Aaron: Gaston Should Have More Than Interim Chance

Cito Gaston, named to replace Jimy Williams as the Toronto Blue Jays’ interim manager for 10 days at most, deserves to become the team’s permanent manager, Henry Aaron said Monday night.

Gaston, who is not a candidate for the permanent manager position according to Toronto General Manager Pat Gillick, has been with the Blue Jays for more than a decade.

Aaron, a roommate of Gaston’s when they played together for the Atlanta Braves in 1967, believes Gaston deserves the chance.

“What is the reason for naming him for a week?” Aaron asked in a telephone interview from Atlanta Monday night. “I don’t know what Cito Gaston can do in a week.

“I don’t care who he is, he can’t go in there and turn the Blue Jays around in one week. I hope they give Cito the kind of opportunity to be the manager he can be.”

Aaron, the Atlanta Braves’ director of player development, said baseball now has the chance to show it is ready to hire blacks in management positions.

Gaston is the fourth black to manage a major league team.

“When you look at the people (blacks) who have the credentials such as Cito Gaston, baseball owes these people the opportunity to let them manage,” Aaron said. “Gaston has done everything humanly possible to warrant the same opportunity as anyone else.”