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Ron Gardenhire

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Ron Gardenhire
Gardenhire with the Minnesota Twins, 2013
Shortstop / Manager / Coach
Born: (1957-10-24) October 24, 1957 (age 67)
Butzbach, Hessen, West Germany
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1981, for the New York Mets
Last MLB appearance
October 6, 1985, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average.232
Home runs4
Runs batted in49
Managerial record1,200–1,280
Winning %.484
Teams
As player

As manager

As coach

Career highlights and awards

Ronald Clyde Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played as a shortstop for the New York Mets from 1981 through 1985. After another year playing in the minor leagues, he served as a manager in the Minnesota Twins farm system for three years, then as a coach for the Twins from 1991 through 2001, and then as the Twins' manager from 2002 through 2014, winning the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2010. He then coached for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017 and managed the Detroit Tigers from 2018 through most of 2020, when he retired from baseball.

Early life

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Ron Gardenhire was born to a military family at the U.S. Army base in Butzbach, West Germany.[1] While growing up, he expected to join the military, but his passion for baseball was also encouraged by his father.[2] The family later settled in Oklahoma where he attended Okmulgee High School and college at the University of Texas at Austin.

Playing career

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The New York Mets drafted Gardenhire in the sixth round (132nd overall) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.[3] He played for the Mets for five seasons, from 1981 to 1985. During his playing career, Gardenhire played shortstop, second base, and third base. He was plagued by injuries, especially to his hamstring. Only twice did he play in more than 70 games in a season, in 1982 and 1984.[4] Following the 1986 season, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he played one season for their Triple-A affiliate before retiring as a player.[5]

Gardenhire stood six feet (183 cm) tall, and weighed 175 (79 kg) pounds during most of his baseball playing career.[4]

Managerial career

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Minor leagues

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For three years after he retired as a player (1988–90), Gardenhire was a manager in the Minnesota farm system, leading teams in the Class A Midwest League and Class AA Southern League to one second- and two first-place finishes.[5] Gardenhire interviewed for the manager position of the San Francisco Giants in late 1993 and made the final round of finalists; the Giants hired Dusty Baker.[6]

Minnesota Twins

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On January 4, 2002, Gardenhire was named manager of the Twins, replacing Tom Kelly, who had won two World Series titles with the Twins.[7] In contrast to Kelly's relatively calm, Bud Grant-like coaching style, Gardenhire was a very active and aggressive manager, frequently exiting the dugout to argue with umpires, leading some to joke that "Gardy" got ejected more times in a season than Kelly did in his entire career. In his 13 seasons managing the Twins, Gardenhire was ejected 73 times.[8] An early 2006 television commercial for the Twins pokes fun at this, showing Gardenhire arguing with an office worker planning to go home after work rather than go to the Twins game.[citation needed]

Gardenhire in 2006

Heading into Gardenhire's first season as team manager, the Twins had not been to the postseason since their World Series championship in 1991, and had barely escaped being dissolved entirely by a contraction plan that was aborted by a court ruling which bound the team to their lease with the Metrodome.[9] Under Gardenhire, the Twins had a turnaround season in 2002 as they won the American League Central and made it to the 2002 American League Championship Series.[10]

In thirteen seasons as the Twins' manager, Gardenhire's team had a losing record five times (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014), and won the division six times (the Twins lost a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox to determine the division champion at the end of the 2008 season). Despite all of the team's regular season success under Gardenhire, the Twins advanced to the American League Championship Series only once – his first season, in 2002 – and did not reach the World Series. In Gardenhire's tenure as the manager of the Twins, the team posted a playoff record of 6 wins and 21 losses. He was the first manager in major league history to take a team to the playoffs six times in a tenure and never make it to the World Series (Bob Melvin joined him in 2020), and he is one of just five managers with at least four playoff appearances to never appear in one.[11]

Gardenhire won the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2010[12] and finished as runner-up for the award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009 while leading the Twins. He finished third in the voting in 2002, his first season as manager. Gardenhire's five runner-up finishes are tied with Tony La Russa, who won the award outright an additional four times.[13] In 2009, he received the Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award.[14]

