THE CANADIAN PRESS
Pat Gillick’s legacy in Canada extends far beyond the 11 consecutive winning seasons, five American League East titles and two World Series championships the Toronto Blue Jays put up under his watch.
There are many in Canadian baseball who believe the support he and former team president Paul Beeston gave to the sport nationally during his 19 years up north helped lay the groundwork for the success the country’s players are enjoying now.
From donating money to Baseball Canada, Baseball Ontario and other grassroots programs to helping fund the now defunct National Baseball Institute, which turned out big-leaguers like Matt Stairs and Corey Koskie, to taking the Blue Jays out on caravans around the country, Gillick made it a priority to do more than just build a winning big-league team.
"There’s no question," said Walt Burrows, Canadian supervisor for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau. "He had a huge part in every level of baseball in Canada, from the grassroots to elite."
"He was proud to be part of the Canadian landscape," added Milwaukee Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash, who was Gillick’s longtime assistant in Toronto before succeeding him as Blue Jays GM. "He was always a champion of the underdog and if Canada was seen as baseball-barren back then, he was going to change that.
"He was a believer that by expanding across the country, you would generate interest with kids and more of them would end up playing, which is what happened."
That, as much as his impressive work in growing the Blue Jays from an expansion team into a perennial powerhouse, is why Gillick’s selection for induction to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame last week is so justly deserved.
He’ll enter as a builder, a category that fits him like a glove.
"Part of it was any business has a corporate responsibility in giving back to the community," Gillick said Monday from Philadelphia, where he’s now GM of the Phillies. "Our community was all of Canada. To be frank, the Expos were more of a Quebec, Eastern Canada team and the Blue Jays become more of Canada’s team.
"It was our responsibility to give back."
Of course, without the popularity and success the Blue Jays enjoyed in the ’80s and ’90s, who knows if the Canadian stars of today would have become as turned on to baseball as they were.
From an expansion team that lost 413 games in its first four seasons, Gillick built a squad that contended year-in, year-out until things came undone in 1994, after back-to-back World Series titles in ’92 and ’93.
"We had a fairly high profile to promote baseball in Canada," said Gillick. "Every little bit you could do contributed and really helped promote the game. Maybe (Justin) Morneau and the other Canadian stars of today, maybe part of it was watching us and seeing that they could play baseball instead of just hockey."
The Blue Jays won their first AL East crown in 1985 with a club record 99 wins, lost a chance at another on the final day of the season in 1987, reclaimed the title in 1989 and then won three straight from 1991-93.
Perhaps Gillick’s best move, the Dec. 5, 1990 trade that sent first baseman Fred McGriff and shortstop Tony Fernandez to San Diego for second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter, was the one that set up the World Series runs.
"Those two guys put us in a position to win, to be competitive for a long period of time," said Gillick. "Bringing in Jack Morris and Dave Winfield (as free agents for the ’92 season) helped put us over the top, those two guys added to what we had."
Gillick left the Blue Jays following the strike-shortened 1994 season, with plans to retire at 57. But retirement is the only thing he’s failed at in his career, taking over as general manager of the Baltimore Orioles following the ’95 season. He spent three years there, headed west to become GM of the Seattle Mariners (2000-04) before taking his current job with the Phillies in 2006.
Success has followed his arrival in all three towns, as he’s taken each of his subsequent teams into the post-season, although he hasn’t made it back to the World Series yet. Still, he’s proven just as adept at turning also-rans into playoff teams as he was in building a team from the ground up.
"Sometimes that’s more difficult than starting from scratch because when you start from scratch, there isn’t a lot expected from you for a period of time, there’s a big honeymoon period," said Gillick. "Whereas if you go into a situation where people are frustrated, their teams haven’t been in the playoffs for a while, consequently you don’t have as much time to catch your breath and they’re looking for instantaneous results."
This year may be his last shot at getting back to the World Series, as he’s hinted that he plans to retire for good after the season. He’s 70 now, with a lifetime of work in the game, although he’s careful not to corner himself.
"Let me put it this way, I’m going to do something but I don’t know what it is," he says. "I’m up at the end of October and it’s probably going to be my final shot here in Philly. Right now, I’d say probably this is going to be it. Things could change.
"I’ll probably do something on the periphery of the game, something to do with young people, something along those lines. Right now I’m thinking at the end of October it’ll probably be it for me and hopefully we can get back to the World Series."
