Clarence Edwin "Cito" Gaston ( /ˈsiːtoʊ ˈɡæstən/; born March 17, 1944) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. His major league career as a player lasted from 1967–1978, most notably for the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves. His managerial career was with the Toronto Blue Jays where he became the first African-American manager in Major League history to win a World Series title.
Cito Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989 to 1997, and again from 2008 to 2010. During this time, he managed the Blue Jays to four Division Titles (1989, 1991, 1992 and 1993), two American League Pennants (1992 and 1993) and two World Series (1992 and 1993).
Gaston grew up in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas, where his father was a truck driver. His career ambitions were either to be a truck driver like his father, or make into the Major Leagues. He adopted his nickname 'Cito' in preference to his given name 'Clarence'. Gaston later told Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters that the name was taken from a Mexican-American wrestler he watched as a young man in Texas. Other reports state that Gaston was given this nickname from a friend named Carlos Thompson who thought that Gaston resembled a Mexican wrestler named "Cito".
Joseph Christopher Carter (born March 7, 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1983 to 1998. Carter is most famous for hitting a walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Joe Carter attended Wichita State University, leaving after his junior year. He was named the Sporting News magazine's College Player of the Year in 1981 In the 1981 draft, the Cubs chose him with the second pick of the first round.
Carter first reached the majors in 1983 with the Chicago Cubs, but was traded to the Cleveland Indians the following year, where he blossomed into a star. Carter emerged as a prolific power hitter, hitting as many as 35 home runs in a season and regularly driving in 100 or more runs. He usually hit nearly as many doubles as he did homers, and would get respectable numbers of triples in many years too. He was also a very good baserunner, stealing 20-30 bases a year with a high rate of success; in 1987, Carter became a rare member of the single-season 30–30 club for home runs/stolen bases. However, he was considered a below-average defensive outfielder. The Indians publicly criticized his defense and low batting average after he left, although Cleveland was a below average team after his departure, while Carter contributed to multiple championships elsewhere.
Roberto "Robbie" Alomar Velázquez (/ˈæləmɑr/; Spanish pronunciation: [aloˈmar]; born February 5, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball player (1988–2004), regarded by many as one of the best second basemen in MLB history. During his career he won more Gold Gloves (10) than any other second baseman in history, and also won the second-most Silver Slugger Awards (4) for a second baseman. On January 5, 2011, Alomar was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, in his second year of eligibility.
Alomar was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is the son of Sandy Alomar, Sr., a former All-Star second baseman with a 15-year MLB career. His older brother, Sandy Alomar, Jr., was a Major League All-Star catcher and currently serves as bench coach for the Cleveland Indians.
Alomar was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and was raised in Salinas, Puerto Rico.
In 1985, Alomar signed with the San Diego Padres at age 17, and joined the team's Class-A affiliate in Charleston. The following year, playing in Reno, he won the California League batting championship with a .346 average.
George Kenneth "Ken" Griffey, Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "The Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter. Griffey was both one of the most prolific home run hitters and best defensive players in baseball history, sixth on the list of most career home runs, and is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (8 games, tied with Don Mattingly and Dale Long). Griffey, playing for the Seattle Mariners in two separate tenures, Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox, won 10 Gold Glove awards and appeared in 13 All-Star games. Upon his retirement, the Associated Press noted: "In his prime, Ken Griffey Jr. was unanimously considered the best player in baseball."
Throughout his major league baseball career, Griffey was a popular player and a fan favorite around the league. Griffey attained widespread recognition by signing lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo (owners of the Mariners); his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute. He currently works in the Mariners' front office as a special consultant. Griffey is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four different calendar decades. He is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey, Sr.
Jerry Howarth (born March 12, 1946) is an American Canadian recognized as the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays as a play-by-play announcer for the team's radio broadcasts, a position he has held for the Major League Baseball team since 1981.
Born in York, Pennsylvania, and raised in San Francisco, California, Howarth grew up an avid sports fan. He graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Santa Clara in 1968, then served two years in the U.S. Army. He launched his career as a sportscaster in 1974 by calling play-by-play action for AAA baseball's Tacoma Twins of the Pacific Coast League, as well as baseball and football action for the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. In 1976, Howarth became the play-by-play voice of the Salt Lake City Gulls. Howarth was then hired as the Assistant General Manager and performed double duty as play-by-play man for the Salt Lake City Prospectors of the short-lived Western Basketball Association. Howarth was then hired by the NBA's Utah Jazz before joining KWMS radio in Salt Lake as Sports Director and sports talk show host.