Gary Steven Roenicke (born December 5, 1954) is a former

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), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(1976),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1978–85),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(1986) and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

(1987–88).

Early career

He was originally drafted by the

as the eighth pick of the first round of the 1973 amateur draft. He earned the MVP Award in the Eastern League in 1975. A year later, he made his major league debut for the

, hitting .222 in 29 games with two

home run 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 ...

s and five

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 ba ...

Oriole career

Roenicke was acquired along with

Don Stanhouse Donald Joseph Stanhouse (born February 12, 1951) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher who had an eight-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1972–1980) with a brief comeback in 1982. He played for the Texas Rangers and Baltim ...

and

Joe Kerrigan Joseph Thomas Kerrigan (born January 30, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher, manager, and longtime pitching coach. He played for the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles from 1976 to 1980, and managed the Bos ...

by the

from the Expos for

Rudy May Rudolph May, Jr. (born July 18, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in and from to for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expo ...

, Randy Miller and Bryn Smith at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 7, 1977. Roenicke appeared in 27 games in his first season with the Orioles in 1978. A year later, in his first full season, he had perhaps the best season of his career, appearing in 133 games and hitting .261 with 25

s and 64

. He even made the top ten in at-bats per home run, with one home run every 15.0 AB. The next year, he hit .239 with 10

s, 28

. In 1981 he hit .269, but his power numbers were still significantly down, slugging only .384, whereas he had slugged .508 in his rookie season. In 1982, he hit .270 with a slugging percentage of .499 in 137 games, platooning with John Lowenstein and Benny Ayala. In 1984, he hit a grand slam during the Home Run Derby jackpot inning of a locally televised game against the Yankees, which resulted in a $1 million jackpot award to a Maryland viewer.

Decline

Roenicke never established numbers like the 1982 season or rookie season. A year later, both his average and slugging were down and after two more years, the Orioles traded him to the

for Rex Hudler. On the Yankees, his role was limited to a bench player and his power was down, with three

s. He signed as a free agent in 1986 by the

for less than half the amount of money he had been making ($380,000). He continued his career on the bench, this year doing better in the power department, hitting nine

s. The next year, he hit .228 with a .298 slugging percentage, the worst of his career. He was released by the Braves on July 26, 1988 and retired.

Post-playing career

Roenicke resides in

Rough and Ready, California Rough and Ready is a census-designated place in Nevada County, California, United States. It is located west of Grass Valley, California, approximately 62 miles (100 km) from Sacramento. The population was 963 at the 2010 census. It has frequ ...

, and is currently an adviser for the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Saskatchewan and Alberta that descends from leagues dating to 1931. History The league can trace its roots back to 1931, via its predecessors. The Sout ...

, as well as a scout for the Orioles. His brother, Ron, had an eight-year career as an

in the 1980s while his son Josh was a member of both the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

football and baseball teams as a wide receiver and

. On the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, Josh had the second-highest on-base percentage, third-highest batting average and compiled a perfect fielding percentage. Josh was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, made his major-league baseball debut with the Reds as a pitcher on September 13, 2008, and on July 31, 2009 was traded to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

References

External links

Gary Roenicke
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Gary Roenicke
at Baseballbiography.com

* [http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/thetoydepartment/2009/07/he_still_has_the_wild.html Klingaman, Mike. "Catching Up With...former Oriole Gary Roenicke," ''The Toy Department'' (''The Baltimore Sun'' sports blog), Tuesday, July 7, 2009.] {{DEFAULTSORT:Roenicke, Gary 1954 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from California Denver Bears players Jamestown Expos players Major League Baseball left fielders Montreal Expos players New York Yankees players People from Greater Los Angeles People from the San Gabriel Valley Québec Carnavals players Rochester Red Wings players San Bernardino Pride players San Diego Padres scouts West Palm Beach Expos players People from Covina, California