Gary Gaetti

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Gary Gaetti

Third baseman
Born: August 19, 1958 (1958-08-19) (age 53)
Centralia, Illinois
Batted: Right Threw: Right 
MLB debut
September 20, 1981 for the Minnesota Twins
Last MLB appearance
April 12, 2000 for the Boston Red Sox
Career statistics
Batting average     .255
Home runs     360
Runs batted in     1,341
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Gary Joseph Gaetti (play /ˈɡaɪ.ɛti/; born August 19, 1958 in Centralia, Illinois), nicknamed "G-Man", "Rat", or "Zorn" is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins (1981–90), California Angels (1991–93), Kansas City Royals (1993–95), St. Louis Cardinals (1996–98), Chicago Cubs (1998–99) and Boston Red Sox (2000).

Gaetti won a World Series championship with Minnesota in 1987 and was the MVP of that year's American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. That year, he became the first player ever to hit home runs in his first two postseason plate appearances.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Gary Gaetti played collegiate baseball for Lake Land College in Mattoon, IL and Northwest Missouri State University. Legend has it that Gaetti holds the record for the longest distance home run in NWMSU baseball history, an estimated 505 foot home run. Gaetti was drafted three times before finally signing with the Minnesota Twins: first by the St Louis Cardinals in the 4th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft (then held annually in January) and again in 1978 by the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd round of June Secondary Draft before he was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the June Secondary portion of the 1979 draft. Gaetti wasted little time and signed on 21 June 1979.[1]

Gaetti then spent the next three years in the Twins' minor league system, playing for the rookie-level Elizabethton Twins in the Appalachian League in 1979, the A-level Wisconsin Rapids Twins in the Midwest League in 1980, and the AA-level Orlando Twins in the Southern League in 1981. Gaetti then made his major league debut in nine September games which included hitting a home run in his first-ever major league at bat. In 1982, Gaetti would become a permanent fixture at third base for the Twins and would man the hot corner in Minnesota for the next nine seasons.

Gaetti was known as a power-hitting third baseman who's arguably best season was in 1986 when he batted .287 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in. Gaetti also flashed an above-average glove and starting in 1986, he won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards for fielding excellence. Gaetti helped propel the Twins into the 1987 post-season and their first World Series championship with a typical Gaetti season, hitting .257 with 31 homeruns and 109 RBI. He also hit himself into the record books, slugging two home runs in his first two career postseason at-bats in the American League Championship Series to help the Twins upset the favored Detroit Tigers.

Gaetti was selected as an All-Star in 1988 and 1989. Playing against the Boston Red Sox on July 17, 1990, Gaetti helped the Twins make history as the team became the first (and to date the only) team in baseball history to turn two triple plays in the same game. Despite their defensive heroics, the Twins lost the game 1–0.[2][3]

His production at the plate would drop following his big seasons in 1987 and 1988[4] and after hitting only .229 in 1990, Gaetti left the Twins for the Angels as a free agent following the season. His production continued to drop off with the Angels and only 2 1/2 years into his four year contract, he was released in June 1993. However he was almost immediately signed by the Royals, who had lost their projected regular third baseman, Keith Miller, to injury and had been playing struggling rookie Phil Hiatt at third. Signed for the major league minimum salary ($109,000) and handed the third base job almost by default, Gaetti turned his career around and hit 26 homeruns for the Royals in 665 at-bats between 1993 and 1994, splitting time at third with Keith Miller, David Howard, and Terry Shumpert. In 1995, Gaetti played in 137 games and at the age of 36, he put together one of his best seasons, hitting .261 with 35 homeruns and 96 RBI, winning his only Silver Slugger,[4] setting a career high in home runs and missing the Royals team record for most home runs in a season by one.

Following the 1995 season, Gaetti signed as a free agent with the Cardinals, where he enjoyed two more productive seasons before being released again in August 1998 after the Cardinals' acquisition of Fernando Tatis. Gaetti landed on his feet again and immediately signed with the Cubs, where he enjoyed a good two months during the Cubs' pennant drive, hitting .320/8/27 and helping the Cubs win the National League wild card. The following season, the Cubs became disillusioned with its aging infield, which featured Gaetti at third, Jeff Blauser at short, Mickey Morandini at second, and Mark Grace at first and Gaetti played only semi-regularly and was released at the end of the season after hitting only .204 with 9 homeruns. He wound up his career the following season in Boston, appearing in five games in April 2000 at the age of 41.

Bill James noted Gaetti's baseball-related aging process as being unusual for two reasons. Unlike most other league veterans, his walk rate never improved and his rate of productivity decline was "exceptionally" slow.[5] Gaetti retired as the all-time home run king of players that homered in their first Major League at bat. Gaetti was used as an emergency relief pitcher by both the Cardinals and the Cubs, retiring with an ERA of 7.71 and one strikeout in three appearances.

[edit] Retirement

Gaetti was inducted into the NWMSU athletic hall of fame, the "M-Club", in October 2003. He coached in the Houston Astros minor league system as a hitting coach with the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs from 2002 to 2004.[6] Gaetti was promoted to hitting coach for the Astros on July 14, 2004 when the team dismissed manager Jimy Williams, hitting coach Harry Spilman, and pitching coach Burt Hooton. Gaetti remained in this position until July 12, 2006, when he was fired by the Astros. Following the season, he was hired as the hitting coach for Tampa Bay's AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls. On October 2, 2008, former Durham Bull, rookie Evan Longoria, joined Gaetti in the record books by hitting homeruns in his first two post-season at-bats.

Currently, Gaetti is working at Baseball USA in Houston, Texas.[7] On August 19, 2007, Gaetti's 49th birthday, the Minnesota Twins inducted him into the team's Hall of Fame, while the club simultaneously released a commemorative bobblehead in his honor.

Gaetti's son Joe played collegiate baseball for North Carolina State and played in the minor leagues in five different farm systems, including two separate stints with the Twins AA-level club, the New Britain Rock Cats. After failing to advance beyond the AAA level in the minor leagues, Joe spent 2010 playing for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League.[8]

He was named the first manager of the Sugar Land Skeeters.[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Gary Gaetti Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gaettga01.shtml. Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  2. ^ "Baseball's Triple Plays - Trivia & Miscellanea". Tripleplays.sabr.org. http://tripleplays.sabr.org/tp_trivia.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  3. ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Boston Red Sox 1, Minnesota Twins 0". Retrosheet.org. 1990-07-17. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1990/B07170BOS1990.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  4. ^ a b http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gaettga01.shtml
  5. ^ James, Bill (2003-04-06). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press. pp. p. 562. ISBN 0743227220. 
  6. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Gary_Gaetti
  7. ^ "Baseball USA". Baseball USA. http://www.baseballusa.com/index.php?page=instructors/instruction-gary-gaetti. Retrieved 2011-03-28. 
  8. ^ http://www.thebaseballcube.com/profile.asp?P=Joe-Gaetti
  9. ^ http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/08/08/sugar-land-skeeters-choose-former-astros-hitting-coach-20-year-veteran-gary-gaetti-as-first-manager/

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Marty Barrett		 American League Championship Series MVP
1987		 Succeeded by
Dennis Eckersley
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