Friday, March 10, 2006--The Beaver & Cito

Today I found 78 cents . . . 4 dimes, 1 quarter, and 13 pennies.

On my way to work this morning I stopped by the Kwick Kar Wash and found eight cents (all pennies). I ate lunch at the building next door and under one of their vending machines I found 37 cents (one dime, one quarter, and two pennies). On the way home I stopped at the car wash next to my apartment complex and found 11 cents (one dime & one penny) and while doing laundry this evening I found two very dirty pennies on the ground outside the laundry room. My final find of the evening was 20 cents (two dimes) which were recovered from under a stamp vending machine at a local post office.

Today I present the second of two pictures of The Beaver, The Official Mascot of The Race of the Century. While I was visiting the camp of the Toronto Blue Jays I noticed that former Manager Cito Gaston was an instructor in camp. He graciously agreed to pose with The Beaver, only after stating, “I sure as hell hope this picture doesn’t show up somewhere and make me look stupid.” Heavens no.


Cito Gaston was the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays when they won the World Series in 1992 and 1993. He was the manager of the 1993 All-Star Game which was held in Baltimore, MD and became infamous when he did not pitch Mike Mussina, only one of two Orioles who made the team. Chants of “Cito Sucks! Cito Sucks!” were heard every time he returned to town, and the slogan became so popular that t-shirts and bumper stickers were printed (I must confess that at one time I owned one of the t-shirts, and wore it proudly).

Cito seemed to be a nice guy in person. When I told him I was from Baltimore his response was, “I know, I know. I suck. You are still ticked that I didn’t pitch Mussina in the 1993 All-Star Game.” He did explain that he had told Mussina before the game that he would not pitch unless the game went into extra innings. Mussina, not pleased with the decision, got up in the 9th inning and started to warm up, perhaps hoping to force his way in. When the game ended and Mussina was not called in the stadium went nuts. Apparently to this day he can’t show his face in Baltimore.

Totals for the day: 78 cents
Race Totals: $273.49