Baseball career
Garner was originally drafted out of The University of Tennessee by the Montreal Expos in the eighth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft but did not sign. Seven months later,he was the third overall pick by the Oakland Athletics in the secondary January 1971 draft. Originally a third baseman when he signed with the Athletics,he was converted to a second baseman as the Athletics had perennial All-Star Sal Bando at third. Garner won two World Series during his time in Oakland in 1973 and 1974. Spending most of his time as a bench player and in the minor leagues. He had a breakout year for Oakland in 1976 in which he hit 8 home runs and 74 RBI's that year. He was named an All Star that year the first of his career. He stole a career high 35 bases that year.
Before the 1977 season,the Athletics traded Garner,Chris Batton,and Tommy Helms to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Armas,Rick Langford,Doug Bair,Dave Giusti,Doc Medich,and Mitchell Page. [1]
Nicknamed "Scrap-Iron" due to his gritty style of play,Garner's best year as a player was in 1977 when he hit 17 HR's,had 77 RBI's,stole 32 bases,hit 35 doubles,and scored 99 runs. Two years later in 1979,he was a member of the World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates,batting .417 in the 1979 National League Championship Series and .500 (12 for 24) in the World Series. His icon at the time was the scrappy,similarly mustachioed cartoon hero,Yosemite Sam. He was named an All Star again in 1980 batting .259 while hitting 5 home runs and 58 RBI's while stealing 32 bases. He was named an All Star again for a third and final time in his career the next season in 1981 though his stats declined from previous years. He hit just 1 home run while having 26 RBI's on the year and had just 10 stolen bases.
On August 31,1981,Garner was traded from the Pirates to the Astros for second baseman Johnny Ray and pitcher Randy Niemann. He would play with Houston until 1987. He helped the Astros reach the 1986 NLCS where they lost in six games to New York Mets this would be his final postseason action he would see of his career. He was traded in 1987 to the Los Angeles Dodgers and then spent a year with San Francisco Giants in 1988. He went through 1989 without signing with anybody and announced his retirement a year later in 1990.
Managerial career
On October 30,1991,Garner was named manager of the Milwaukee Brewers,replacing Tom Trebelhorn. [2] The Brewers chose him over Tony Muser,Don Baylor,Gene Tenace,Mike Cubbage,Tommy Sandt,and Gene Lamont,with Garner being hired one of several former players being named manager of a major league team without previous major league managing experience. He quickly installed a running-focused style of play as every starter that year 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 (doing so in his final season with the team),and outfielder Darryl Hamilton stealing 41. He led the team to a nine-game improvement from the previous year and led the Brewers to second place in the American League East Division,losing out by four games to the eventual world champion Toronto Blue Jays. He finished second in voting for American League Manager of the Year. However,it would be the last time until 2007 that the team would finish above .500. Garner would lead them to more than 80 losses in four of his six full seasons spent with the team,which saw icons such as Paul Molitor and Robin Yount leave (the former in free agency and the latter due to retirement). He was fired in the midst of a 1999 season that saw them at 52-60 (Jim Lefebvre would replace him and go 22-27 to close out the year). [3]
A 1993 game saw Garner refer to Chicago White Sox broadcasters Ken Harrelson and Tom Paciorek as "idiots" for their on-air insinuation that Garner was advising his pitcher to hit Frank Thomas;he challenged them to a fight,but they eventually patched things out. During a July 22,1995,game against the Chicago White Sox,Garner was involved in a bench-clearing brawl,exchanging blows with White Sox manager Terry Bevington in a rare skipper-on-skipper fistfight. Garner,along with Bevington,was suspended four games for the fracas. [4] [5] With a record of 563-617 as manager,Garner led the Brewers for most wins and losses as a manager. Craig Counsell passed him in wins in 2022. [6]
In 2000,Garner was hired to manage the Tigers,in their inaugural season at Comerica Park after being a candidate to manage the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers were in contention for the American League Wild Card berth for much of the season but faded and finished 79-83. Garner didn't manage a winning season in his years in Detroit,owing to a lack of competitive payroll,and when his 2002 team began the season 0-6,he and general manager Randy Smith were fired,with Luis Pujols as Garner's replacement;Pujols would lose 100 games in his only season. Garner was the fastest manager fired to start a season since Cal Ripken Sr. of the 1988 Baltimore Orioles;Garner was only the second manager to manage ten consecutive years where his team had a losing record. [7]
The 2004 season was different for Garner. After the Houston Astros had a mediocre start under then-manager Jimy Williams having a 44–44 record in the first half of the season,Garner was brought in after the All-Star break to replace Williams. General manager Gerry Hunsicker was cited as saying the team believed that Garner would provide "decisive action" as a manager that could provide a spark to a team mired in hitting woes and an abundance of expectations with their free agent signings (Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte) that offseason. [8] Undaunted,he led the Astros to a National League Wild Card berth,going 48-26 with Garner at the helm for a total of 92 wins and a Wild Card berth that was clinched on the final day of the season. The Astros won the 2004 National League Division Series over the Atlanta Braves after having lost to them in the postseason three times from 1997 to 2001,and it was their first postseason series victory in franchise history. They met the 105-win St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. The Astros led the series 3-2 going into St. Louis,but they lost Game 6 and 7 in late innings to lose the series. The team experienced another slow start in 2005,losing 30 of their first 45 games,but made a run once again late in the season and came back to win another National League Wild Card,bolstered by the pitching talents of Clemens and Pettitte. This time,Houston would beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series in six games and win the pennant only to be swept by the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.
Under his leadership in the last twelve games of the 2006 season,the Astros won ten of twelve but lost out on a division title by a game and half. 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. [9]
The Astros went into a tailspin in 2007,owing to the aging talent on their roster (Jeff Bagwell had retired in 2005 while Craig Biggio played his last season in 2007 to go with no Clemens or Pettitte,who each left for New York after 2006). On August 27,2007,Phil Garner was released by the Astros along with general manager Tim Purpura with the team having a record of 58-73. Cecil Cooper was named interim manager for the remainder of the season. [10] [11] Team owner Drayton McLane stated on the firing,"This was two years in the process. I've observed things,watched things,talked to literally hundreds of people as I go through. I went through the stands yesterday,and every game. I ask people,'What do you think?' It's amazing what people will tell you. It's the impact others had on me,over a period of time." [12] In 2009,Garner was interviewed as a candidate for the managerial job of the Astros when Cooper was fired,but Brad Mills was hired. [13]
In 2010,Garner admitted to using a corked bat against pitcher Gaylord Perry and that he hit a home run with it. [14] In 2012,Garner was asked to testify as a witness at the perjury trial of Roger Clemens,which namely involved him detailing the intense work ethic of Clemens as an athlete (such as working out in a flak jacket with 60 pound weights) that were done without performance-enhancing drugs. [15]
