Originally up with the Oakland A’s in 1973, Garner found himself traded to the Pirates before the 1977 season as part of a massive nine-player deal that also involved Tony Armas, Tommy Helms and Mitchell Page among others.
Just two years later he was a World Champ, giving the team a solid infielder who’d hit a career-high .293 with 76 runs scored and 51 extra base hits over 151 games.
He’d end up putting in 16-seasons in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a career average of .260 with 1594 hits and 780 runs over 1860 games.
After his playing career was over he’d turn to coaching and managing, the latter of which he did for 15 seasons: the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1999, the Detroit Tigers 2000-2002 and the Houston Astros from 2004 to 2007, including the 2005 National League champion squad that had the “Killer B’s” of Bagwell, Biggio and Berkman, as well as Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte.
Not a bad “baseball life”!
