Ron Gardenhire

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Ron Gardenhire

Shortstop

Born: October 24, 1957 (1957-10-24) (age 50)
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1981 for the New York Mets
Final game
October 6, 1985 for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Batting average	.232
Home runs	4
Hits	165
Teams
As Player New York Mets (1981-1985) As Manager Minnesota Twins (2002-present)
Career highlights and awards
Finished in 1st place 4 times in the AL Central

Ronald Clyde Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957 in Butzbach, Hesse, Germany) is a manager in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins in the American League. He attended Okmulgee High School in Oklahoma and college at the University of Texas at Austin.

He is six feet (183 cm) tall and, during his baseball career, weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). He played five seasons of baseball with the New York Mets of the National League from 1981 to 1985. The Mets drafted him in the sixth round of the 1979 amateur draft. In his career, he played shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman. During his career, he was often plagued by injuries, especially to his hamstring muscle. Only twice in his career, in 1982 and 1984, did he play over 70 games in the season.

For three years after he retired (1988-90), he was a manager in the Minnesota farm system, leading teams in the Class A Midwest League and Class AA Southern League to one second- and two first-place finishes. In 1991, Gardenhire became the Twins' third-base coach and held that post for 11 full seasons, including the team's 1991 World Series championship.

On January 4, 2002, Gardenhire was named manager of the Twins, replacing Tom Kelly, who had won two World Series titles with the Twins. Compared to "TK"'s relatively calm, Bud Grant-like coaching style, Gardenhire is a very active and aggressive manager, frequently exiting the dugout to argue with the umpire, leading some to joke that "Gardy" gets ejected more times in a season than TK did in his entire career (as of May 8, 2008, Gardenhire has been ejected 37 times). An early 2006 television commercial for the Twins pokes fun at this, showing Gardenhire arguing with a (presumably Twin Cities area) office worker planning to go home after work rather than go to the Twins game.

On October 20 2006, Gardenhire signed a two year extension with the Twins. In his five years as Twins manager, Gardenhire trails only Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa in wins during that same period. Ozzie Guillen once said,"(Gardenhire) is one of the most overlooked managers." Gardenhire was selected American League Co-Manager of the Year (with Buck Showalter) in 2004 by The Sporting News and finished second for the AL Manager of the Year Award as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

[edit] Managerial career

(through June 5, 2008)

Team	Year	Regular Season					Postseason
Team	Year	Games	Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
Minnesota Twins	2002	161	94	67	.584	1^st in American League Central	4	6	.400	Lost in ALCS
	2003	162	90	72	.556	1^st in American League Central	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
	2004	162	92	70	.568	1^st in American League Central	1	3	.250	Lost in ALDS
	2005	162	83	79	.512	3^rd in American League Central	-	-	-	-
	2006	162	96	66	.593	1^st in American League Central	0	3	.000	Lost in ALDS
	2007	162	79	83	.488	3^rd in American League Central	-	-	-	-
	2008	60	31	29	.517		-	-	-	-
Total		1031	565	466	.548		6	15	.286