On November 13, 2008, Gardenhire signed a contract extension that kept him as the Twins' manager through the 2011 season.[15] On November 18, 2010, the Twins announced a two-year contract extension through 2013.[16] In October 2012, after two consecutive 90-plus loss seasons, Gardenhire was not given a contract extension past the 2013 season. On September 30, 2013, despite having another 90-plus loss season for the third year in a row, Gardenhire was given a two-year extension, through 2015. He had 998 career wins at the end of the 2013 season.[17]

Gardenhire earned his 1,000th managerial victory on April 5, 2014 with a 7–3 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. He became the 60th manager in Major League history to top one thousand wins. Gardenhire is only the tenth manager to accomplish this feat with only one team, joining the Twins' previous manager, Tom Kelly, on that list.[18]

On September 29, 2014, Gardenhire was fired after 13 seasons as Twins manager and 27 years in the Twins organization.[19] The last four years of Gardenhire's tenure were the worst in Twins' history.[20] This included 383 losses and a record of 78–148 from August 1 to the end of the season.[20] His overall regular season record was 1,068–1,039 and his playoff record was 6–21.[21][22]

Gardenhire was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2022.[23]

Detroit Tigers

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On October 20, 2017, it was announced that Gardenhire had signed a three-year contract to take the helm of the Detroit Tigers beginning in the 2018 season. He succeeded Brad Ausmus, who posted a 314–332 record in four seasons.[24]

In his first game as the Tigers' manager, Gardenhire was ejected after what initially appeared to be a walk-off win in the 10th inning over the Pittsburgh Pirates was overturned on video review. The Tigers lost the game to the Pirates, 13–10, in 13 innings.[25]

On September 19, 2020, Gardenhire announced his retirement as a manager due to health concerns.[26]

Managerial record

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
MIN 2002 161 94 67 .584 1st in AL Central 4 6 .400 Lost ALCS (ANA)
MIN 2003 162 90 72 .556 1st in AL Central 1 3 .250 Lost ALDS (NYY)
MIN 2004 162 92 70 .568 1st in AL Central 1 3 .250 Lost ALDS (NYY)
MIN 2005 162 83 79 .512 3rd in AL Central – – –
MIN 2006 162 96 66 .593 1st in AL Central 0 3 .000 Lost ALDS (OAK)
MIN 2007 162 79 83 .488 3rd in AL Central – – –
MIN 2008 163 88 75 .540 2nd in AL Central – – –
MIN 2009 163 87 76 .534 1st in AL Central 0 3 .000 Lost ALDS (NYY)
MIN 2010 162 94 68 .580 1st in AL Central 0 3 .000 Lost ALDS (NYY)
MIN 2011 162 63 99 .389 5th in AL Central – – –
MIN 2012 162 66 96 .407 5th in AL Central – – –
MIN 2013 162 66 96 .407 4th in AL Central – – –
MIN 2014 162 70 92 .432 5th in AL Central – – –
MIN total 2107 1068 1039 .507 6 21 .222
DET 2018 162 64 98 .395 3rd in AL Central – – –
DET 2019 161 47 114 .292 5th in AL Central – – –
DET 2020 50 21 29 .420 Retired – – –
DET total 373 132 241 .354 0 0 –
Total[21] 2480 1200 1280 .484 6 21 .222

Coaching career

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In 1991, Gardenhire became the Twins' third base coach and held that post for 11 full seasons, including the team's 1991 World Series championship.

In November 2016, Gardenhire was hired as the bench coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks.[27] However, after the first seven games of the season, he left the team on a leave of absence for prostate cancer surgery. He was replaced by Jerry Narron, who took over as interim bench coach.[28] After a five-week absence, Gardenhire rejoined the Diamondbacks in May.[29]

Personal life

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Toby Gardenhire with the New Britain Rock Cats in 2009

Gardenhire is married to Carol (née Kissling). The Gardenhires have three children: son Toby, and daughters Tiffany and Tara.[30]

Toby Gardenhire was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 41st round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft,[31] spent most of his time as a utility player, and rose as high as the AAA Rochester Red Wings, before retiring as a player.[32] Like his father, Toby was known more for his glove than his bat. After hitting .247 in 103 games at Rochester in 2011, Toby finished with a career line of .232/.291/.274, with six home runs, in 533 minor league games, while seeing playing time at all nine defensive positions, including 2+2⁄3 innings as a pitcher.[32]

