PITTSBURGH -- The doors opened slightly yesterday morning. Gene Tenace and Brian Butterfield chatted in front of the dugout before the Toronto Blue Jays stretched, and Cito Gaston's office door was open, a freer movement of players in and around the clubhouse noticeable.
Then the Blue Jays went out and won a game on the third try since Gaston replaced John Gibbons as the manager.
Seriously.
"No one really knows their roles yet, first because we've been on the road, playing National League games, seen [Kevin] Mench get sent down and Lindy [Adam Lind] called up and now Brandon League, too ..." said Matt Stairs, his voice trailing off.
"It's too early to notice a difference. They're trying to get a read on us. We're trying to get a read on them. Come Tuesday, when Cito's had a chance to sit down ... that's when you might start to notice things."
This is how it happens in baseball: Gaston spends the first two days taking whatever chance he can get for one-to-one conversations with each hitter; and Tenace also drops a few words here and there and establishes himself behind the batting cage. Edges are gradually blurred. Roles are gradually defined. Expect that to pick up tomorrow when, after an off-day today, the Blue Jays open a six-game homestand at the Rogers Centre with the first of three games against the Cincinnati Reds.
"I always feel you can do more with players when you're at home, as far as talking, because you have more privacy," Gaston said. "You can get to them a little more quickly than on the road."
It's been mostly words and intentions so far - Tenace has already established himself as more of an old-school guy than the man he replaced, Gary Denbo.
"Gary's a good guy and I'm not here to badmouth him," Stairs said. "But Geno's more 'See ball, hit ball.'"
In other words, actually pulling a ball will not be an offence that brings a fine. Gaston is a believer in hitters "visualizing," and he wants his hitters to be "aggressive in the strike zone."
The Blue Jays, he acknowledged, have seemed far too passive, although it's telling that both Scott Rolen and Lyle Overbay categorically disagree, on the record, with that assessment.
"Bottom line," Gaston said, "is you need to hit the pitch you're capable of hitting."
Tenace added: "The on-base percentage will take care of itself. I think you can be a little tentative at the plate, feeling for the ball."
Some things are apparent beyond words, however: Gaston, who was criticized in his previous tenure for the way he related to younger hitters, has installed Adam Lind as his everyday left fielder. End of discussion. "I want the kid to play every day if he can, or most of the time at least," Gaston said. "He didn't do too well when he was here before, but we think he can come back and be one of our top players. He's one of the kids who's the future of this club." Lind, who was hitting .328, with 17 doubles, six home runs and 50 runs batted in, at Triple-A Syracuse, was recalled on Saturday. Alex Rios will hit third, and Gaston will be less inclined to tinker with his lineup than Gibbons did, at least as far as core players are concerned. "I like these guys to come to the ballpark and know where they're hitting every day, and as soon as we can get to that point, it will be great," Gaston said. Rios had two doubles and threw out a runner on Friday and seemed to have cut down some of the loop in his swing on Saturday. Yesterday, he doubled - all right, he was picked off at third base - and scored a run. He has seemed more engaged. One of Rios's teammates suggested he'd become afraid of pulling the ball under Denbo and said that Rios and Vernon Wells in particular will profit from having Gaston and Tenace around. "Which is good, because they're the ones who are going to be here for the next seven years," the player said. Asked before yesterday's game whether he'd made any adjustments, Rios dodged the question by saying: "It's all good. It's all good." There isn't a No.1 catcher. Gregg Zaun, who is healthy again and in whom Gibbons had explicit trust, will job-share with Rod Barajas, at least at the start. "It depends who we're facing," Gaston said. "Hopefully, they'll each get three or four games." John McDonald will play more at shortstop, but so will Marco Scutaro, who walked twice yesterday, singled and scored three runs in his third consecutive game as the leadoff hitter under Gaston. Lyle Overbay can expect to hit second, but he'll also find himself fifth, as he was yesterday against right-hander Ian Snell.
Some of the Blue Jays' issues are just baseball issues. Gaston smiled ruefully and said this wasn't the first team he'd seen that was in a slump or had difficulty with left-handed starters. "Ninety-five per cent of the time, when guys are not hitting the ball, it means they're not starting their bat in time," Gaston said.
Tenace has tried to play the role of Dr. Feelgood so far, noting that players such as Rios and Wells and Rolen all have track records and are "professional hitters." Will it be enough for the Blue Jays to meet Gaston's goal of getting to .500 by the All-Star Game break? Starting tomorrow, we'll all have a better idea. But for one day at least, Gaston's words of advice to Lind - "Relax, have a good time." - seemed apropos. Yesterday's win was Gaston's first as a manager since Sept. 19, 1997. It seems as if it's been that long since the current edition won a game.
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