Ron Gardenhire
Template:Infobox MLB retired Ronald Clyde Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957 in Butzbach, Hesse, Germany) is a manager in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins in the American League. He attended Okmulgee High School in Oklahoma and college at the University of Texas at Austin.
He is six feet (183 cm) tall and, during his baseball career, weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). He played five seasons of baseball with the New York Mets of the National League from 1981 to 1985. The Mets drafted him in the sixth round of the 1979 amateur draft. In his career, he played shortstop, second base, and third base. During his career, he was often plagued by injuries, especially to his hamstring muscle. Only twice in his career, in 1982 and 1984, did he play over 70 games in the season.
Post-playing career
For three years after he retired (1988–90), he 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. 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.
Twins manager
On January 4, 2002, Gardenhire was named manager of the Twins, replacing Tom Kelly, who had won two World Series titles with the Twins. In contrast to Kelly's relatively calm, Bud Grant-like coaching style, Gardenhire is a very active and aggressive manager, frequently exiting the dugout to argue with the umpire, leading some to joke that "Gardy" gets ejected more times in a season than Kelly did in his entire career (through the 2008 season, Gardenhire has been ejected 41 times). An early 2006 television commercial for the Twins pokes fun at this, showing Gardenhire arguing with a (presumably Twin Cities area) office worker planning to go home after work rather than go to the Twins game.
Gardenhire has finished as runner-up for Manager of the Year four times while leading the Twins (in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008). He finished third in the voting in 2002, his first season as manager. His four runner-up finishes are second only to Tony La Russa, who has finished second five times (and won four). [1]
In seven years as the Twins manager, Gardenhire's team has won the division four times (and lost a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox to determine the division champion at the end of the 2008 season). The Twins have had a losing record just once (in 2007) under Gardenhire's tenure. He is currently signed as Twins manager through the 2009 season, although the club and Gardenhire have been reported to be finalizing a deal that extends his contract through 2011[1].
Managerial record
(through 2008 season)
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| Minnesota Twins | 2002 | 161 | 94 | 67 | .584 | 1st in American League Central | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost in ALCS |
| 2003 | 162 | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1st in American League Central | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in ALDS | |
| 2004 | 162 | 92 | 70 | .568 | 1st in American League Central | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in ALDS | |
| 2005 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 3rd in American League Central | - | - | - | - | |
| 2006 | 162 | 96 | 66 | .593 | 1st in American League Central | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost in ALDS | |
| 2007 | 162 | 79 | 83 | .488 | 3rd in American League Central | - | - | - | - | |
| 2008 | 163 | 88 | 75 | .540 | 2nd in American League Central | - | - | - | - | |
| Total | 1130 | 621 | 509 | .550 | 6 | 15 | .286 | |||
See also
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2006
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
- List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008
References
- ^ a b "Manager of Year eludes Gardenhire", mlb.com, Retrieved on July 2, 2008.
External links
- Gardenhire bio at the Minnesota Twins' official website
- Baseball-Reference.com - playing statistics and managing record
- Ron Gardenhire at Ultimate Mets Database