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Minnesota Twins first base coach Jerry White grew up in the Fillmore district of San Francisco.
Like youngsters who went to Exhibition Stadium with $2 Dominion tickets, White cut coupons off milk cartons to get into Candlestick Park for 50 cents.
He had his heroes, like any youngster from Oakville or Oshawa.
"Willie Mays, of course, I wanted to play centre for the Giants" White said last night by the first-base dugout before his Twins faced Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays. White grew up to play 11 seasons with the Montreal Expos.
White's pal wore Mays' No. 24 to the park and White wore No. 15 for shortstop Jose Pagan.
"Felipe Alou was a favourite too. Ken Henderson. He was a switch hitter like me. And Ollie Brown who was only with the Giants for a short time.
"And I'll tell you another one of my idols ... over there behind the cage."
White pointed towards the back of Jays manager Cito Gaston.
"I liked his swing, I patterned myself after guys and he was one of them even if he was with the San Diego Padres. He was an excellent outfielder and had a strong arm. I also liked the way the P.A. announcer Jeff Carter said the name 'now batting 'See-TOE Gassss-TON!'"
EMBARRASSED
Moments later Gaston said hello and someone embarrassed White by telling Gaston he had been one of White's boyhood idols.
"I don't remember the announcer saying my name differently there, I was probably concentrating on getting a hit," Gaston said. "Man that was a tough place to play. Jerry, you'd be happy being nicknamed after a wrestler from Mexico if you played your first year in the minors with the name Clarence."
We remember the hot dog wrappers circulating in windy Candlestick and seeing one misadventure after another by visiting outfielders, although none by White.
"I remember going in and asking Giants outfielders: 'Anyone break any fingers on fly balls yet?' " Gaston told White.
Gaston told White of a picture in the San Francisco Chronicle the day after facing John (The Count) Montefusco.
"They had a shot of the ball going between my head and my helmet ... on a 3-2 pitch," Gaston said. "That guy had no idea where it was going."
Gaston had an idea where the Jays were headed this year. At the winter meetings in Las Vegas on Dec. 10, Gaston said to wait until next year. He meant 2010.
"We're not moving backward, we're moving forward, we'll have a good team in 2010 and for a long time," Gaston said. "We'll have Shaun Marcum and we have good kids like Travis Snider and Adam Lind, but today? Today we have three starters."
STILL WAITING
They are still waiting for David Purcey's first win.
Gaston, who broke into the minors in 1964, took over managing the Jays in 1989, and guided them to five winning seasons and back-to-back World Series wins, has been around long enough to know which way the wind is blowing.
In January at the annual state of the franchise tell-all Gaston predicted that the Jays would not have a winning record. So, the Jays are 15 games under .500, in fourth place in the AL East, and you are surprised?
We've heard people complain Gaston does not pinch-hit enough. Look down his bench for the first four months of the season.
Did you want John McDonald to hit for Vernon Wells?
Or Jose Bautista to pinch-hit for Alex Rios before he was claimed on waivers by the Chicago White Sox?
He usually used the least amount of pinch hitters. Gaston had three winning months to finish 2008. He had a winning April and was a total of three games under .500 the next two months. Then a horrible 8-16 July and a 10-16 August. They are where he said they would be.
BOB.ELLIOTT@SUNMEDIA.CA