Ian James Gardeck (born November 21, 1990) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in the 16th round of the

2012 Major League Baseball draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

Career

Gardeck graduated from

Crystal Lake South High School Crystal Lake South High School, often referred to as "South" or "CLS," is one of three high schools in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and currently has a body of roughly 1916 students. As Crystal Lake's second oldest school, it was constructed from 1976 ...

Crystal Lake, Illinois Crystal Lake is a city in McHenry County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Named after a lake southwest of the city's downtown, Crystal Lake is 45 miles northwest of Chicago. The population is 40,269 as of the 2020 Census, a 1.2% decrease from 201 ...

. He began his

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

career at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

, before transferring to

Angelina College Angelina College is a public community college with its main campus in Lufkin, Texas. It has nine off-campus centers in Crockett, Hemphill, Jasper, Livingston (Polk County Center), Nacogdoches, Pineland (Sabine Center), San Augustine, Tr ...

for his sophomore year. After the 2011 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. 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 ...

selected Gardeck in the eighth round, with the 261st overall selection, of the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, but Gardeck instead transferred to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

to continue his college career.

San Francisco Giants

The

selected Gardeck in the 16th round of the

, and he signed with the Giants on June 12, 2012. Gardeck made his professional debut with the Low-A

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their home ...

, posting a 2-2 record and 4.20 ERA in 19 games. In 2013, Gardeck played for the Single-A

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previous ...

, recording a 4-3 record and 3.21 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 56.0 innings of work. The following season, he split the year between Salem-Keizer and the High-A

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

, struggling to a 3-3 record and 6.99 ERA in 29 combined appearances. Gardeck returned to San Jose for the 2015 season and pitched to a 3-4 record and 3.54 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched across 61 games. After the 2015 season, the Giants added Gardeck to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

. On March 14, 2016, it was announced that Gardeck would require

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, ending his 2016 season. On April 30, Gardeck was placed on release waivers by San Francisco. Gardeck re-signed with the team on a minor league contract on May 3. On November 7, 2016, Gardeck was re-added to San Francisco's 40-man roster. On April 2, 2017, Gardeck was designated for assignment by the Giants. He was released by the Giants on April 4, but re-signed with the team on a minor league contract on April 6. Gardeck missed the entire 2017 season after having a second straight Tommy John surgery, as well as surgery to repair his right labrum and femur head. In 2018, after rehabbing with the

AZL Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

, Gardeck split the remainder of the season with San Jose and the Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

, accumulating a 2.63 ERA in 14 appearances on the year.

Tampa Bay Rays

At the 2018

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

, the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

selected Gardeck from the Giants in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He was assigned to the Double-A

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

and placed on the injured list to begin the 2019 season. Gardeck split the year between the

GCL Rays The Florida Complex League Rays are a minor league baseball team in Port Charlotte, Florida, competing as a Rookie-level team in the Florida Complex League as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast ...

, High-A

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

, and Montgomery, pitching to a 2-1 record and 1.96 ERA in 21 appearances between the three teams. On November 4, 2019, Gardeck elected free agency.

Oakland Athletics

On November 19, 2019, Gardeck signed a minor league contract with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization that included an invitation to spring training. Gardeck did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On November 2, 2020, Gardeck elected free agency. On December 4, 2020, Gardeck announced his retirement from professional baseball, stating "It broke my body for the last time", citing a shoulder injury he suffered during spring.

Personal life

Gardeck's brother,

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

, is a professional football player for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardeck, Ian Living people 1990 births Baseball players from Illinois Baseball pitchers Angelina Roadrunners baseball players Alabama Crimson Tide baseball players Falmouth Commodores players Minor league baseball players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Arizona League Giants players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Montgomery Biscuits players Gulf Coast Rays players Charlotte Stone Crabs players