O Cito Why Cito?

It is amazing how quickly my mood and feelings toward our Black Dad can change. This morning, having dropped the Barber's Apprentice off at her jail for babies daycare facility, I pointed the BarberBus towards Soulsuckers Inc. for another day of drudgery. Just before I turned on some soothing commuter ballads, I heard tale of Cito appearing next as the Fan Morning Show's baseball insider. Cito! I figured I'd give the old guy a chance and hear what he had to say about nothing in particular.

Cito began blathering away, answering Gordo's softballs with aplomb. My mind turned to a minor project I kicked around but didn't follow through on: a fake Cito Twitter account. I realize fake Twitters are PLAYED OUT, but the real reason this fake Cito thing went nowhere was I didn't have the heart to do it. I don't want to be mean to Cito. I have just as many strong feelings and affections towards Cito as anyone, I simply cannot support him in his current role.

The segment progressed and my animosity towards Cito faded quickly. I found myself putting together a post &mdash not unlike the first two paragraphs of this one &mdash in my head, confessing to transgressions against Citocity and the greater Blue Jays good. At the same time, I LoLed to myself at the thought of a question about Brad Arnsberg. Then, out of the fucking blue, Don Fucking Landry busts out a question about Brian Butterfield! Donny I could kiss you! Give Cito the chance clear the air about divisions/dissension within his coaching staff and make good with a very popular coach. Except Cito did not do that. In addition to forgetting what city he was in yesterday, Cito opted to let his bitter old bastardom air for all to hear.

Here's a link to the audio and I'll transcribe Cito's answer to Landry's question. In a nutshell; Don asked if Cito thought Butterfield could be a manager in the big leagues one day. Cito offered this bon mot:

Well you know, it's hard for me to say. Butterfield did a good job for us as the bench coach and third base coach, but who knows? There's a lot of guys don't play in the big leagues cuz they can't handle the pressure, just like there's a lot of guys that can't manage in the big leagues because they can't handle the pressure. We'll have to see what Butterfield is like under pressure.

Holy fucking shit. A quick BR search reveals Brian Butterfield did not, in fact, play in the big leagues. Which seems to eliminate him from contention to ever manage in the majors because "he didn't play the game." Seriously Cito? Was it really that hard to say one single postive thing about Brian Butterfield and all he's done for this team? Were you and Geno Goddamn Tenacci out there making Marco Scutaro rich and netting Orlando Hudson and Aaron Hill boatloads of accolades?

It was really disappointing to hear Cito not quite disparage Butter but hint at a unspoken level of disapproval. Butterfield's father worked as a suit in the Yankee organization, the same team BB spent most of his minor league career with. No doubt the calls of nepotism followed him at every step, probably with good reason. But how sad is it that some 30 years later he could still be dealing with the same type of derision?

The entire segment left a bitter taste in my mouth and somehow tarnished my image of The Manager even further. Cito's reputation as a petty grudge-holder is now, more than ever, cemented in my mind. Congratulations to The Manager for proving himself to be inept and disappointing off the field too.

Image courtesy of your Toronto Star.