David Garcia (September 15, 1920 – May 21, 2018) was an American

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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), ...

who spent over 65 years in

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 ...

. He served as manager of the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

(1977–78) and

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 ...

(1979–82). Including three games as acting manager of the 1975 Indians, during his first coaching tenure there, he compiled a career record of 310 wins and 311 defeats (.499).

Career

Garcia was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Spanish immigrant parents and entered the game in 1939. Derailed by injury as a player, Garcia was a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

for almost 20 seasons — much of that time in the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

— and never made it to the major leagues. His playing career also was interrupted by three years (1943–45) of service in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and much of his later active career was spent as a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in the low

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

. As the playing skipper of the 1951

Oshkosh Giants The Oshkosh Giants were a minor league baseball team based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that played between 1941 and 1953 in the Wisconsin State League. Notable alumni * Hank Bauer (1941) 3 x MLB All-Star *Dave Garcia (1949-1950, MGR) *Fred Schulte ...

of the Class D Wisconsin State League, Garcia won the league's triple crown, with 23

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 127

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and a batting average of .369. He threw and batted right-handed was listed as tall and . He began managing at age 27 in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

with the Giants'

Knoxville Smokies Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

farm team of the Class B Tri-State League, and would continue to manage in the New York and San Francisco Giants'

organization over the next two decades (1949–55; 1957; 1964; 1967–68). He also coached for Triple-A

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

(1956) and scouted for the Giants (1957–63; 1965–66). Garcia then joined the San Diego Padres as a minor league manager in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, their maiden

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

season. The following season, in his 50th year, Garcia finally reached the majors as San Diego's third-base coach. He coached with the Padres (1970–73), Indians (1975–76; 1979) and Angels (1977) and in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

he was named manager of the Angels when

Norm Sherry Norman Burt Sherry (July 16, 1931 – March 8, 2021) was an American baseball catcher, manager, and coach who played five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets from 1959 to 1963. He bat ...

was fired on July 11. While the Angels continued to stumble under him in 1977 (with a 35–46 record), the Halos stood at 25–20 when Garcia was released in favor of Jim Fregosi on June 1, 1978. Garcia got another chance to manage with the Cleveland Indians when Jeff Torborg was fired on July 23,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Cleveland played at a 38–28 clip under Garcia for the remainder of the season, and compiled a mark of 52–51 during the strike-shortened

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

campaign, but they never finished higher than fifth in the American League East. After a sixth-place finish in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, Garcia was fired. But he remained in the game into his mid 80s, as a coach for 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 ...

(1983–84), a special assignment scout for the Brewers and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, and — from

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

– 02 — a coach with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

. Garcia was named to the Rockies' staff when he was 79 years of age by then-skipper Buddy Bell. He also scouted for other MLB teams, including the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

and

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 ...

. As a minor league manager in the Giants, Padres and Angels organizations, Garcia won 889 games and lost 796 (.528) and won three championships. He is one of only four individuals to play, coach or announce professional baseball during part of eight decades. ( Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda and Don Zimmer being the other three.)

Personal life

Garcia's son David was the Yankees first-round pick—the 11th player taken overall—in the secondary phase of the January 1978 draft. He spent two years in the Yankee systems. Garcia also had two grandsons play professional baseball. Drew Garcia was a 21st round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in 2008, and reached the Triple-A level. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, the St. Louis Cardinals selected his grandson, Greg Garcia in the seventh round of Major League Baseball draft. He made his MLB debut for the Cardinals in April

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Dave Garcia died in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, his permanent home since 1961, of natural causes at the age of 97.

References

External links

* Career statistics and manager information fro
Baseball-Reference
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Dave 1920 births 2018 deaths American people of Spanish descent Anaheim Angels scouts Baseball players from Illinois California Angels coaches California Angels managers California Angels scouts Caribbean Series managers Chicago Cubs scouts Cleveland Indians coaches Cleveland Indians managers Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Colorado Rockies scouts Danville Leafs players Eau Claire Bears players Grand Forks Chiefs players Jersey City Giants players Kansas City Royals scouts Knoxville Smokies players Lake Charles Skippers players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball scouts Major League Baseball third base coaches Mayfield Clothiers players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers Milwaukee Brewers coaches Milwaukee Brewers scouts New York Giants (NL) scouts Oshkosh Giants players San Diego Padres coaches San Diego Padres scouts San Francisco Giants scouts Seattle Mariners scouts Sioux City Soos players Sportspeople from East St. Louis, Illinois United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Wilkes-Barre Barons players