Ron Gardenhire

Ron Gardenhire
Minnesota Twins – No. 35
Shortstop / Manager
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
September 1, 1981, for the New York Mets
Last appearance
October 6, 1985, for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Batting average	.232
Home runs	4
Hits	165
Stats at Baseball Reference
Managerial record at Baseball Reference
Teams
As Player New York Mets (1981-1985) As Manager Minnesota Twins (2002-present)
Career highlights and awards
AL Central Champion: (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010) Member of the 50 Greatest Minnesota Twins

Ronald Clyde "Gardy" Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957 in Butzbach, Hesse, West Germany) is a former Major League Baseball infielder and the current manager of the MLB's Minnesota Twins.

He is six feet (183 cm) tall and, during his baseball career, weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

Early life

Ron Gardenhire was born on a couch to a military family at the U.S. Army base in Butzbach, West Germany. Young Gardenhire expected to join the military, but his passion for baseball was also encouraged by his father. The family later settled in Oklahoma where he attended Okmulgee High School and college at the University of Texas at Austin.

Playing career

He played five seasons of baseball in the National League with the New York Mets 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. He was often plagued by injuries, especially to his hamstring. Only twice did he play in more than 70 games in a season, in 1982 and 1984.

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 (as of September 24, 2010, Gardenhire has been ejected 52 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 five times while leading the Twins (in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009). He finished third in the voting in 2002, his first season as manager. His five runner-up finishes are tied with Tony La Russa, who won the award outright an additional four times.

In nine years as the Twins manager, Gardenhire's team has won the division six 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) during Gardenhire's tenure. On November 13, 2008, Gardenhire signed a contract extension that will keep him as Twins manager through the 2011 season.

Managerial record

(through September 21, 2010)

Division Champions

Team	Year	Regular Season					Postseason
		Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Minnesota Twins
	2002	161	94	67	.584	1st in AL Central	4	6	.400	Lost in ALCS
	2003	162	90	72	.556	1st in AL Central	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
	2004	162	92	70	.568	1st in AL Central	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
	2005	162	83	79	.512	3rd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
	2006	162	96	66	.593	1st in AL Central	0	3	.000	Lost in ALDS
	2007	162	79	83	.488	3rd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
	2008	163	88	75	.540	2nd in AL Central	-	-	-	-
	2009	163	87	76	.537	1st in AL Central	0	3	.000	Lost in ALDS
	2010	158	93	65	.589	1st in AL Central	0	0	.000	-
Total		1455	802	653	.551	9 Seasons	6	18	.333	6 Division Championships

Family

Gardenhire is married to Carol née Kissling, who grew up in White Bear Lake, Minnesota and is a graduate of Mariner High School. They have 3 children : Toby (9-8-1982), Tiffany (3-18-1985) and Tara (3-22-1990). Their son, Toby is also in baseball and is currently at second base for the Rochester Red Wings, the AAA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, which is the minor league affiliate of his father's team. .

External links

• Gardenhire bio at the Minnesota Twins' official website
• Ron Gardenhire managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Ron Gardenhire at Ultimate Mets Database