Richard Frank Gardner (born December 19, 1944) is a former

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), ...

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 holds the distinction of having been traded twice by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

to 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 ...

for one of the Alou brothers.

Early years

Gardner originally signed with 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 ...

in 1963 upon graduation from

Binghamton High School Binghamton High School, a combined high school of the previous Binghamton North High School and Binghamton Central High School, is a large public high school located in the center of Binghamton, New York. The school is culturally diverse, with ...

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. He went 17–11 with a 2.46

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

his only season in their farm system. Following the season, he was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the 1963 first-year draft.

New York Mets

He went 20–10 with a 3.51 ERA over two seasons in the Mets' farm system to earn a call up to the majors in September 1965. He lasted just three innings in his first major league

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, giving up seven runs (five earned) in an 8–5 loss to 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 ...

. However, his most memorable start of the season was his final, in which he pitched fifteen innings of

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

ball 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 a game that was eventually declared a 0–0 tie after eighteen innings. After getting off to a 2–0 start in 1966, Gardner lost his next six decisions, and was moved into the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. He earned his first major league save July 26 against the Astros, and finished the season at 4–8 with a 5.12 ERA. He started the 1967 season in the minors, and was shipped to the

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 ...

on June 12 with a minor league player to be named later for

Bob Hendley Charles Robert Hendley (born April 30, 1939) is a retired American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, he appeared in all or parts of seven seasons in Major League Baseball for the Milwaukee Braves (1961–1963), San Francisco G ...

Cubs and Indians

Gardner spent one season in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, going 0–2 with a 3.98 ERA for the Cubs. Just prior to the start of the 1968 season, he was traded to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

for

Bobby Tiefenauer Bobby Gene Tiefenauer (October 10, 1929 – June 13, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and coach. A knuckleball relief pitcher, he pitched for six Major League teams during a ten-year MLB career that stretched between and : the ...

. He went 9–6 with a 4.32 ERA for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

, and made five appearances for the Indians that September. Gardner was 0–6 with Portland in 1969 when the Indians struck a deal with to the New York Yankees for

John Orsino John Joseph Orsino (April 22, 1938 – November 1, 2016) was a Major League Baseball catcher. He was signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before the 1957 season, and played for the San Francisco Giants (1961–1962), Baltimore ...

Two trades for two Alou brothers

Gardner finished the 1969 season with the Yankees' triple A affiliate, the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. He went 16–5 with a 2.53 ERA for Syracuse in 1970, and appeared in one game for the Yankees that September. Gardner was traded along with

Ron Klimkowski Ronald Bernard Klimkowski (March 1, 1944 – November 13, 2009) was a baseball player born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher and junkball specialist. He played for the New York Yankees (–, ) an ...

from the Yankees to the

for

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager. He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The first Dominican to play regularly in the ...

on April 9, 1971. He was sent back to the Yankees with

Darrell Osteen Milton Darrell Osteen (February 14, 1943 – October 22, 2017) was an American professional baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds and the Oakland Athletics from 1965 to 1970. A right-handed pitcher, he was signed as an amateur free agent in 1962 ...

for

Curt Blefary Curtis Leroy "Clank" Blefary (July 5, 1943 – January 28, 2001) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1968), Houston Astros (1969), New York Yankees (1970–1971), ...

on May 25, 1971. He appeared in twenty games and pitched 97 innings for the Yankees in 1972, which was the most he'd pitched since 1966 with the Mets. Following the season, the Yankees traded him back to the A's with a player to be named later for

Matty Alou Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican former professional baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professional ...

. Gardner appeared in three games for the A's in 1973 when his contract was purchased by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. He appeared in ten games for the Brewers, the last of which, he lasted just a third of an inning and gave up four runs to the A's. Following the game, he was returned to the A's. He spent 1974 in 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 ...

' organization, and 1975 back in the Yankees' farm system before retiring.

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Rob 1944 births Living people Auburn Mets players Baseball players from New York (state) Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Evansville Triplets players Florida Instructional League Mets players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Orlando Twins players Phoenix Giants players Portland Beavers players Salinas Mets players Sportspeople from Binghamton, New York Syracuse Chiefs players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tucson Toros players Williamsport Mets players Wilson Tobs players