Robert Mitchell Garber (September 10, 1928 – June 7, 1999) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. The right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

had a highly successful

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

career, twice winning 20 games and notching one 19-victory season, but made only two appearances in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1956 Pittsburgh Pirates. Born in

Hunker, Pennsylvania Hunker is a borough which is located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area since 1950. The population was 307 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography Hunker is located at ( ...

, he stood tall and weighed . Garber's 20-win seasons came in 1949 and 1955. In 1949, he won ten games in the Class D

Alabama State League The Alabama State League was a minor league baseball league that played between 1940 and 1950, with an interruption due to World War II. The Alabama State League was a Class D (baseball), Class D level league. The Alabama State League consisted of ...

and another ten after his promotion to the Class B

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

.https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=garber001rob Minor league statistics from

Baseball Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

During 1955, he went 20–16 at the top level of the minors with the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

of the Open-Classification

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, and led the PCL in

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

.Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball'', 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 In 1954, with the

Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, Garber won 19 of 27 decisions, led the Class A Western League in strikeouts, and was selected to the all-star team. All told, he won 117 games, losing 81, during his nine-year career (1948–1950; 1953–1958). He appeared in two MLB games with the Pirates in , both in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

— pitching one

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in May and three innings against the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in September after spending most of the season with Hollywood. In those four innings, he surrendered three hits (including a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

to Brooklyn's

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

)Retrosheet
/ref> and one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

, striking out three and issuing three

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garber, Bob 1928 births 1999 deaths Baseball players from Pennsylvania Charleston Rebels players Davenport Pirates players Denver Bears players Greenville Pirates players Hollywood Stars players Longview Pirates players Major League Baseball pitchers New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Seattle Rainiers players Waco Pirates players