After a stint as the head coach for the University of Wisconsin-Stout baseball team,[33] Toby Gardenhire joined the Twins system, first with the Cedar Rapids Kernels in the Twins farm system.[34] Since 2021, Toby has managed the Twins' AAA-affiliate St. Paul Saints.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Gardenhire is the Twins' steady hand". Yahoo! Sports. September 28, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  2. ^ Thesier, Kelly (October 1, 2010). "Gardenhire's calm comes from father". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on October 3, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "6th Round of the 1979 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Ron Gardenhire – Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Ron Gardenhire – Minor League Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "Cheers for New Giant Manager : Baseball: Dusty Baker is already a popular figure in San Francisco". Los Angeles Times. December 17, 1992.
  7. ^ "It's official: Twins name Gardenhire manager". ESPN. Associated Press. January 4, 2002. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  8. ^ "Ron Gardenhire". Retrosheet. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "Judge orders Twins to play in 2002". United Press International. November 16, 2001. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  10. ^ "2002 Minnesota Twins Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  11. ^ "MLB Managers". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. ^ Thesier, Kelly; Beck, Jason (November 18, 2010). "Twins' Gardenhire voted AL's top manager". Minnesota Twins. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  13. ^ Thesier, Kelly (November 12, 2008). "Manager of Year eludes Gardenhire". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  14. ^ "Ron Gardenhire, Manager of the Minnesota Twins, Selected as the Third Annual "Chuck Tanner Major League Baseball Manager of the Year"". PRWeb. Vocus PRW Holdings. October 28, 2009. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  15. ^ Thesier, Kelly (November 13, 2008). "Twins extend Gardenhire through 2011". Minnesota Twins. MLB.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  16. ^ "Twins sign manager Ron Gardenhire to two-year contract extension". Minnesota Twins. MLB.com. November 18, 2010. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  17. ^ "Twins agree to contract extension with Gardenhire". Minnesota Twins. MLB.com. September 30, 2013. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  18. ^ "Twins beat Indians in manager Ron Gardenhire's 1,000th win". ESPN. Associated Press. April 5, 2014.
  19. ^ Brackin, Dennis (September 29, 2014). "Ron Gardenhire out as Twins manager". Star Tribune. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  20. ^ a b "Twins Fire Manager Ron Gardenhire After 13 Seasons". USA Today. Associated Press. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Ron Gardenhire – Managerial Record". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  22. ^ "Tigers' Ron Gardenhire back in Minnesota: 'Always loved this place'". ESPN. Associated Press. May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  23. ^ Monitto, Matt (January 22, 2022). "Ron Gardenhire, Dan Gladden, César Tovar named to Twins Hall of Fame". Twinkie Town. SB Nation. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  24. ^ Beck, Jason (October 20, 2017). "Tigers, Gardenhire finalize skipper's 3-year deal". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
  25. ^ "Manager ejected in Tigers debut after replay erases walk-off". New York Post. Associated Press. March 30, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  26. ^ Beck, Jason (September 19, 2020). "Citing health, Tigers manager Gardy retires". Detroit Tigers. MLB.com. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  27. ^ Gilbert, Steve (November 17, 2016). "Gardenhire among D-backs' coaching staff hires". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  28. ^ Nightengale, Bob (April 9, 2017). "As Diamondbacks go on without him, Ron Gardenhire readies for cancer fight". USA Today. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  29. ^ McManaman, Bob (May 18, 2017). "Ron Gardenhire back where he belongs - in the dugout as Diamondbacks' bench coach". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  30. ^ "Coach Bio". Arizona Diamondbacks. MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  31. ^ "41st Round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Toby Gardenhire Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  33. ^ "University of Wisconsin-Stout - 2015 Baseball Coaching Staff". University of Wisconsin–Stout.
  34. ^ Johnson, Jeff (December 9, 2017). "New Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Toby Gardenhire returns to pro ball after 5 years coaching in college". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  35. ^ Park, Do-Hyoung (January 19, 2021). "Toby Gardenhire to manage St. Paul Saints". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ron Gardenhire.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Minnesota Twins third base coach
1991–1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
???
 Minnesota Twins bench coach
1995 		Succeeded by
???
Preceded by Minnesota Twins first base coach
1996–1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minnesota Twins third base coach
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach
2017 		Succeeded by
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