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William Lawrence Gardner (May 13, 1886 – March 11, 1976) was a
He played most of his prime in the
University of Vermont Athletics Hall of Fame profile
*
SABR Biographies: Larry Gardner
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Larry 1886 births 1976 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen Boston Red Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players Cleveland Indians players Vermont Catamounts athletic directors Vermont Catamounts baseball coaches Vermont Catamounts baseball players Lynn Shoemakers players Asheville Tourists players Dallas Steers players Asheville Tourists managers Baseball players from Vermont People from Enosburgh, Vermont
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...
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 (A ...
. From 1908 through 1924, Gardner played for the Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...
, 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) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...
. He was a four-time World Series champion.
Biography
Gardner was born inEnosburg, Vermont
Enosburgh is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, in the United States. The population was 2,810 at the 2020 census. Enosburgh includes the village of Enosburg Falls and the settlements of Bordoville, East Enosburgh, North Enosburgh, Sampsonvill ...
and attended Enosburg High School. He began playing baseball in the Franklin County League and attended the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
where he played baseball for three years. He was the first player out of the University of Vermont to play 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 b ...
. Gardner was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1908, and played his first professional game on June 25, 1908.
He played most of his prime in the dead-ball era
In baseball, the dead-ball era was the period from around 1900 to the emergence of Babe Ruth as a power hitter in 1919, when he hit a then-major league record 29 home runs; only three players since 1890 had even hit 20. This era was characterized ...
, as the third baseman on several successful Red Sox teams. He helped the Red Sox to victories in the 1912
Events January
* January 1 – The Republic of China is established.
* January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens.
* January 6
** German geophysicist Alfred ...
, 1915
Events
Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix.
January
* January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction".
* January ...
, and 1916 World Series. He led Boston with 5 RBIs in the 1912 Series and hit his team's only home run. In the 10th inning of the final game, the same inning that included Fred Snodgrass
Frederick Carlisle Snodgrass (October 19, 1887 – April 5, 1974) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from to . He is best known for dropping a key fly ball in the 1912 World Series.
New York Giants Early years
Snodgrass was ...
and Chief Meyers
John Tortes "Chief" Meyers (July 29, 1880 – July 25, 1971) was a Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, and Brooklyn Robins from 1909 to 1917. He played on the early Giants teams under manager John McGraw and was t ...
making critical fielding mistakes and giving the Red Sox two extra outs to work with, Gardner drove in Steve Yerkes
Stephen Douglas Yerkes (May 15, 1888 – January 31, 1971) was a professional baseball player.
History
Yerkes played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1909 and 1916, primarily as a second baseman. He played for the ...
with the series-winning sacrifice fly. Gardner homered in consecutive games of the 1916 Series, including a three-run inside-the-park homer in Game 4. The two home runs matched his regular season total.
Gardner played a key role on the pennant-winning 1920 Indians, leading the team in RBIs (118) as well as games played (154) and at-bats (597). However, he also was a dismal 3-for-23 in stolen base attempts. He went 5-for-24 in the 1920 World Series
The 1920 World Series was the championship series for Major League Baseball's 1920 season. The series was a best-of-nine format played between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Brooklyn ...
, which Cleveland won, 5 games to 2. Gardner was on the winning side in all four of his World Series appearances. Gardner batted only .198 (17-for-86) in 25 World Series games but did score 9 runs, with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 13 RBI and 4 walks.
His best season was 1921, when he achieved career-highs in batting average (.319), RBIs (120), runs scored (101), and hits (187).
Gardner batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a .289 batting average with 27 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 934 RBI in 1923 games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...
.
Gardner was inducted into Vermont's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969. After his retirement, he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...
and athletic director
An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...
from 1929 to 1951.
Death and legacy
Gardner died on March 11, 1976 in St. George, Vermont. In its December 27, 1989 issue commemorating the millennium, ''Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' named Gardner as one of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th century. Gardner was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of selected former Boston Red Sox players, coaches and managers, and non-uniformed personnel. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, p ...
in 2000. In 2012 Gardner was inducted into the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame
The Vermont Sports Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of Vermont. Above all, induction "is for accomplishments in sports and recreation that generate a great source of pride to the state." Launched as a project in 2011, t ...
.
See also
*List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
In baseball, a triple is a hit in which the batter advances to third base in one play, with neither the benefit of a fielding error nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice. Triples were more common in baseball's dead-ball era, whe ...
* List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
References
External links
University of Vermont Athletics Hall of Fame profile
*
SABR Biographies: Larry Gardner
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Larry 1886 births 1976 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen Boston Red Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players Cleveland Indians players Vermont Catamounts athletic directors Vermont Catamounts baseball coaches Vermont Catamounts baseball players Lynn Shoemakers players Asheville Tourists players Dallas Steers players Asheville Tourists managers Baseball players from Vermont People from Enosburgh, Vermont