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Cito Gaston was a successful professional baseball player and is incredibly well know because of his time managing the Toronto Blue Jays. He became the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982 and remained the hitting instructor until 15 May 1989, when he took over managerial duties from Jimy Williams, when the team was suffering through an unexpectedly bad start. Gaston originally declined the offer to be manager when Williams was fired. He told Ebony magazine: “When I was offered the job as manager, I didn’t want it. I was happy working as the team’s hitting instructor”. It was only when his players encouraged him to take the job did he reconsider the offer. Under Gaston’s leadership, Toronto transformed from a sub-.500 team (12–24 under Jimy Williams) to the eventual division winners, going 89–73 (77–49 under Gaston). Toronto’s success under Gaston was not short-lived, as they finished second in the division behind Boston the following year and won the division again in 1991, 1992 and 1993.