 1973 with 16 home runs as he batted .250 with 57 RBIs, a .281 OBP and a .405 slugging percentage. The arrival of Bobby Tolan in a deal with Cincinnati displaced Gaston in right field and made him the club’s fourth outfielder in 1974. Appearing in 106 games he hit a mere .213 with 6 home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .259 OBP. In the offseason he was traded back to the Braves where, still a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter in 1975, Gaston appeared in 64 games and batted .241 with 6 home runs, 15 RBIs, and a .321 OBP. In 1976 he managed a two-homer, 5 RBI game against the Padres on his way to playing in 62 games and hitting a solid .291 with 4 home runs, 25 RBIs, and a .354 OBP. Gaston lasted two more seasons with Atlanta until being sold to Pittsburgh during the last month of the 1978 season, which marked the end of his major league playing career. For his major league career, Gaston batted .256 with 799 hits that included 106 doubles, 30 triples, and 91 home runs. He scored 314 runs and compiled 387 RBIs, a .298 OBP, and a .397 slugging percentage. The 1970 season remained his career best and he never saw postseason action. Following the culmination of his major league playing career, Gaston played for Santo Domingo in the Inter-American League and also was in the Mexican League before retiring to become hitting coach for the Braves in 1981. With manager Bobby Cox moving to Toronto in 1982, Gaston went with him in the same role. He remained a coach with the Blue Jays until replacing Jimy Williams as manager during the 1989 season. He went on to guide the club to five division titles and back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. He remained as manager until 1997 and returned to the job from 2008-2010. His overall record as manager of the Blue Jays was 894-837 with the three championships. Gaston was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002, three years after he was named to the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre.   

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This categohe managed a twory also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.