Richard Frank Gardner (December 19, 1944 – October 21, 2023) was an American 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played 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 ...

for the

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, and

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

from 1965 to 1973.

Early years

Gardner originally signed with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in 1963 upon graduation from Binghamton High School in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

. He went 17–11 with a 2.46

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 ...

his only season in their farm system. Following the season, he was drafted by the

in the 1963 first-year draft.

New York Mets

Gardner went 20–10 with a 3.51 ERA over two seasons in the Mets' farm system to earn a call up to the majors in September 1965. He lasted just three innings in his first major league

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, giving up seven runs (five earned) in an 8–5 loss to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. However, his most memorable start of the season was his final, in which he pitched fifteen innings of

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

ball against the

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in a game that was eventually declared a 0–0 tie after eighteen innings. After getting off to a 2–0 start in 1966, Gardner lost his next six decisions, and was moved into 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 ...

. He earned his first major league save July 26 against the Astros, and finished the season at 4–8 with a 5.12 ERA. He started the 1967 season in the minors, and was shipped to the

on June 12 with a minor league player to be named later for Bob Hendley.

Cubs and Indians

Gardner spent one season in

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, going 0–2 with a 3.98 ERA for the Cubs. Just prior to the start of the 1968 season, he was traded to the

for Bobby Tiefenauer. He went 9–6 with a 4.32 ERA for the

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, and made five appearances for the Indians that September. Gardner was 0–6 with Portland in 1969 when the Indians struck a deal with the New York Yankees for John Orsino.

Two trades for two Alou brothers

Gardner finished the 1969 season with the Yankees' triple A affiliate, the

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. He went 16–5 with a 2.53 ERA for Syracuse in 1970, and appeared in one game for the Yankees that September. Gardner was traded along with Ron Klimkowski from the Yankees to the

for

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a Dominican former professional outfielder, first baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The fir ...

on April 9, 1971. He was sent back to the Yankees with Darrell Osteen for

Curt Blefary Curtis Leroy "Clank" Blefary (July 5, 1943 – January 28, 2001) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1968), Houston Astros (1969), New York Yankees (1970–1971) ...

on May 25, 1971. Gardner appeared in twenty games and pitched 97 innings for the Yankees in 1972, which was the most he'd pitched since 1966 with the Mets. Following the season, the Yankees traded him back to the A's with a player to be named later for

Matty Alou Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou (December 22, 1938 – November 3, 2011) was a Dominican professional baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1974. He also played in Nippon Professional Baseb ...

. Gardner appeared in three games for the A's in 1973 when his contract was purchased by the

. He appeared in ten games for the Brewers, the last of which, he lasted just a third of an inning and gave up four runs to the A's. Following the game, he was returned to the A's. He spent 1974 in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

' organization at Triple-A, then in 1975 was back in the Yankees' farm system with the Syracuse Chiefs as pitching coach for manager

Bobby Cox Robert Joe Cox (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of ...

and even appeared in 10 games before announcing his retirement as an active player.

Later life and death

Gardner returned to Binghamton where he worked as a fireman and paramedic. He died in Binghamton, New York, on October 21, 2023, at the age of 78, and was survived by his two children, three grandchildren, sister, niece and great nephew.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Rob 1944 births 2023 deaths Auburn Mets players Baseball players from Binghamton, New York Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Evansville Triplets players Florida Instructional League Mets players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players New York Mets players New York Yankees players Oakland Athletics players Orlando Twins players Phoenix Giants players Portland Beavers players Salinas Mets players Syracuse Chiefs players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tucson Toros players Williamsport Mets players Wilson Tobs players 20th-century American sportsmen