Scott Morrison, left, chairman of the 74th Conn Smythe celebrity diner, former Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, presented with the Lifetime Achievement award, former Jays OF Rob Butler (East York, Ont.) and popular MC Hot Rod Black.

March 5, 2025

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

What was Cito Gaston doing the moment Joe Carter took Mitch Williams over the left field fence to walk off the 1993 World Series?

Was he thinking Carter needed a better swing than the previous pitch when the Jays slugger flailed and missed?

Was he thinking the ball would get out? Would it hook foul?

What was he doing during this most magical moment -- the only time a team had come from behind to win a World Series?

Postseason home runs by Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarncion were dramatic, but neither won a World Series.

“I had my head down, looking at my lineup card,” he told MC Hot Rod Black at the 74th annual Bruce Power Innovation at Work and Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario Conn Smythe banquet at the historic Royal York hotel.

“We pinch ran Alfredo Griffin (in the eighth for John Olerud) and his spot was next. I had Darnell Coles on the bench, but Alfredo hit Mitch better than Darnell. Every time I see Darnell I apologize for not getting him an at-bat in the World Series.”

Coles didn’t come up. Neither did Griffin’s spot.

“Next thing I know everyone is cheering,” said Gaston as he was presented with the lifetime achievement award.

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We heard Premier John Roberts speak at Ontario's Royal York Centennial banquet in 1967, Sonny and Cher, with her powerful voice, inside the Imperial BallRoom in 1970 and the stately hotel was Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s home away from home when not in the capital.

Yet when it comes to powerful speeches, nothing compares with the Easter Seals and their ambassadors.

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A video of Keegan, seven, was shown, along with parents Breanne and Anil. Costs for brave Keegan's equipment include a commode chair ($3,000), wheelchair ($12,000) and walker ($6,000). Every other year, the family is allowed an equipment allowance of $35,000.

Keegan’s story ...

Breakfast Television’s Devo Brown, left, ambassador Tristan Bujan (Markham, Ont.) and Terry Ryan (St. John's, Nfld.) of the show Shorsey.

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MC Black began the proceedings by taking off his white dress shirt to reveal a Toronto Raptors jersey. Then, he pulled that off to show a Toronto Blue Jays top. Again he removed that one to show a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and finally a Team Canada.

What was missing a Toronto Argos jersey. It was delivered by Mike (Pinball) Clemens running in front of the stage as he is was scooting off right tackle to a 12-yrd gain.

Black introduced Tristan Bujan, who wants to be an actor and a broadcaster in the future, as 2025's first ambassador. Tristan acknowledged his parents and his brother Brandon.

He thanked his parents for loving him and supporting him every single day and encouraging “me to always go after my dream “

Tristan, 17 (Markham, Ont.) had an acquired brain injury that affects his cognitive and physical abilities. He also experiences seizures as a result of the brain injury.

“It is my dream to speak up and be a voice for others who face challenges in their lives, challenges that force us to do things differently. Challenges that affect us, affect our families and change how a basic day unfolds. I wake up and from there my medical reality begins. I have to take a lot of medication,” Tristan said.

Seated in his wheelchair, he explained how he was born healthy and had his sights on being an NBA player or a Hollywood actor. He was MVP of his soccer team and then a week before his 10th birthday he wound up in a chair.

"The brain injury was causing seizures, electric flashes from my brain went through my body and I would go blank,” Tristan explained. “I would fall to the ground unconscious. It sounds crazy, right? One minute you're fine and the next moment you are out. Knocked out. Confused.

“If some didn't know they would say I was laid out -- drunk as a skunk. Life would never be the same.”

As someone who knows people who have had epileptic seizures, Tristan gave an out-STAND-ing description.

“Can you relate to having moments where you don't feel like yourself, do you sometimes feel it is impossible to do things you want to do?” he asked. “This is the world for many of us that live with injuries, illnesses and conditions that we cannot control. So, what does this mean? We can pick ourselves up and do the things that we want to do. We may just do them a little bit differently ... and that's OK.”

Tristan praised the Easter Seals Ontario for making the “impossible possible.”

"I want to spread the word to the world that we are not defined by our disability ... We have a different ability. I want to help other young people like me believe that they can do anything they want to do.”

Tristan then received a standing ovation from the packed ballroom. If you looked hard, you could see napkins used instead of Kleenex.

* * *

Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk won the men’s T51 800 metres at the Paralympic Games in Paris. He’s a double medalist in Paris with a bronze in the 100 metres. Smeenk set world records in both the 400 (48.06) and 800 (1:35.59) earlier this year.

“The thing is you have to find out is what you are good at, that is more important than what you are not good at,” Smeenk (Oakville, Ont.) told the crowd. “The gold was something I was chasing.”

After his win in Paris, Smeenk rang a bell engraved with “Paris 2024” at Stade de France. Plans were for the bell to be installed in a tower at Notre Dame Cathedral when the edifice is restored from a 2019 fire. He competed at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris.

Asha Buliung (Toronto, Ont.) with the Toronto Blue Jays mascot.

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Asha Buliung, 13, hit second in the ambassador batting order. Asha, (Toronto, Ont.) was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) which causes muscle weakness, has scoliosis and multiple contractures throughout her body.

"My disability affects my everyday life. I can't walk, so I use a wheelchair. I can't climb stairs so I use an elevator. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I use equipment to adapt,” Asha told the crowd. "In some ways going to camp helped me find my voice. To find a way to say no. To ask the counsellors to do something different.

“This was hard for me when I was younger but it was an important skill for me to learn for I have been using it since.”

