Ryan Garko

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Ryan Garko
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 18, 2005, for the Cleveland Indians
KBO: April 2, 2011, for the Samsung Lions
Last appearance
MLB: May 13, 2010, for the Texas Rangers
KBO: June 12, 2011, for the Samsung Lions
MLB statistics
Batting average.275
Home runs55
Runs batted in250
KBO statistics
Batting average.243
Home runs1
Runs batted in28
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
World Junior Baseball Championship
Gold medal – first place 1999 Kaohsiung Team

Ryan Francis Garko (born January 2, 1981) is an American former

Cleveland Indians, the San Francisco Giants, and the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball as well as the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization. Garko was seen by former ESPN reporter John Sickels as a good hitter who hit to all parts of the field, but with poor defensive instincts.[1]
Through 2010, he had a .275 career average, 427 hits, 55 home runs, and 250 RBI in 463 games.

When he attended

Johnny Bench Award and was named the Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year his senior year. He was also voted onto the College World Series Legends Team, featuring 28 of the best College World Series players as voted upon by fans, writers, and head coaches. During his time in the Cleveland Indians' organization, Garko was converted into a first baseman. In 2006, Baseball America ranked him as the fifth best prospect in the Indians organization, including being the best at hitting for average
.

Garko debuted in 2006 for the Indians, eventually taking over their first base position. In 2007, he hit a career-high 21 home runs in the regular season and batted over .300 for the Indians in the playoffs. Questions about Garko's ability to hit caused him to lose some playing time in 2008, although he managed to have 90 RBI. In 2009, Garko was traded to the San Francisco Giants to become their first baseman, but he slumped and ended the season as a backup. He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2010 but was claimed off waivers at the end of spring training by the Texas Rangers. After just 15 games, he was sent to the minors, where he spent the rest of the year. He played for the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2011 and played in the minor leagues in the United States in 2012. He has not played in 2013, although he attended spring training with the Colorado Rockies.

He was hired as an assistant coach at Stanford prior to the 2014 college baseball season.[2] Garko spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as manager of the Tulsa Drillers, a minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, before being named the head baseball coach at University of the Pacific on July 23, 2017.

Amateur career

Early life and high school

Garko was born in

at-bats (314), hits (149), triples (19), home runs (24), RBIs (121), and walks (80).[6] He was also the starting quarterback on the football team for two years.[7] In the classroom, Garko had a 4.2 GPA.[6]

College

Garko attended

Pac-10 Conference Baseball of the Year Award with Dustin Pedroia, and was named the NCAA Regional Most Outstanding Player and Stanford's Most Valuable Player.[8] In his time at Stanford, Garko batted .350 with 60 doubles, 39 home runs, 191 RBIs in 218 games played. He is as of 2013 fifth all-time in doubles at Stanford, seventh in RBIs, and ninth in batting average and home runs.[8] His only problem at Stanford was that he had trouble with controlling his weight.[1] On May 6, 2010, Garko was voted on to a 28-member College World Series Legends Team as a part of a commemoration of the final College World Series in Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.[12] The team was voted upon by college baseball fans, college baseball writers, and Division I head coaches.[12]

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians in 2007
.

2003–2004

Garko was selected as a catcher by the Cleveland Indians in the third round (78th overall) of the

Akron Aeros, and the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. During April, he was named the "Player of the Month" in the Carolina League.[14] He was also named the 13th best prospect in the Carolina League by Baseball America.[15] He batted a combined .330 with 33 doubles, 22 home runs, and 99 RBIs in 113 games with all three leagues. Garko was third in the Carolina League in batting average with a .328 clip, and sixth in home runs with 16.[16] At the end of the season, he was named the Cleveland Indians' minor league player of the year by USA Today.[17] Garko participated in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) at the end of the 2004 season. With the Peoria Javelinas in the AFL, he batted .348 with 40 hits, 5 home runs, and 30 RBIs in 30 games.[9] He was named to the AFL Raising Stars team, an all-star team voted upon by managers and coaches.[18]

