Gary Gaetti

Positions: Third Baseman and First Baseman
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-0, 180lb (183cm, 81kg)
Born: August 19, 1958 in Centralia, IL
Draft: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 1978 MLB January Draft-Regular Phase from Lake Land College (Mattoon, IL), the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd round of the 1978 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from Lake Land College (Mattoon, IL) and the Minnesota Twins in the 1st round (11th) of the 1979 MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase from Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville, MO).
High School: Centralia HS (Centralia, IL)
Schools: Lake Land College (Mattoon, IL), Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville, MO)
Debut: September 20, 1981 (14,560th in major league history)
vs. TEX 3 AB, 1 H, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB
Last Game: April 12, 2000
vs. MIN 3 AB, 0 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 SB
Full Name: Gary Joseph Gaetti
Nicknames: The Rat or G-Man
Pronunciation: \guy-ETT-ee\
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

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Baseball Hall of Famers

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1981

Cal Ripken Jr.
Gary Gaetti
Chili Davis
Brett Butler
Ryne Sandberg
Steve Bedrosian
Tom Brunansky
Kent Hrbek
Steve Sax

All-Time Teammate Team

Coming Soon

Notable Events and Chronology

April 6, 1982

The largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in Minnesota, 52,279, turns out for the inaugural game at the brand-new Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Twins rookie Gary Gaetti has four hits, including a pair of home runs, but the visiting Seattle Mariners win, 11 – 7.

May 29, 1982

At Minnesota‚ the Yanks put runners on first base (Graig Nettles) and second base (Bobby Murcer) with no outs. When Roy Smalley strikes out on a wide 3-2 pitch from Terry Felton‚ Murcer attempts to steal third base. But Sal Butera’s throw beats him so badly he retreats to second, only to find Nettles there. Gary Gaetti tags Murcer who is standing safely alone on the base‚ and then throws to Kent Hrbek to catch Nettles heading back to first. Murcer then tries for third and Hrbek’s throw to Felton, covering the bag, completes the triple play. Alas‚ Felton‚ 0-8 coming into the game gets a no-decision‚ and will lose another 5 to finish his career with an 0-16 record.

September 4, 1982

1982 – At Baltimore, Jim Palmer one-hits the Twins, 3 – 0, for Baltimore to get his 11th consecutive victory. The only hit is Gary Gaetti’s two-out single in the 5th inning. It is Palmer’s second career one-hitter against the Twins.

May 16, 1983

Despite six 9th-inning runs on solo home runs by Dave Engle and Bobby Mitchell and two-run shots by Gary Gaetti and Mickey Hatcher, the Twins lose, 7 – 6, to Oakland. Engle’s and Hatcher’s homers are pinch hits.

July 18, 1986

Against Baltimore’s Scott McGregor, the Twins’ first two batters – Kirby Puckett and Gary Gaetti – hit homers. Puckett adds another to help the Twins to a 7 – 3 win. Bert Blyleven is the winner.

October 7, 1987

1987 – Don Baylor singles to break an 8th-inning tie and Gary Gaetti homers in his first two playoff at-bats as the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 8 – 5, in the opening game of the American League Championship Series.

October 12, 1987

1987 – The Minnesota Twins beat Detroit, 9 – 5, in Game 5 of the ALCS to wrap up their first American League title since 1965. Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti is named MVP.

December 25, 1987

Major League Season Recap 1987

July 17, 1990

Minnesota becomes the first team in history to turn two triple plays in the same game.

September 23, 1990

Gary Gaetti hits a grand slam off the Rangers’ Charlie Hough for his 200th career home run, as the Twins win, 6 – 4. It comes nine years and four days after his first major league homer, also off Hough.

July 20, 1993

1993 – Baltimore P Ben McDonald hurls a one-hit shutout to beat the Royals, 7 – 0. Gary Gaetti’s single is the only hit.

August 31, 1993

3B Gary Gaetti of the Royals hits the 239th home run of his career in Kansas City’s 6 – 5 win over Milwaukee. By doing so, he becomes the all-time home run leader for players who homered in their first big league at bat, moving past Hall of Famer Earl Averill.

October 10, 1996

Gary Gaetti hits a grand slam off Greg Maddux to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8 – 3 win over the Atlanta Braves and a tie of the NLCS. Todd Stottlemyre gets the victory.

September 26, 1998

Sammy Sosa has no homers but a pair of hits and scores the game-winning run as the Cubs edge Houston, 3 – 2. Gary Gaetti has two RBIs while Jeff Bagwell hits his 34th for the Astros.

December 7, 1998

The Cubs sign two free agents, 3B Gary Gaetti and OF Glenallen Hill.

July 3, 1999

The Phillies defeat the Cubs, 21 – 8, scoring eight runs in the 1st inning and seven more with two outs in the 4th. 2B Marlon Anderson gets five hits for Philadelphia, including a home run off 3B Gary Gaetti, who is forced into mound duty for Chicago.