Asha's goal is to grow up to be a lawyer.

“Toronto is not the most accessible place on earth. I've had to adapt. I've been adapting most of my life. I can't go to a lot of my able-bodied friends' houses,” Asha explained. “Luckily my best friend has found a way to work around the inaccessibility of her home. Instead of going inside to watch TV or hang out, her dad has set up a table in her garage. Mia's parents are really wonderful and super supportive of our friendship.

“I really want people to learn about disabled people like me. Sometimes people forget I'm an actual human being with ideas, loves and dreams.”

Asha will have a busy schedule this summer, raising awareness and saying, “When I was younger, I used to wish there was someone who could advocate for me.”

Again the crowd was on its feet for a standing ovation.

Napkins used.

* * *

Rob Butler (East York, Ont.), who now manages the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League, spoke before Gaston was honored. Gaston was managing the Blue Jays when Butler was recalled from triple-A Syracuse.

We remember phoning him in Syracuse on a Friday night (June 11, 1993). He told us how he walked down the right field line to the clubhouse with tears in his eyes. Butler was in the lineup the next night, hitting a single off reliever Tom Bolton, as the Detroit Tigers thumped the Jays 12-1.

Butler explained at the Royal York why he was so emotional. Not only was he promoted to his hometown team, but he was going to get to play for Gaston ... his hitting coach “since I was 12 years old.”

Hold on a second? Gaston coached peewee?

“Cito was the Jays’ hitting coach for Willie Upshaw, Barry Bonnell when I was 12. My dream then was to play for Cito. My brother Rich and I hit tennis balls. We would watch every game and hope to pick up a hitting tip when Cito was interviewed. He made us better hitters."

Butler said his family really didn’t know baseball and were home in Butlerville, Newfoundland (“no, seriously”).

“I was the back-up to the back-up of one of the best outfields in baseball (Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, Devon White and Carter, with Coles and Turner Ward also seeing outfield time), yet Cito always treated me first class,” Butler said.

The Jays went up 3-1 in the best-of-seven World Series with a 15-14 win in Game 4. Butler pinch-hit for Todd Stottlemyre, forcing Pat Borders at second. Two batters later, Butler scored on White’s single to give the Jays a 7-5 lead ... in the top of the third.

In Game 5, Butler pinch-hit in the eighth and singled off Curt Schilling in a 2-0 win to bring the Series to Toronto ... and Game 6 ... and Carter ... and Gaston looking at his lineup card in the bottom of the ninth.

Butler used to coach the Ontario Prospects and one of his prize pupils was Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.), who went on to the Toronto Mets, then joined Wright State. Black, who was selected 33rd overall in the 2021 MLB draft, made his Milwaukee Brewers debut last year.

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Gaston was touched: A) by the Conn Smythe Lifetime Achievement award, B) by the ambassadors' speeches from the heart C) the reception he received from the fans and D) Butler's emotional speech. Gaston wiped tears from his eyes a couple of times.

He started mentioning former Milwaukee Braves minor-league pitching coach Walter (Boom Boom) Beck, who lost 20 games with the 1933 Brooklyn Dodgers and then joined Milwaukee and Jim Fanning, the former Braves executive, who managed the Montreal Expos to their only post-season appearance and later moved to the London area working for the Blue Jays.

“Jim Fanning gave me the biggest raise ever … from $400 to $1,000 a month, that was a lot of money back then,” said Gaston, who has always praised his San Diego Padres manager Preston Gomes: “Preston was always three moves ahead.”

Gaston arrived in Toronto in 1981 – hired as the Blue Jays’ hitting coach by manager Bobby Cox, who released him as a player with the Atlanta Braves. At the Conn Smythe Dinner, Gaston praised many of the coaches he worked with over the years, including Jimy Williams, Al Widmar, John Sullivan and Galen Cisco. He also thanked Paul Beeston “who gave us the players.”

The two-time World Series-winning manager named a number of his former players like:

_ David Wells “Everyone one thinks we don't get along. We go fishing together, I go to his golf tournament.” Wells refused to throw a pitch called from the bench in 1991, Mike Greenwell doubled and Gaston went to the mound. Wells threw the ball into foul ground down the left field line.

_ Pat Borders … “I absolutely love him.”

_ Dave Stewart and Jack Morris … “They could pitch with the best. Usually starting pitchers love to golf. Jack was the only starter I ever knew who hated golf.”

_ Dave Winfield … “who looked after any problems in the room.”

And finally the San Antonio native said: “I love the city of Toronto, it's my second home.”

Again a standing O.

**Back** (left to right): Scott Morrison, Rod Black, Rob Butler, Doug Gilmour, Cito Gaston, Terry Ryan, Luke Willson. **Front**: Monica Wright Rogers, Blayre Turnbull, Asha Buliung, Tristan Bujan, Devo Brown, Christine Simpson, Austin Smeenk, Kevin Collins.

* * *

Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Morrison, Canada’s version of baseball's Peter Gammons — moving from newspapers to TV in full stride — is the chairperson of the banquet. He spoke and told the crowd the annual banquet had raised $12.7 million.

A live auction was held, a silent auction was staged and then Gord Stellick and Greg Mandziuk combed the crowd looking for donations. In all, over $500,000 was raised lifting the total to roughly $13.2 million.

Another strong job by Kevin Collins, president and CEO of Easter Seals Ontario, and his army of volunteers.

This is a good cause and we know with these on-again, off-again tariffs, times are tight but Easter Seals is a worthwhile cause to donate to.

Elliott: Gaston, ambassadors honoured at powerful 74th Conn Smythe -- updated