Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949, in Jefferson City, Tennessee) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988. And is the manager of the Houston Astros.

MLB Career

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Nicknamed "Scrap-Iron" due to his gritty style of play, Garner later became a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros, leading them to the World Series in 2005. In 1992, Garner replaced Tom Trebelhorn as manager of the Brewers. He quickly placed a running style of play as every starter stole at least 10 bases. Standing out were 1992 AL Rookie of the Year Pat Listach who stole 54 bases, veteran Paul Molitor stealing 31, and outfielder Darryl Hamilton stealing 41. This gave the Brewers a 2nd place finish in the competitive AL East. But after that, Garner's teams in Milwaukee and Detroit would not finish at .500. But 2004 was different. After a slow start under Jimy Williams, Garner was the savior of the Astros as he led them to a National League WildCard berth. After the loss to St. Louis in the NLCS, the Astros experienced another slow start. But the Astros came back to win another Wildcard. But this time, Houston would win the pennant. But the White Sox would sweep the Astros in the World Series. As of 2006, he is still managing the Astros. He will manage the 2006 National League All Star Team in Pittsburgh on July 11, 2006. Garner cites Chuck Tanner, his manager during his time with the Pirates, as one of his biggest coaching influences ^*.

Trivia

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Garner was involved in the two longest post-season games in the history of baseball, played almost 20 years apart. He was the Astros' manager in the 18-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves on October 9, 2005. In the 16-inning loss to the New York Mets on October 15, 1986, Garner was the starting third baseman for the Astros, going 1-for-3, before being replaced by a pinch-hitter. Both games had the final score of 7-6. Interestingly, he also managed the Astros for the longest World Series game in length of time (five hours and forty-one minutes). The Chicago White Sox won the game, 7-5 in the 14th inning (tied for longest by innings).

External links

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• Baseball-Reference.com - career playing statistics
• Baseball-Reference.com - career managerial record

Record

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Year	League	Division	Team	Age	Games	Won	Lost	Win%	Finish
1992	AL	East	Milwaukee	43	162	92	70	.568	2nd
1993				44	162	69	93	.426	7th
1994		Central		45	115	53	62	.461	5th
1995				46	144	65	79	.451	4th
1996				47	163	80	82	.494	3rd
1997				48	161	78	83	.484	3rd
1998	NL	Central		49	162	74	88	.457	5th
1999				50	112	52	60	.464	5th
2000	AL	Central	Detroit	51	162	79	83	.488	3rd
2001				52	162	66	96	.407	4th
2002				53	6	0	6	.000	5th
2004	NL	Central	Houston	55	74	48	26	.649	2nd
2005				56	163	89	73	.549	2nd

Major league players from Tennessee | People from Tennessee | 1949 births | Living people | Baseball managers | Milwaukee Brewers managers | Detroit Tigers managers | Houston Astros managers | Major league second basemen | Major league third basemen | Oakland Athletics players | Pittsburgh Pirates players | Houston Astros players | Los Angeles Dodgers players | San Francisco Giants players | 1976 American League All-Stars | 1980 National League All-Stars | 1981 National League All-Stars