Gary Edward Wagner (born June 28, 1940) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

, who played 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), ...

(MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies 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 eigh ...

from to . Wagner, a native of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, graduated from Bridgeport High School. He attended Eastern Illinois University and signed with the Phillies in 1962. Listed as tall and , Wagner spent three years in the Philadelphia farm system before making the Phillies in 1965.

Biography

Wagner was primarily a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

during his MLB career, with only four starting assignments among his 162 total games pitched. During his rookie campaign with the 1965 Phillies, he made a career-high 59 appearances and earned seven saves. He also set career bests in games won (seven) and lost (seven). Wagner split both and between the Phils and Triple-A

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. But in , he played a full season with Philadelphia, and was credited with eight saves, his personal best. In May of , Wagner again was demoted to Triple-A and spent much of the campaign with Triple-A Eugene, winning 11 games. Then, in September, he was traded to the Red Sox, for whom he played until the end of the 1970 season. When 1971 began he was released by the Red Sox. He signed with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

' organization, played for almost two months in their system, then was released again. Boston picked him up in late May and assigned him to Triple-A, but released him again on July 5, ending his professional baseball career. As a major leaguer, Wagner worked in 267 innings pitched, allowing 250 hits and 126 bases on balls; he

struck out 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 denote ...

174 and was credited with 22 saves. Wagner has a wife, Freddie Jean, and three sons, Gary Jr. (b. 1963), Anthony (1966) and Craig (1970). He now resides in

Seymour, Indiana Seymour is a city in Jackson County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 21,569 at the 2020 census. The city is noted for its location at the intersection of two major north–south and east–west railroads, which cross each other in th ...

, with his wife. He has seven grandchildren and plays golf regularly at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Indiana.

References

External links

Gary Wagner
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Gary Wagner
at Baseball Almanac 1940 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arkansas Travelers players Bakersfield Bears players Baseball players from Illinois Boston Red Sox players Chattanooga Lookouts players Dothan Phillies players Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball players Eugene Emeralds players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Lawrence County, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Winnipeg Whips players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub