Phil Garner

Born: 4/30/1949 in Jefferson City, TN, USA

MLB Debut: 1973-09-10 | Final Game: 1988-10-02

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 5'10" | Weight: 175 lbs

Full name: Philip Mason Garner

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Biography

Phil Garner, born in 1949, was a prominent position player in Major League Baseball, whose career spanned from 1973 to 1988. Renowned for his versatility on the field, Garner played primarily as a second baseman but also made contributions at third base and shortstop. Over his 16-year career, he appeared in 1,860 games, accumulating 1,594 hits, 109 home runs, and 738 RBIs, while maintaining a batting average of .260. Garner's speed on the bases was also notable, as he swiped 225 bags throughout his time in the league. His dedication and all-around skills earned him three All-Star selections, highlighting his status as one of the standout players of his era. Garner played during a transformative time in baseball, navigating the transition from the tail end of the deadball era into a more offense-focused game. His ability to produce runs and steal bases made him an essential asset to the teams he played for, including the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Tigers. In addition to his offensive contributions, Garner was respected for his defensive prowess and leadership qualities, both on and off the field. After retiring, he remained involved in baseball as a coach and manager, further solidifying his legacy in the sport.

Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1860	6136	780	1594	299	82	109	738	225	564	842	0.260	0.323	0.389	0.711	-83.0

Career AVG .260 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .323 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .389 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS 0.711 vs. league average 0.710 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1973	OAK	AL	9	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1974	OAK	AL	30	28	4	5	1	0	0	1	1	1	5	0.179	—	—	—	—	0.0
1975	OAK	AL	160	488	46	120	21	5	6	54	4	30	65	0.246	.257 (-5%)	.327 (-10%)	.374 (-7%)	.701 (-9%)	-951.5
1976	OAK	AL	159	555	54	145	29	12	8	74	35	36	71	0.261	.255 (+2%)	.320 (-4%)	.360 (+11%)	.681 (+4%)	166.7
1977	PIT	NL	153	585	99	152	35	10	17	77	32	55	65	0.260	.264 (-2%)	.329 (-1%)	.401 (+10%)	.730 (+5%)	466.6
1978	PIT	NL	154	528	66	138	25	9	10	66	27	66	71	0.261	.257 (+1%)	.323 (+7%)	.378 (+6%)	.702 (+6%)	685.4
1979	PIT	NL	150	549	76	161	32	8	11	59	17	55	74	0.293	.265 (+10%)	.329 (+9%)	.397 (+11%)	.727 (+10%)	1135.2
1980	PIT	NL	151	548	62	142	27	6	5	58	32	46	53	0.259	.264 (-2%)	.326 (-3%)	.387 (-8%)	.714 (-6%)	-690.8
1981	PIT	NL	56	181	22	46	6	2	1	20	4	21	21	0.254	.255 (-1%)	.320 (+2%)	.368 (-12%)	.688 (-5%)	-137.5
1981	HOU	NL	31	113	13	27	3	1	0	6	6	15	11	0.239	.255 (-7%)	.320 (+2%)	.368 (-23%)	.688 (-12%)	-137.5
1982	HOU	NL	155	588	65	161	33	8	13	83	24	40	92	0.274	.261 (+5%)	.324 (-1%)	.388 (+9%)	.712 (+4%)	324.4
1983	HOU	NL	154	567	76	135	24	2	14	79	18	63	84	0.238	.260 (-9%)	.324 (-3%)	.389 (-7%)	.714 (-5%)	-513.7
1984	HOU	NL	128	374	60	104	17	6	4	45	3	43	63	0.278	.259 (+7%)	.322 (+10%)	.384 (+1%)	.707 (+5%)	442.6
1985	HOU	NL	135	463	65	124	23	10	6	51	4	34	72	0.268	.257 (+4%)	.323 (-2%)	.390 (+2%)	.714 (avg)	-94.0
1986	HOU	NL	107	313	43	83	14	3	9	41	12	30	45	0.265	.257 (+3%)	.325 (+1%)	.395 (+5%)	.720 (+3%)	159.5
1987	HOU	NL	43	112	15	25	5	0	3	15	1	8	20	0.223	.262 (-15%)	.331 (-19%)	.415 (-16%)	.746 (-17%)	-386.8
1987	LAD	NL	70	126	14	24	4	0	2	8	5	20	24	0.190	.262 (-28%)	.331 (-10%)	.415 (-35%)	.746 (-24%)	-386.8
1988	SFG	NL	15	13	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	3	0.154	—	—	—	—	0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
21	68	10	21	5	1	1	8	8	7	0.309

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1986	NLCS	HOU	3	9	1	2	1	0	0	2	1	2	0.222
1981	NWDIV	HOU	5	18	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	3	0.111
1979	NLCS	PIT	3	12	4	5	0	1	1	1	1	0	0.417
1979	WS	PIT	7	24	4	12	4	0	0	5	3	1	0.500
1975	ALCS	OAK	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2B	975	921	2124	2760	129	606
3B	839	721	593	1542	127	135
SS	42	11	29	54	3	11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1973	OAK	3B	9	0	2	3	0	1
1974	OAK	2B	3	0	3	1	0	0
1974	OAK	3B	19	6	6	15	1	1
1974	OAK	SS	8	0	2	8	0	0
1975	OAK	2B	160	159	354	426	26	93
1975	OAK	SS	1	0	1	1	0	1
1976	OAK	2B	159	159	378	465	22	91
1977	PIT	2B	50	44	114	95	6	20
1977	PIT	3B	107	101	98	240	10	28
1977	PIT	SS	12	2	11	16	1	1
1978	PIT	2B	81	75	190	213	10	50
1978	PIT	3B	81	77	67	172	18	12
1978	PIT	SS	4	0	1	4	0	1
1979	PIT	2B	83	76	175	234	8	58
1979	PIT	3B	78	62	47	144	13	16
1979	PIT	SS	14	8	12	18	1	8
1980	PIT	2B	151	151	349	499	21	116
1980	PIT	SS	1	0	0	1	0	0
1981	PIT	2B	50	50	121	148	9	31
1981	HOU	2B	31	30	62	102	3	17
1982	HOU	2B	136	136	273	429	14	90
1982	HOU	3B	18	17	12	35	3	4
1983	HOU	3B	154	153	100	311	24	22
1984	HOU	2B	35	25	65	88	7	26
1984	HOU	3B	82	68	71	163	5	16
1985	HOU	2B	15	9	26	32	1	10
1985	HOU	3B	123	103	75	197	20	14
1986	HOU	2B	7	4	8	11	0	2
1986	HOU	3B	84	76	58	141	23	13
1987	HOU	2B	2	0	0	1	0	0
1987	HOU	3B	36	29	28	54	2	3
1987	LAN	2B	12	3	6	16	2	2
1987	LAN	3B	46	29	29	67	8	5
1987	LAN	SS	2	1	2	6	1	0
1988	SFN	3B	2	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position	Games
Second Base	976
Third Base	839
Shortstop	42
Designated Hitter	2

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1986	Player of the Week	Week of 1986-04-18
1979	Player of the Week	Week of 1979-07-20
1978	Player of the Week	Week of 1978-09-16
1977	Player of the Week	Week of 1977-07-08