Gary Joseph Gaetti (, ; born August 19, 1958), is an American former
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
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
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
(1981–1990),
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
(1991–1993),
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
(1993–1995),
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
(1996–1998),
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
(1998–1999) and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
(2000).
Gaetti won a
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
with Minnesota in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
and was the MVP of that year's
American League Championship Series
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
against the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
. In 1987, Gaetti became the first player ever to hit home runs in his first two postseason plate appearances. Gaetti also managed the independent league
Sugar Land Skeeters
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...
from 2012-2017.
Playing career
Gaetti played collegiate baseball for
Lake Land College
Lake Land College is a public community college in Mattoon, Illinois. It was founded in 1966. As of the Fall 2021 semester Lake Land serves 3,644 students, mainly from the east-central Illinois region. The campus has seven major buildings plus ...
in
Mattoon, Illinois
Mattoon ( ) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston. Both are principal cities of the Charlestonâ ...
and
Northwest Missouri State University. Legend has it that Gaetti holds the record for the longest home run in NWMSU baseball history, an estimated 505-foot home run. Gaetti was drafted three times before finally signing with the
Twins
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
: first by the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
in the fourth round of the
1978 Major League Baseball draft
In 1978, four American baseball players were promoted from amateur baseball to the major leagues, including Arizona State University third baseman Bob Horner, who was selected number one overall by the Atlanta Braves. Oakland High School pitche ...
(then held annually in January) and again in 1978 by the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
in the third round of the June secondary draft before he was drafted by the Twins in the first round of the June secondary portion of the
1979 draft. Gaetti signed on June 21, 1979.
Gaetti then spent the next three years in the Twins' minor league system, playing for the rookie level
Elizabethton Twins
The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their major league affiliate. The team playe ...
in the
Appalachian League
The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...
in 1979, the A-level
Wisconsin Rapids Twins in the
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...
in 1980, and the AA-level
Orlando Twins
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
in the
Southern League in 1981. Gaetti then made his major league debut in nine September games and he hit a home run off of
Charlie Hough
Charles Oliver Hough (; born January 5, 1948) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) knuckleball pitcher and coach who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, and Florida Marlins from 1970 to 1994.
Play ...
in his first major league at bat. In 1982, Gaetti would become a permanent fixture at third base for the Twins and would man third base in Minnesota for the next nine seasons.
![Garyga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Garyga.jpg)
In 1986, Gaetti batted .287 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in. Gaetti won four consecutive
Gold Glove Award
The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...
s for fielding excellence from 1986 through 1989. Gaetti helped propel the Twins to the post-season and their first World Series championship, hitting .257 with 31 home runs and 109 RBI. He also hit himself into the record books, with home runs in his first two career postseason plate appearances in the
American League Championship Series
The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...
to help the Twins upset the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
.
Gaetti was selected as an
All-Star in 1988 and 1989. Playing against the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
on July 17, 1990, Gaetti helped the Twins become the only team in baseball history to turn two triple plays in the same game. Despite their defensive heroics, the Twins lost the game 1–0.
His production at the plate would decline
and after hitting only .229 in , Gaetti left the Twins for the Angels as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
. His production continued to drop off with the Angels and midway through the third year of his four-year contract, he was released, in June . He was almost immediately signed by the Royals, who had lost their projected regular third baseman,
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...
, to injury and had been playing rookie
Phil Hiatt
Phillip Farrell Hiatt (; born May 1, 1969) is a retired Major League Baseball utility player.
Hiatt played college baseball at Louisiana Tech University.
Hiatt played for three different major league ball clubs during his career: the Kansas City ...
at third. Gaetti hit 26 home runs for the Royals in 665 at-bats between 1993 and 1994, splitting time at third with Miller,
David Howard, and
Terry Shumpert
Terrance Darnell Shumpert (born August 16, 1966) is an American former professional utility player in Major League Baseball. He played college baseball at Kentucky.
Collegiate career
As a three-year starter in the middle infield for coach Keith ...
. In , Gaetti played in 137 games and at the age of 36, he hit .261 with 35 home runs and 96 RBI, winning his only Silver Slugger,
setting a career high in home runs and missing the Royals' team record for most home runs in a season by one.
Following the 1995 season, Gaetti signed as a free agent with the Cardinals, where he enjoyed two more productive seasons before being released again in August after the Cardinals' acquisition of
Fernando TatÃs
Fernando Gabriel TatÃs Medina Sr. (born January 1, 1975) is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) manager. Over his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, TatÃs played for the Texas R ...
. Gaetti immediately signed with the Cubs, where he hit .320/8/27 as the Cubs won the National League wild card. The following season, Gaetti played only semi-regularly and was released at the end of the season after hitting .204 with 9 home runs. He wound up his career the following season in Boston, appearing in five games in April at the age of 41.
Bill James
George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...
noted Gaetti's baseball-related aging process as being unusual for two reasons. Unlike most other league veterans, his walk rate never improved and his rate of productivity decline was "exceptionally" slow.
