Robert Michael Garbark (November 13, 1909 – August 15, 1990) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach of football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and baseball. He played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

with the

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 , the team ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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, they became the Oakland ...

, and

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Garbark made his Major League debut on September 3, 1934 with the Indians. Garbark's brother,

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

, also played professionally and had the same batting average (.261) as Bob in 1944. Although posting only a .248

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(81-for-327) with no

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 ...

and 28 RBI in his seven year major league career, he was strong defensively, recording a .996

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

with only two errors in 446

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

over 135 games (134 games at catcher and one game at first base). Garbark coached baseball at his alma mater,

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

, for 32 seasons (1947–1978), compiling a record of 282–201–3. He also coached football for a season at Allegheny in 1946, tallying a mark of 1–6, and basketball at the school for 19 seasons, from 1943 to 1962, amassing a record of 125–204. Garbark played on the football team at Allegheny as a fullback from 1929 to 1932. He was captain of the football team in 1931 and co-captain in 1932.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* 1909 births 1990 deaths Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians players Chicago Cubs players Philadelphia Athletics players Major League Baseball catchers Williamsport Grays players Toledo Mud Hens players Birmingham Barons players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Allegheny Gators baseball coaches Allegheny Gators football coaches Allegheny Gators football players Allegheny Gators men's basketball coaches Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Houston Baseball players from Houston 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-catcher-1900s-stub