Garry Templeton

Garry Templeton
Garry Templeton
	Templeton with the Long Beach Armada in 2009
	Shortstop
	Born: March 24, 1956 (age 68); Lockney, Texas
	Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
	August 9, 1976, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
	October 5, 1991, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
Batting average	.271
Hits	2,096
Home runs	70
Runs batted in	728
Teams
	St. Louis Cardinals (1976–1981); San Diego Padres (1982–1991); New York Mets (1991);
Career highlights and awards
	3× All-Star (1977, 1979, 1985); 2× Silver Slugger Award (1980, 1984); San Diego Padres Hall of Fame;

Garry Lewis Templeton (born March 24, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and New York Mets from 1976 to 1991.

Playing career

Born in Lockney, Texas, Templeton was hailed by many as one of the best players in baseball early in his career, which featured All-Star Game selections in 1977 and 1979. In the latter year, Templeton made history as the first switch-hitter to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate, a feat achieved only once more by Willie Wilson in 1980. His total of 211 hits led the National League, and with 19 triples, he led the league for a third consecutive season. He led the Cardinals in hits in 1977, 1978, and 1979.^[1] He caused some controversy in 1979 when, despite having better numbers than either Dave Concepción or Larry Bowa, two of the National League's premier shortstops at the time, he wasn't selected to start at shortstop for the National League All-Star team. He was named to the team as a reserve, but refused to go.

The quote, "If I ain't startin', I ain't departin'" regarding the 1979 MLB All-Star Game is often mistakenly attributed to Templeton over his refusal to play. In reality, Jack Buck, Cardinals sportscaster at the time made the statement.^[2]

He continued to hit well in 1980 and 1981; however, he was not popular with Cardinals fans. The situation with the home fans came to a head when, during an August 26, 1981, home game in St. Louis, Templeton made an obscene gesture twice to some fans who had allegedly been heckling him after he had failed to run to first on a ground ball; manager Whitey Herzog physically pulled Templeton off the field following the incident. After the end of the season the Cardinals traded him to the Padres for Ozzie Smith. The trade was welcomed by everyone involved: Smith was (then) a light-hitting defensive wizard going to a team which needed to improve its defense (and he was also embroiled in a contract dispute with Padres' management), while Templeton was a better hitter going to a team which needed to improve its offense (and who was, due to his actions, no longer popular with the fans or the team).

In his ten years with the Padres, he played in 1,286 games, while having 1,135 hits, 43 home runs, 427 RBIs, and a .252 batting average, with one Silver Slugger Award win and one All-Star Game appearance in 1985. He was named team captain of the Padres by manager Larry Bowa in 1987, serving as captain for four years. 1991 was his final season in the majors. He played in 32 games for the Padres before being traded to the New York Mets on May 31 for Tim Teufel^[3] Templeton played in 80 more games for the Mets for a total of 112 that year. He hit for .221 with three home runs and 26 RBIs in the season.

Templeton was inducted into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame on August 8, 2015.^[4]

Managing career

After his retirement as an active player in 1991, Templeton remained in the game as a coach and minor league manager. From 1998 through 2001, he managed in the Anaheim Angels organization for four teams, posting a 294-272 record. From 2003 to 2004, he managed the Gary Railcats of the Northern League, moving on to manage the Golden Baseball League's Fullerton Flyers in 2005. After three years with the Flyers, he would move on to manage the Arizona Winter League's Palm Springs Chill in 2008, then would return to the GBL to manage the Long Beach Armada in 2009. He managed the Chico Outlaws to the GBL Championship in 2010.^[5]^[6] On January 8, 2013, Templeton was named manager of the Newark Bears of the independent Can-Am League.^[7]^{[full citation needed]}

Year-by-year managerial record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Playoffs
1998	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Midwest League	71-69	8th	Did not qualify
1999	Erie SeaWolves	Eastern League	81-61	2nd	Lost in first round
2000	Edmonton Trappers	Pacific Coast League	63-78	12th	Did not qualify
2001	Salt Lake Stingers	Pacific Coast League	79-64	4th	Did not qualify

2003	Gary SouthShore RailCats	Northern League	36-54	9th	Did not qualify
2004	Gary SouthShore RailCats	Northern League	31-65	10th	Did not qualify
2005	Fullerton Flyers	Golden Baseball League	34-56	7th	Did not qualify
2006	Fullerton Flyers	Golden Baseball League	43-37	2nd	Lost league finals
2007	Fullerton Flyers	Golden Baseball League	37-39	4th	Did not qualify
2008	Palm Springs Chill	Arizona Winter League	15-4	1st	Lost in first round
2009	Long Beach Armada	Golden Baseball League	41-35	3rd	Did not qualify
2010	Chico Outlaws	Golden Baseball League	54-30	1st	Won league finals
2011	Maui Na Koa Ikaika	North American League	29-40	5th

Personal life

His son, Garry Templeton II, played minor league baseball from 1999–2007. He managed the Hawaii Stars in 2012^[8] and the Vallejo Admirals from 2014-15, winning the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs Manager of the Year Award in 2014. He is now a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.

References

^ Jim Tommey and Kip Ingle, ed. (1987). St. Louis Cardinals 1987 Media Guide. St. Louis National Baseball Club. p. 151.
^ https://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/aug-garry-templeton-s-ladies-day-eruption/article_e2ebeb70-ce60-592f-a506-99c938347842.html
^ BASEBALL; Mets Send Teufel to Padres In Exchange for Templeton
^ Lin, Dennis (July 9, 2015). "Santiago, Templeton elected to Padres HOF". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015.
^ "Templeton to manage Na Koa". The Maui News. December 17, 2010.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2012-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "The Newark Star Ledger January 9, 2013".
^ "Templeton has eyes on solid season for Hawaii Stars".

External links

Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

Preceded by Joe Calfapietra	Manager of the Gary SouthShore RailCats 2003 – 2004	Succeeded by Greg Tagert

[1] Jim Tommey and Kip Ingle, ed. (1987). St. Louis Cardinals 1987 Media Guide. St. Louis National Baseball Club. p. 151.

[2] ttps://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/aug-garry-templeton-s-ladies-day-eruption/article_e2ebeb70-ce60-592f-a506-99c938347842.html

[3] BASEBALL; Mets Send Teufel to Padres In Exchange for Templeton

[4] Lin, Dennis (July 9, 2015). "Santiago, Templeton elected to Padres HOF". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015.

[Templeton_to_manage_Na_Koa-5] "Templeton to manage Na Koa". The Maui News. December 17, 2010.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2012-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] "The Newark Star Ledger January 9, 2013".

[8] "Templeton has eyes on solid season for Hawaii Stars".

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