October 2, 2008

In the Rays’ first-ever playoff appearance, the ten year-old franchise defeats the visiting White Sox at Tropicana Field, 6-4. Tampa Bay’s rookie third baseman Evan Longoria joins Gary Gaetti (1987) in becoming only the second player to homer in his first two postseason at-bats.

April 28, 2010

Luke Hughes becomes the fifth player in Twins’ history to homer in his first at-bat in the major leagues when he goes deep off Detroit’s Max Scherzer in Minnesota’s 11-6 loss at Comerica Park. The Australian-born rookie third baseman joins Rick Renick (1968), Dave McKay (1975), Gary Gaetti (1981), and Andre David (1984) in accomplishing the feat.

Biography

Gaetti was a smash in debuts. He hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, homered twice in the first game every played at the Metrodome, and went deep in his first two post-season at-bats. The rest of his career was pretty amazing as well, as he logged 360 homers and retired among the all-time leaders in games played, assists and putouts by a third baseman. Gaetti was the best defensive third baseman in the American League in the 1980s, and he played well until he was 40 years old. He was a fan favorite nearly everywhere he played, and he played for six teams in 20 seasons. With the Minnesota Twins, he helped win the 1987 World Series title, and won four Gold Glove Awards. Later, he had strong offensive seasons for the Royals and Cardinals while still flashing the leather at third base.

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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

Played For
Minnesota Twins (1981-1990)
California Angels (1991-1993)
Kansas City Royals (1993-1995)
St. Louis Cardinals (1996-1998)
Chicago Cubs (1998-1999)
Boston Red Sox (2000)

Similar: Tim Wallach, Ron Santo

Linked: Tim Laudner, Kent Hrbek, Ron Washington, Tom Brunansky, Gary Ward, Bobby Mitchell and Randy Johnson. All of these players and Gaetti, had their first chance to be regulars in 1982 with the Minnesota Twins. Randy Bush and Jim Eisenreich were also on that team as rookies. Some of these players (Washington, Ward and Mitchell) were older players who never had a chance prior to 1982, to show what they could. The rest were 21-24 years old and formed the core of the Twins’ teams that found success later in the decade.

Best Season, 1987
His offensive numbers were better in 1986, and possibly 1988, but in 1987 Gaetti excelled in the field and at bat, while helping the Twins to their first World Series title. He clubbed 31 homers, set a career-high with 109 RBI, scored 95 runs and won the Gold Glove at third. He committed just 11 errors in 150 games at the hot corner. In the playoffs, he was named MVP in the defeat of Detroit, and had four extra-base hits and four RBI against the Cardinals in the Fall Classic.

Awards and Honors
1986 AL Gold Glove
1987 AL ALCS MVP
1987 AL Gold Glove
1988 AL Gold Glove
1989 AL Gold Glove

Post-Season Appearances
1987 American League Championship Series
1987 World Series
1996 National League Championship Series
1996 National League Divisional Series
1998 National League Divisional Series

Factoid
Gary Gaetti hit a homer in his first ML at-bat, on September 20, 1981, off Rangers’ knuckleballer Charlie Hough. Nine years later, almost to the day, on September 23, 1990, Gaetti blasted his 200th career homer – a grand slam off Hough.

Post-Season Notes
Gaetti was named Most Valuable Player of the 1987 ALCS, in which the Twins upset the favored Tigers in five games. Gaetti hit .300 with two homers and five RBI.

Notes
1987 was Gaetti’s best overall season, but he was far from being a road warrior. That season, he hit only .205 with a .250 OBP and dismal .389 SLG mark away from the Metrodome (74 games). At home, he hit .306 with a .575 SLG mark, helped by 18 homers and 57 RBI. Riding that trend, the Twins lost every game away from home in the playoffs, but won every contest under the Dome.

Triple Double!
On July 17, 1990, Gaetti and the Twins recorded two triple plays against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. In the fourth inning, with three Boston runners on board, Gaetti went 5-4-3 on a ground ball hit by former teammate Tom Brunansky. In the eighth, with runners on first and second, Jody Reed grounded to Gaetti, who again stepped on third, fired to shortstop Al Newman at second, who relayed to first for the triple play. Despite the defensive gems, the Twins lost, 1-0. The twin triple plays were a major league record, and ran Gaetti’s personal total to five.

First Game Under the Roof
Gaetti welcomed the Metrodome in grand fashion. In the first game played in that facility, on April 6, 1982, he went 4-for-4, with two homers, and nearly made it three. Late in the game, which Minnesota lost, 11-7 to the Mariners, Gaetti laced a ball deep to left-center. Rounding third he barrelled for home, trying to add an inside-the-park homer to his ledger. But he was rifled down at the plate.

All-Star Selections
1988 AL
1989 AL

Replaced
Gaetti became the Twins’ starting third baseman in 1982, pushing former AL Rookie of the Year John Castino to second base.

Replaced By
Gaetti’s last starting gig was with the Cubs in 1999. The next season he was gone, and Willie Greene was at the hot corner.

Best Strength as a Player
Defense at the hot corner.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Strike zone judgment. Gaetti drew just 634 walks in 20 seasons, and struck out 1,602 times.

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