2005 season

In 2005, Garko spent

pinch-hitting for Travis Hafner in the eighth inning and striking out against Chris Demaria.[22] That was his only major league appearance of the year.[23] For the second straight season, Garko played in the Arizona Fall League at the end of the season,[24] this time with the Mesa Solar Sox. He batted .314 with 27 hits, 5 home runs, and 27 RBIs in 23 games.[9]

2006 season

Entering the 2006 season,

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.[30] Although Garko favored his traditional position of catcher, the Indians moved him to first base so he would have a better chance of competing for a major league roster spot.[31] By September, he was the starting everyday first baseman for the Indians after Ben Broussard was traded to Seattle.[32]
Garko finished the season with a .292 batting average, 12 doubles, seven home runs, and 45 RBIs in 50 games at the major league level.

Garko with the Indians in 2008

2007 season

Going into 2007, Anthony Castrovince of

third base because of an injury to Andy Marte.[36] He began to dislike interleague play because during it, designated hitter Travis Hafner was moved to first base, which forced Garko to the bench.[37] On July 18, Garko hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning against Chicago White Sox' pitcher Bobby Jenks to tie the score at 5–5, and then drove in an RBI run for the win in the eleventh inning.[38] During the regular season, Garko batted .289 with 29 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs and 61 RBIs in 138 games. He was third in the league with 20 hit by pitches (an Indians single-season record).[4] In the postseason, he hit .314 with two doubles, one home run, and five RBIs in nine games. The Indians defeated the New York Yankees in four games in the American League Division Series before losing the American League Championship Series in seven games to the Boston Red Sox.[39][40]

2008 season

Going into the 2008 season, there were questions surrounding Garko's ability to improve as a hitter.

ground ball he hit.[45] On September 27, Garko hit two home runs, including a grand slam against the Chicago White Sox.[46] At the end of the season, Garko hit .273 with 21 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs and 90 RBIs in 141 games. His 90 RBI tied Grady Sizemore for the team lead.[47]

2009 season

Before spring training in 2009, there was speculation that if Garko did not perform well, he might lose his starting first base job.[48] Garko began practicing the outfield position for the upcoming season.[49] Eric Wedge stated that Garko would in fact be playing the outfield in spring training.[50] On June 21, Garko was held out of the game because of a sprained left wrist.[51]

San Francisco Giants

Cleveland Indians to the San Francisco Giants
.

On July 27, 2009, Garko was traded to the San Francisco Giants for left-handed pitcher Scott Barnes.[52][53] He hit a game-winning double on August 18, against the Cincinnati Reds in the top of the tenth inning.[54] He was acquired to be a full-time first baseman; however, during his tenure in San Francisco, he was third on the depth chart (behind Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa) after he got off to a sluggish start.[55] With the Giants, Garko batted .235 with 3 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs and 12 RBIs and 9 walks in 40 games. Combined with his time in the Indians and Giants organization, Garko batted .268 with 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 51 RBIs in 118 games. On December 12, 2009, Garko was non-tendered by the Giants, making him a free agent.[56]

Seattle Mariners

Garko signed a one-year, $550,000 contract with the Seattle Mariners on February 1, 2010.[57] Garko said that the reason he was signed by Seattle was because he has success against left-handed pitching.[58] He added about signing with the Mariners:

Going through the process and studying what teams were doing, and what Jack [Zduriencik] is doing in Seattle, I realized how much I wanted to be there.

