Michael Douglas Garman (born September 16, 1949) is an American former professional

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. A

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

, he played for five different teams in

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 ...

(MLB) between 1969 and 1978. He was a first-round draft selection of 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

in the 1967 MLB draft. Listed at and , he threw and batted right-handed.

Career

Boston Red Sox

Born and raised in

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 68,336 at the time of th2023 United States census making it the List of cities in Idaho, 5th most populous city in Idaho. C ...

, Garman was the third overall selection in the 1967 MLB Draft, chosen by the

. His brother, Stephen, spent two seasons in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization. Garman signed with the Red Sox upon graduation at age 17 from Caldwell High School, and was assigned to the Greenville Red Sox of the

Western Carolinas League The Western Carolinas League was a Class D level (1948–52; 1960–62) and a low Class A level (1963–79) full-season league in American minor league baseball. The Western Carolinas League changed its name prior to the 1980 season and has been ...

. He lost the only game he appeared in for Greenville, giving up three

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and two walks in the only inning he pitched. He was then reassigned to the

Winston-Salem Red Sox Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he went 1–3 with a 6.75

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. After three seasons in Boston's farm system, Garman debuted with the BoSox as a September call-up in , and won his major league debut against the

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

just six days after his twentieth birthday. After spending all of in the minors, he joined the Sox as a September call-up in and as well, and made the big league roster out of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

in . He had no decisions in twelve appearances as manager Eddie Kasko used him mostly in mop up roles.

St. Louis Cardinals

Following his only full season with the BoSox, he was traded with

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and Lynn McGlothen to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

for Reggie Cleveland, Terry Hughes and

Diego Segui Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

. It was with the Cardinals where Garman enjoyed his best seasons. He was 7–2 with a 2.64 ERA and six saves in . Though his record dipped to 3–8 in , his ERA did as well, to 2.39. He also collected ten saves. He was traded to the

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 ...

with a player to be named later for

Don Kessinger Donald Eulon Kessinger (born July 17, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from to , most prominently as a member of the Chicago Cubs, where he was a six-time Al ...

. In his only season in

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, Garman made two emergency starts in the second games of double headers, losing both.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On January 11, , the Cubs sent Garman and

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

for

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston R ...

, Ivan De Jesus and Jeff Albert. While with the Dodgers, he reached the post season for the only time in his career, appearing in two games of the

1977 National League Championship Series The 1977 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five matchup in Major League Baseball’s 1977 postseason between the West Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the East Division champion Philadelphia Phillies. It was the ninth NL ...

and two games in the

1977 World Series The 1977 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1977 season. The 74th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Nati ...

without giving up an earned run. Garman was later traded in May 1978 to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

for Gerry Hannahs and Larry Landreth. After one season with the Expos, he failed to make the team in 1979 spring training after which he signed a minor league deal with the

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

, and also spent part of that season 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 ...

' triple A affiliate before retiring.

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garman, Mike 1949 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Idaho Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Greenville Red Sox players Los Angeles Dodgers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players Sportspeople from Caldwell, Idaho Portland Beavers players St. Louis Cardinals players Tacoma Tugs players Winston-Salem Red Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen