Garvin Alston

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1+1⁄3 innings pitched. [23] He did not allow any runs over his next three appearances and lowered his ERA from 20.25 to 6.75. He earned his first pitching win and recorded his first strikeout on June 11, retiring both Houston Astros batters he faced in a game at Coors Field. In his next two games, however, he allowed three runs on five hits in two innings pitched. His outing on June 18, 1996, would prove to be the final of his Major League career. [24] On June 27, the Rockies activated Mike Munoz and returned Alston to Colorado Springs. [25] He would return to the big league club briefly in August to fill a roster spot following an injury to Lance Painter but would not appear in a game and would otherwise pitch the remainder of the season in Colorado Springs. [26] [24] [12]

Alston was expecting to vie for the Rockies' closer job in 1997 but underwent surgery before the start of the season to reroute a nerve, shrink a ligament and remove bone chips from his elbow. [27] Although he initially expected to return to pitching as early as August 1997, he would end up missing the entire season. [28] [12] He returned to the mound in 1998 and pitched the entire season in Triple-A, posting a career-worst 6.45 ERA. [12]

Alston began the 1999 season pitching in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League for the Wei Chuan Dragons. [12] [29] On August 26, he signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and finished the season in Triple-A with the Albuquerque Dukes. [12] [29] He split the following season between Albuquerque and in the Kansas City Royals organization with the Double-A Wichita Wranglers. It would be his final season playing in affiliated baseball. [12] He missed part of the year due to appendicitis. [30] In 2003, Alston returned to baseball and signed with the Montreal Royales of the independent Canadian Baseball League (CBL) with the ultimate goal of returning to the Major Leagues. [31] The CBL folded midseason and Alston did not play in another professional baseball game. [12]

Reflecting on his career later in life, Alston said "It was everything I dreamt of." Though he added that he regretted focusing too much on advancing his career at the expense of enjoying "creating memories with friends." [32]

Coaching career

Alston coached in the Oakland Athletics organization from 2005 to 2015. He served as pitching coach of the Class A Kane County Cougars (2005–06) and Class A-Advanced Stockton Ports (2007–08), minor league rehab coordinator (2009–14), and minor league pitching coordinator (2015). The Arizona Diamondbacks hired Alston as their bullpen coach for the 2016 season. [33] In June 2017, he was re-hired by the Athletics as the major league bullpen coach. [34] Alston served as pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins during the 2018 season, but did not return when new manager Rocco Baldelli was hired in the offseason. Alston's highlights with the Twins included improving the command and pitch selection of reliever Ryan Pressly. [35]

In 2021, Alston became the pitching coach for the Sacramento River Cats. [36]

On November 14, 2023, the San Francisco Giants hired Alston to be their bullpen coach. [37]

Personal life

Alston's wife, Natasha, also graduated from Mount Vernon. In 1996, the couple was in the process of writing screenplays based on each of their lives. [27]

Alston's son, Garvin Altson Jr., was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2015 and 2019, joining the organization after playing college baseball at Arizona State at USC Aiken. [38] [39] Alston is the cousin of former Major League Baseball outfielder Dell Alston. [40] [41]

