Phil Garner Stats & Facts
Phil Garner
Positions: Manager, Infielder
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 70 Weight: 175
Born: Saturday, April 30, 1949 in Jefferson City, TN USA
Died: in ,
Debut: 9/10/1973
Last Game: 10/2/1988
Full Name: Philip Mason Garner
Among the former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date, Phil Garner, infielder for the 1977-81 Pirates. The Pirates acquired Garner from the Oakland A’s in a nine-player deal on March 15, 1977. Prior to joining Pittsburgh, he had played two full seasons with the A’s and was named to the American League All-Star team during the 1976 season. He was the third overall pick in the 1971 amateur draft, one spot behind outfielder Robert Jones, who was picked by the Pirates second overall, and whose minor league career lasted just 34 games. Garner saw most of his time at third base for the Pirates in 1977, but he also played 50 games at second base and saw some time at shortstop as well. He played 153 games and hit .260 with 17 homers, 77 RBIs, 32 stolen bases, 35 doubles and 99 runs scored. The home run total, as well as his runs scored, doubles and RBIs were all career highs.
In 1978 Garner split his time evenly between second base and third base, playing 81 games at each spot (some games he played both positions). That year he had a .261 average and really liked the number sixty-six. He had 66 walks, 66 runs scored and 66 RBIs on the season. The 1979 season was obviously a special one for the Pirates and Garner did his part in helping the team get their fifth World Series title. He again split his time between 2B/3B and hit .293 with 76 runs scored and 59 RBIs in 150 games. In the playoffs he was even better, hitting .417 with a home run in the NLCS against the Reds and .500 in the World Series, with five RBIs against the Orioles. In 1980, he became the Pirates regular second baseman, playing 151 games at the spot and making his second All-Star team.
In 1981, Garner was hitting nearly .300 through the end of May, but as the strike deadline approached he began to slump and his poor hitting continued through the month of August after the players returned from the 49-day strike. Luckily for Garner, the All-Star game was held right after the strike ended so he was able to make the team for a third time in his career. On August 31, 1981, the Pirates traded Garner to the Houston Astros in exchange for pitcher Randy Niemann, minor leaguer Kevin Houston and another minor league player, who went right to Pittsburgh to fill Garner’s spot at second base. That player turned out to be Johnny Ray, who made his Major League debut just two days later. Garner ended up playing in the majors until 1988, finishing his career with a .260 average, 738 RBIs, 225 stolen bases and 780 runs scored in 1,680 games. After retiring as a player, he managed for 15 seasons in the majors.