— Ryan Garko, MLB.com, February 1, 2010.[58]

However, in the spring, Garko batted only .220 with a home run and four RBIs.

clubhouse presence and the fact that the Mariners had stated that, due to his defensive abilities, Casey Kotchman, whom Garko was expected to split playing time with, was going to play the majority of the games at first base leaving the back-up designated hitter spot for Garko.[61] The final decision, Baker stated, was that the Mariners had their organization full with back-up first basemen and designated hitters like Sweeney and Tommy Everidge.[61]

Texas Rangers

On April 1, Garko was claimed by the

Oklahoma City RedHawks to make room for Garko on the 25-man roster.[59] The Rangers had shown interest in Garko at the trade deadline in 2009, however, no transaction ever formed and he was sent to the San Francisco Giants.[62] On May 13, The Dallas Morning News reporter Evan Grant reported that the Rangers intended to option Garko to the minor leagues and later place him on outright waivers when outfielder Nelson Cruz was activated from the disabled list, although no transaction was official at the time of the report.[63] Later that day, the Rangers officially optioned Garko to Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed him on waivers after Cruz was activated from the disabled list.[64] On May 13, he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, which removed him from the Rangers' 40-man roster.[65] Garko hit his first home run of the season, a grand slam, with the RedHawks against the Triple-A Portland Beavers on May 21.[66] However, with Oklahoma City in 2010, Garko batted only .235 with twelve home runs. He became a free agent at the end of the season.[67]

Samsung Lions

On December 10, Garko signed a one-year deal with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization.[68] Due to injury, he was released on July 12.[69]

Later career

Garko signed with the

Southern League, batting .297 with 68 hits, eight home runs, and 40 RBI in 61 games.[71] On November 3, he became a free agent.[67]

On January 30, 2013, Garko signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies. He was released before the season on March 23.[67]

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, he joined the coaching staff at Stanford University, a position he held through the 2014 season.

Garko was named as the manager of the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League, a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate for the 2016 season.[72] On July 23, 2017, Garko resigned from the Drillers to take on a new job as head baseball coach at University of the Pacific.[73] On January 8, 2020, Garko stepped down as the head coach at Pacific to join the Los Angeles Angels coaching staff.[74] Garko spent two seasons with the Angels, working as a coaching assistant and instant replay coordinator.

Front office career

In September 2021 it was announced that the Detroit Tigers had hired Garko as their new Vice President of Player Development, replacing Dave Littlefield.[75]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Pacific Tigers (West Coast Conference
) (2018–2019)
2018 Pacific 22–29 11–16 9th
2019 Pacific 23–26 10–16 8th
Pacific: 45–55 21–32
Total: 45–55

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal

Garko resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his spouse Christie, whom he met in 2004.[4] They were on their honeymoon when Garko found out that the Giants had made him a free agent after the 2009 season.[76] He is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.[77]

References

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  2. ^ Janie McCauley (March 29, 2014). "Ryan Garko goes from MLB player to coach at alma mater Stanford". Associated Press. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  3. ^ Ryan Garko (February 22, 2009). "Unpacking the bags in Winter Haven". Major League Baseball. mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved February 1, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ryan Garko Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights – MLB.com". Major League Baseball. mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
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  69. ^ 삼성, 라이언 가코 방출 새용병 덕 매티스 영입 (in Korean). kyongbuk newspaper. July 15, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
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  72. ^ Osborne, Cary (December 21, 2015). "Dodgers minor-league managers include four under 40". Dodgers.com. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  73. ^ Lewis, Barry (July 23, 2017). "Drillers manager Ryan Garko resigns to take college job". Tulsa World. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  74. ^ Scott Linesburgh (January 8, 2020). "Garko steps down as Pacific baseball coach; Rodriguez takes over Tigers". www.recordnet.com. GateHouse Media, LLC. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  75. ^ Petzold, Evan (September 23, 2021). "Detroit Tigers hire Ryan Garko as new vice president of player development". Detroit Free Press.
  76. ^ Sammon, Will (2009-05-12). "For Biscuits' Garko, MLB Dream is Still Alive". Scout.com. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
  77. ^ Anthony Castrovince (December 24, 2008). "Garko talks about gifts, time with family". Major League Baseball. mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved February 1, 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ryan Garko.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Indians' Minor League Player of the Year
(the Lou Boudreau Award)
2004 		Succeeded by
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