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References

  1. ↑ "Mount Vernon's Alston no-hits Roosevelt". The Herald Statesman . April 26, 1989. p. BD. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  2. ↑ "All-County Baseball". The Herald Statesman . June 25, 1989. p. D6. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  3. ↑ Scuderi, John (August 23, 1989). "Alston gaining experience on the mound". The Herald Statesman . p. B5. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Area Baseball". The Daily Times. June 6, 1990. p. E2. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Rodriguez, Ken (January 31, 1992). "Limit on practice games adds a touch of mystery". The Miami Herald . p. 7D. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Cape League All-Stars". The Cape Codder. Orleans, MA. July 16, 1991. p. 16.
  8. ↑ "17 Floridians get baseball invite". The Tampa Tribune . September 13, 1991. p. 28. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  9. 1 2 Pedulla, Tom (June 2, 1992). "Colorado selects Mr. Vernon pitcher". The Herald Statesman . p. 30A. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  10. ↑ "10th Round of the 1992 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  11. ↑ Kravitz, Bob (June 20, 1992). "Rookie Rockies trying to adjust to bends of minor-league life". Arizona Daily Star . Scripps Howard News Service. p. 36. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Garvin Alston Minor, CPBL & Independent Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  13. ↑ Teirstein, Mark Alan (August 17, 1994). "Minors: Major challenges on road to big leagues". The Daily Times. p. 4D. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  14. ↑ Flynn, Denis (August 20, 1994). "Alston raves about promotion". The Daily Times. p. 29. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  15. 1 2 Flynn, Denis (December 1, 1994). "Alston closer to Field of Dreams". The Daily Item . p. 6D. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  16. ↑ Stier, Kit (February 15, 1995). "League: Prospects won't break strike". The Herald Statesman . p. 2A. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  17. ↑ Flynn, Denis (April 27, 1995). "Alston's dream becomes a reality". The Herald Statesman . p. 8D. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Alston sent to minors". The Daily Item . May 7, 1995. p. 4D. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  19. 1 2 "Garvin Alston Stats". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  20. ↑ Pascoe, Bruce (March 11, 1996). "Thin-air expert helps Rockie pitchers". Arizona Daily Star . p. 4C. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  21. ↑ Schutta, Greg (June 16, 1996). "Rugged road trip is costly to Jones". The Record . p. S-3. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Rockies' Leskanic unsure about return". Casper Star-Tribune . Associated Press. June 11, 1996. p. D3. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Colorado Rockies at Houston Astros Box Score, June 6, 1996". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  24. 1 2 "Garvin Alston 1996 Pitching Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Rockies, Big Cat put big hurt on Dodgers". Arizona Daily Star . Associated Press. June 28, 1996. p. C5. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Rockies get complete-game win". The Daily Sentinel . Associated Press. August 7, 1996. p. D. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  27. 1 2 Havsy, Jane (July 26, 1998). "Mount Vernon's Alston living out a dream". The Journal News . p. 7D. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  28. ↑ Flynn, Denis (July 1, 1997). "Alston making good strides from injury". The Herald Statesman . pp. 7D. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  29. 1 2 Harrison, Randy (August 27, 1999). "Gibralter's Homer Leads Omaha Win". Albuquerque Journal . p. D6. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Grijak's Homer Helps Dukes Knock Out Redbirds". Albuquerque Journal . May 13, 2000. p. D7. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  31. ↑ Hickey, Pat (May 2, 2003). "Royales another baseball orphan". The Gazette . p. C5. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  32. ↑ Zurcher, Anthony (September 5, 2015). "The professional baseball league played in 43C heat". BBC News . Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  33. ↑ Gabel, Chris (November 12, 2015). "Matt Williams, Garvin Alston join D-backs coaching staff". Fox Sports.
  34. ↑ "A's name Garvin Alston bullpen coach". MLB.com. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  35. ↑ Atkins, Hunter (September 6, 2018). "Curveball confidence a difference maker for Astros' Ryan Pressly". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  36. ↑ "Sacramento River Cats unveil 2021 Field Staff". MiLB.com. August 9, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  37. ↑ Delucchi, Marc (November 14, 2023). "Report: SF Giants add former Twins pitching coach to Bob Melvin's staff". si.com. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  38. ↑ "2021 South Side Sox Top Prospect No. 80: Garvin Alston Jr". South Side Sox. SB Nation. February 18, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  39. ↑ "Garvin Alston Amateur, College & Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  40. ↑ "Highlights of Mount Vernon Baseball History". Westchester County Historical Society. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  41. ↑ "Dell Alston Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com . Sports Reference . Retrieved October 8, 2022.
Garvin Alston
Garvin Alston 2006-09-15.jpg
Alston with the Kane County Cougars in 2006
San Francisco Giants – No. 81
Pitcher / Coach
Born: (1971-12-08) December 8, 1971 (age 53)
Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 6, 1996, for the Colorado Rockies
Last MLB appearance
June 18, 1996, for the Colorado Rockies
Preceded by Minnesota Twins pitching coach
2018		Succeeded by
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