Phil Garner

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Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949, in Jefferson City, Tennessee) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988. He is now the manager of the Houston Astros.

Contents 1 MLB career 2 Trivia 3 External links 4 Record

[edit] MLB career

Nicknamed "Scrap-Iron" due to his gritty style of play, Garner's best year as a player was 1979, when he was a member of the World Series champion Pirates, batting .417 in the NL Championship Series and .500 (12 for 24) in the World Series.

Garner later became a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros, leading the Astros to the World Series in 2005.

In 1992, Garner replaced Tom Trebelhorn as manager of the Brewers. He quickly placed a running style of play as every starter stole at least 10 bases. Standing out were 1992 AL Rookie of the Year Pat Listach who stole 54 bases, veteran Paul Molitor stealing 31, and outfielder Darryl Hamilton stealing 41. This gave the 1992 Brewers a 2nd place finish in the competitive AL East but Garner's teams in later seasons in both Milwaukee and Detroit would not finish at .500.

The 2004 season was different for Garner. After a slow start under then manager Jimy Williams, Garner was brought in mid-season to replace Williams and led the Astros to a National League Wild Card berth, eventually losing to St. Louis in the league championship series. The team experienced another slow start in 2005 but made a run once again late in the season and came back to win another Wild Card. This time, Houston would beat St. Louis and win the pennant but would be swept by the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.

Under his leadership in the last 12 games of the 2006 season, the Astros won 10 and lost 2 putting them a game and half behind the Division winners. Garner's contract was extended through the end of the 2008 season by the Astros. As manager of a pennant winning team the year before, Garner managed the 2006 National League All-Star Team in Pittsburgh on July 11, 2006. Garner cites Chuck Tanner, his manager during his time with the Pirates, as one of his biggest coaching influences [1].

[edit] Trivia

Garner was involved in the two longest post-season games in the history of baseball, played almost 20 years apart. He was the Astros' manager in the 18-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves on October 9, 2005. In the 16-inning loss to the New York Mets on October 15, 1986, Garner was the starting third baseman for the Astros, going 1-for-3, before being replaced by a pinch-hitter. Both games had the final score of 7-6. Interestingly, he also managed the Astros for the longest World Series game in length of time (five hours and forty-one minutes). The Chicago White Sox won the game, 7-5 in the 14th inning (tied for longest by innings).

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics
• Baseball-Reference.com - career managerial record

Preceded by Tom Trebelhorn	Milwaukee Brewers Manager 1992-1999	Succeeded by Jim Lefebvre
Preceded by Larry Parrish	Detroit Tigers Manager 2000–2002	Succeeded by Luis Pujols
Preceded by Jimy Williams	Houston Astros Manager 2004-	Succeeded by Current Manager

[edit] Record

Year	League	Division	Team	Age	Games	Won	Lost	Win%	Finish
1992	AL	East	Milwaukee	43	162	92	70	.568	2nd
1993				44	162	69	93	.426	7th
1994		Central		45	115	53	62	.461	5th
1995				46	144	65	79	.451	4th
1996				47	163	80	82	.494	3rd
1997				48	161	78	83	.484	3rd
1998	NL	Central		49	162	74	88	.457	5th
1999				50	112	52	60	.464	5th
2000	AL	Central	Detroit	51	162	79	83	.488	3rd
2001				52	162	66	96	.407	4th
2002				53	6	0	6	.000	5th
2004	NL	Central	Houston	55	74	48	26	.649	2nd
2005				56	163	89	73	.549	2nd
2006				57	162	82	80	.506	2nd
Totals					1746	845	901	.484	2nd

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