Gaetti retired as the all-time home run king of players who homered in their first Major League at bat. Gaetti was used as an emergency relief pitcher by both the Cardinals and the Cubs, retiring with an ERA of 7.71 and one strikeout in three appearances.
Gaetti finished in the top 25 voting for American League Most Valuable Player four times in his career, three times with the Minnesota Twins (1986-1988), and once with the Kansas City Royals (1995). He finished fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting (1982). He was a four-time Golden Glove Award winner (1986-1989).
His 2,280 total base hits rank him 159th in the history of Major League Baseball.
Retirement
Gaetti was inducted into the NWMSU athletic hall of fame, the "M-Club", in October 2003. He coached in the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
minor league system as a hitting coach with the AAA
New Orleans Zephyrs
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
from 2002 to 2004. Gaetti was promoted to hitting coach for the Astros on July 14, 2004 when the team dismissed manager
Jimy Williams
James Francis Williams (born October 4, 1943) is an American former professional baseball infielder, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born in Santa Maria, California, and briefly appeared in two MLB seasons as a seco ...
, hitting coach
Harry Spilman
William Harry Spilman (born July 18, 1954) is a retired Major League Baseball first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds (1978–81), Houston Astros (1981–85, 1988–89), Detroit Tigers (1986), and San Francisco Giants (1986–88). He was also known ...
, and pitching coach
Burt Hooton
Burt Carlton Hooton (born February 7, 1950), nicknamed "Happy", is an American former right-handed starting pitcher and former coach in Major League Baseball. He won 151 games over a 15-year career, mostly with the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dod ...
. Gaetti remained in this position until July 12, , when he was fired by the Astros. Following the season, he was hired as the hitting coach for
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater in ...
's AAA affiliate, the
Durham Bulls
The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened in ...
– a position he would hold through the 2008 season. After working at Baseball USA in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
in 2011, Gaetti was named the first manager of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
The independent team began play in 2012. During his six seasons as manager, he led them to a 448-391 overall record. In 2013, his team set the ALPB record in games won (95) and winning percentage (.679) in a season. He took them to two championship series (2014 and 2016) winning Sugar Land's first championship in 2016. The Skeeters retired his number on August 21, 2021.
On August 19, , Gaetti's 49th birthday, the Minnesota Twins inducted him into the team's Hall of Fame, while the club simultaneously released a commemorative bobblehead in his honor. On October 2, 2008, former Durham Bull, rookie
Evan Longoria
Evan Michael Longoria (born October 7, 1985), nicknamed "Longo", is an American professional baseball third baseman who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 through 2017, and the S ...
, joined Gaetti in the record books by hitting home runs in his first two postseason at-bats.
Gaetti's son Joe played collegiate baseball for
North Carolina State
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...
and played in the minor leagues in five different farm systems, including two separate stints with the Twins AA-level club, the
New Britain Rock Cats
The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado Rockies for one. They playe ...
. After failing to advance beyond the AAA level in the minor leagues, Joe ended his career in 2010 playing for the
Lancaster Barnstormers
The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...
of the independent
Atlantic League.
Personal life
Gaetti became a
born-again Christian
Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...
while recovering from season-ending knee surgery he underwent late in the 1988 season.
In 2020, Gaetti opened the Gaetti Sports Academy to support practice and instruction for softball and baseball for area youth.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most home runs.
In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by circling all the bases and reaching home plate in one play, without the benefit ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
Below is the list of the 286 Major League Baseball players who have reached the 2,000 hit milestone during their career in MLB. Pete Rose holds the Major League record for most career hits, with 4,256. Rose and Ty Cobb, second most, are the only ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
In baseball, a double is a hit in which the batter advances to second base in one play, with neither the benefit of a fielding error nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. A batter may also be credited with a ground-rule double w ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
Listed are all Major League Baseball (MLB) players with 1,000 or more career runs scored. Players in bold face are active as of the 2022 Major League Baseball season.
Key
List
*Stats updated through the 2022 season.
Through the end of the ...
*
List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
This is a list of Major League Baseball players who have compiled 1,000 runs batted in (RBIs). RBIs are usually accumulated when a batter in baseball enables a runner on base (including himself, in the case of a home run) to score as a result of ma ...
*
References
External links
GaryGaetti.com:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaetti, Gary
1958 births
Living people
American sportspeople of Italian descent
Baseball coaches from Illinois
American League All-Stars
American League Championship Series MVPs
Baseball players from Illinois
Boston Red Sox players
California Angels players
Chicago Cubs players
Elizabethton Twins players
Gold Glove Award winners
Houston Astros coaches
Lake Land Lakers baseball players
Kansas City Royals players
Major League Baseball hitting coaches
Major League Baseball third basemen
Minnesota Twins players
Minor league baseball managers
Northwest Missouri State Bearcats baseball players
Orlando Twins players
People from Centralia, Illinois
Silver Slugger Award winners
St. Louis Cardinals players
Wisconsin Rapids Twins players
American evangelicals