Gary George Pettis (born April 3, 1958) is an American former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

center fielder in

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), ...

(MLB) and current third base coach for the Houston Astros. During his playing career, Pettis won five Gold Glove Awards and finished in the top ten in stolen bases in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

seven times.

Biography

Pettis was selected in the 6th round of the 1979 draft by the California Angels, and played minor league baseball for the Salinas Spurs of the class "A" California League in 1980, then the

Holyoke Millers The Holyoke Millers were a minor league baseball team located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The team played in the Eastern League. Their home stadium was Mackenzie Stadium. The Millers played from 1977 to 1982 and was a farm team of the Milwa ...

of the double "A" Eastern League in 1981. In 1982, Pettis was promoted to the California Angels, where he played the first six seasons of his career. After the 1987 season, Pettis went on to play two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, 1988 through the following season of 1989. After two years with Detroit, Pettis joined the Texas Rangers for two seasons, 1990–91. Pettis finished his career in the major leagues in 1992. The 1992 season saw Pettis play for two teams. After leaving the Texas Rangers, Pettis joined the San Diego Padres for the 1992 season but ended that season back in Detroit with the Tigers. Gary Pettis at Minute Maid on August 30 2014

Gary Pettis at Minute Maid on August 30 2014

During his career, Pettis consistently hit for low

averages In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

and was known for striking out often, but he performed extremely well on defense, earning five

Gold Glove Awards The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

. He was noted for making many spectacular leaping or diving catches, depriving hitters of home runs or base hits, and was known in baseball circles as "The man who made center field look easy". Additionally, he was a prolific base runner and had five seasons where he stole over 40 bases. Pettis held the Angels' club record for stolen bases for nearly 20 years, until it was broken by

Chone Figgins Desmond DeChone Figgins (; ; born January 22, 1978) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Seattle Mariners, and Los Angeles Dodgers ...

on July 15, 2007. Pettis was tagged as "Pac Man" Pettis by a local radio station listener call-in contest in 1986, referring to his unusual speed in the outfield and ability to chase down opponents' hits. On his 1985

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American football, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, a ...

baseball card, the person posing in the picture is not Pettis; it is in fact a picture of his younger brother. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, the Astros won 106 games, the second-highest total in franchise history. They advanced to the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

and defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to give Pettis his second

title as an Astro.

Personal life

His nephew,

Austin Pettis Austin Pettis (born February 8, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted in the third round, 78th overall, in the 2011 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Early years Pettis attended Orange Lutheran High School in Oran ...

, is a former wide receiver for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

and San Diego Chargers. Pettis has four children, Paige, Kyler, Shaye, and

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

. Dante plays wide receiver for the Chicago Bears and set the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

record for most career punt return touchdowns while at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. Kyler is an actor who appeared on the NBC daytime drama '' Days of Our Lives''. Brother Stacey Pettis was drafted #94 4th round 1981 by Pittsburgh Pirates. Played in the Pirates system (1981-1984) and Angels (1985-1986). Stacey has been scouting for the past 20 yrs. Seattle Mariners (2001-2016), St Louis Cardinals (2018–present).

References

External links

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Gary 1958 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Oakland, California California Angels players Chicago White Sox coaches Detroit Tigers players Edmonton Trappers players Gold Glove Award winners Holyoke Millers players Houston Astros coaches Idaho Falls Angels players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first base coaches New York Mets coaches Salinas Angels players San Diego Padres players Spokane Indians players Tacoma Tigers players Texas Rangers coaches Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players Toledo Mud Hens players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Biography

Personal life

See also

References

External links