Henry Eugene Garber (born November 13, 1947) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

sidearm

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 (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

who played for four

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) organizations from to .

Playing career

Garber was selected by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the 20th round of the 1965 amateur draft. Over the course of his MLB career, he pitched for the Pirates,

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 ...

(on two occasions),

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 ...

, and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. In , Garber won his only postseason game, becoming the first Phillies pitcher to win a postseason game in 62 years. While pitching for the Braves against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

on August 1, 1978, Garber helped prevent

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

from setting a new

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL)

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...

record. With the Braves winning 16–4 in the top of the ninth inning, Rose was 0 for 4 when he came to bat with two outs. Rose struck out swinging, on a 2–2

change-up A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

, ending the consecutive game streak still tied with

Willie Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn ...

. While pitching for the 1979 Braves, Garber recorded 25 saves, but also 16 losses, an unusually high number for a closer. His best season came for the 1982 Braves' NL West division-winning team. That year, Garber recorded a career-high 30 saves, along with a 8–10 won-lost record, and he finished seventh in the

NL Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

balloting. Garber's most effective pitch was a change-up, which he effectively delivered from an unusual, herky-jerky motion, turning his back to the batter before delivering the ball in a side-arm, "submarine-style" manner. With 141 games saved for the Braves, Garber ranks third on the team's all-time saves list as of 2020, behind only

Craig Kimbrel Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicag ...

(186) and

John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz (born May 15, 1967), nicknamed "Smoltzie" and "Marmaduke", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time A ...

(154). Upon his retirement following the season, Garber’s 931 career pitching appearances ranked fifth in MLB history, trailing

Hoyt Wilhelm James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angel ...

(1070),

Kent Tekulve Kenton Charles Tekulve ( ; born March 5, 1947), nicknamed "Teke", is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played f ...

(1013),

Lindy McDaniel Lyndall Dale McDaniel (December 13, 1935 – November 14, 2020), known as Lindy McDaniel, was an American professional baseball pitcher who had a 21-year career in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1975. During his career, he witnessed approxim ...

(987), and Rollie Fingers (944).

Personal life

Garber attended

Elizabethtown Area High School Elizabethtown, Elizabeth Town, or similar may refer to: Places *Elizabeth Town, Tasmania, Australia *Brockville, Ontario, Canada; formerly named Elizabethtown *Erzsébetváros or Elizabethtown, the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary United States ...

. He went on to graduate from

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. History Founding and early years Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by c ...

in 1969. Garber is a farmer in

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Betzischteddel'') is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital. Small factories existed at the turn of the 20th century when the popu ...

, where he and his sons raise poultry for eggs, emu for

emu oil Emu oil is an oil derived from body fat harvested from certain subspecies of the emu, ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'', a flightless bird indigenous to Australia. Unadulterated emu oil can vary widely in colour and viscosity anywhere from an off-w ...

, and they grow corn, wheat, soybeans, and barley. Prior to the 2009 season, he was invited by the Braves to be a guest instructor for a week during spring training, working with fellow side-armer

Peter Moylan Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

.What ever happened to Gene Garber?
/ref> Garber is the Chairman of the Lancaster County Agricultural Preservation Board and is a member of the Lancaster Farmland Trust, which combined have protected more than 1,000 farms and of farmland from development, more than any other county in the United States.

References

External links

Gene Garber
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League)
Gene Garber
at Baseball Gauge
Gene Garber
at Hall of Stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Garber, Gene 1947 births Living people Pittsburgh Pirates players Kansas City Royals players Philadelphia Phillies players Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Elizabethtown College alumni Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Salem Rebels players Batavia Pirates players Raleigh Pirates players York Pirates players Columbus Jets players Charleston Charlies players Toledo Mud Hens players Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela