With Piniella Out, Toronto Retains Gaston

Repulsed in their efforts to hire Lou Piniella by the compensation demands of New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, the Toronto Blue Jays announced Wednesday that interim manager Cito Gaston would manage the club for the rest of the season.

The Blue Jays, last in the American League East with a 20-31 record, are 8-7 under Gaston, who served as batting instructor before being appointed interim manager when Jimy Williams was fired May 16.

General Manager Pat Gillick said at the time that he would select a full-time successor within two weeks, that he preferred not to elevate a member of the coaching staff and that he was 99% certain he would not appoint Gaston because of the friendships Gaston enjoyed with the players after six seasons as a coach. Those friendships would become a liability if and when Gaston had to discipline the Blue Jays, he said.

Among those interviewed by Gillick and his staff were Bob Bailor, manager of the Blue Jays’ Syracuse farm club; Chicago White Sox first base coach Terry Bevington, and Piniella, admittedly Gillick’s first choice.

Piniella, however, agreed to a $400,000 a year contract that extends through the 1991 season when he returned to manage the Yankees last June.

Replaced by Dallas Green at the end of the season, Piniella remains tied to the contract by a clause that commits him to serve in any capacity the Yankees choose if he is not managing the team.

Piniella, is serving as a commentator on Yankee cable telecasts and recently made a 10-day scouting trip through the organization’s farm system. And last week, in what was viewed as an attempt by Steinbrenner to beef up his compensation demands by showing that Piniella’s value extends beyond the broadcasting booth, he had Piniella go onto the field at Yankee Stadium to work with the varsity’s hitters, a task normally done by Frank Howard, a member of Green’s coaching staff.

In recognizing Piniella’s commitment to the Yankees, the Blue Jays reportedly offered relief pitcher Jose Nunez as compensation, but were unwilling to part with any of the four pitchers--Todd Stottlemyre, David Wells, Duane Ward and Alex Sanchez--on a list presented by Steinbrenner.

“After being unsuccessful in gaining further permission to negotiate with Piniella, it was decided that Cito was the most appropriate choice,” Gillick said in a statement Wednesday.

He added that the only way he could have signed Piniella was if Piniella had “sprung himself” by talking Steinbrenner into releasing him from the contract. But Steinbrenner seemed so determined to take advantage of the situation, Gillick said, that if there had been an agreement on one player as compensation, he was sure Steinbrenner would then have asked for a second.

Said a frustrated Piniella: “I would have liked to listen to their offer, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Of Gaston, Gillick said he was the second choice all along.

“We still think we’ve got a chance to win this division,” he said. “We felt this was the easiest transition we could make. Cito knows our players. Over the last two weeks, we think Cito’s handled the club very well.”

Gaston said he had no problem being second choice and was delighted with the opportunity.

He had joined Maury Wills, Larry Doby and Frank Robinson as the only blacks to have managed in the major leagues.

“This organization doesn’t see colors and I don’t either,” he said. “I’m black, I’ll always be black. When I stand here and look at someone, I see them only as a fellow human, that’s all.

“I know in the past, people talked about how maybe I’m too close to the players, but to be close to someone you have to have their respect, and I think I have that. However, I was prepared for whatever the club decided.”

Gaston added, however, that he will be mindful of the friendship aspect.

“I do have some concerns about it,” he told the Associated Press. “They’re my friends and I’m their friend, but there are certain things I have to do. I think most of the players have been behind me. As friends, they’ll understand when I have to do something they might not like.”

Baseball Commissioner Bart Giammati hailed the choice.

“The Blue Jays approached this fully mindful of the principles of equal opportunity,” he said through a spokesman. “They found the best man.”

The players on a team recognized as one of the division’s most talented but underachieving seemed to agree.

“I just think he’s going to have to kick some tail, let’s put it that way,” catcher Ernie Whitt said. “My main concern is to get this thing turned around and to start playing good baseball, winning baseball.

“We heard all along it wasn’t going to be Cito because he was too close to the players. The players really like Cito. They really respect him. But it was a surprise because they said they weren’t going to do this. I think it might take some concern out of the players’ minds now that it’s happened.

“Before, they might have been wondering, ‘Are we going to get a Billy Martin type in here or what?’ Now they know who’s going to be here and are genuinely happy about it.”

The same could not be said for Lou Piniella.