Today – March 17th, 2024 – marks the 80th Birthday of former Toronto Blue Jays manager, Cito Gaston.

Cito Gaston became the Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15th, 1989. The team was 12-24 at the time. Undwe Cito, the team went 77-49 for a record of 89–73 and the team’s second AL East title. He would turn the team into the ‘Beasts from the East’ as they would go on to win the AL East Titles again in 1991, 1992, and 1993 and led them to the AL Pennants and World Series wins in 1992 and 1993.

He would remain the team’s Manager until September 1997, but return in 1999 as the Hitting Coach – a position he held until the end of the 2001 season. He would return as Manager during the 2008 season, remaining in the position until he retired at the end of the 2010 season.

As a Manager, he had a record of 894-837 for a .516 winning record with an 18-16 record in the postseason with two World Series Titles.

As he led the team to four postseason appearances, and two World Series Titles in his first five seasons as a Manager, and SkyDome – the Blue Jays stadium – opened in 1989, I refer to the stadium as the “House that Cito Built.”

Happy Birthday, Cito!