Former major leaguer Rob Gardner has passed away, per an obituary from the Press & Sun-Bulletin out of Binghamton, New York. He was 78 years old.
Gardner was a left-hander pitcher who played in the majors from 1965 to 1973, bouncing around the league as a frequently-traded journeyman. His career began as a starter with the Mets in 1965. He created a memorable piece of baseball trivia in his final start of that season, taking the ball for the Mets’ game against the Phillies in October 2. Gardner tossed 15 shutout innings, an unfathomable accomplishment in today’s game, as both clubs failed to score. It was eventually declared a 0-0 draw after 18 innings.
The southpaw served a swingman role for the Mets in 1966, tossing 133 2/3 innings with a 5.12 ERA, the largest major league workload of his career. He was traded to the Cubs for the 1967 season and then to Cleveland for the campaign after that, playing a limited role with both clubs. He was stuck in the minors for all of the 1969 campaign but was traded to the Yankees before the following season.
That set the stage for Gardner to create another memorable piece of trivia in the coming years, though not for anything he did on the field. He and Ron Klimkowski were traded to the Athletics for Felipe Alou in April of 1971. Gardner was traded back to the Yankees in May and stayed with them through the 1972 season. Then he was traded to the A’s yet again, this time with Felipe’s brother Matty Alou going to the Yankees, giving Gardner the distinction of having twice been traded from the Yankees to the A’s with one of the Alou brothers going the other way.
Gardner also spent some time with the Brewers in 1973, then spent a couple more years in the minors before hanging up his cleats. He finished his career with a 4.35 ERA in 331 innings, having struck out 193 opponents. After retiring from baseball, he spent time as a firefighter and paramedic in Binghamton. MLBTR sends our condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones.
He lives on in the book of History.
aka baseball-reference.com
RIP Rob…..
RIP
That 1965 ballgame is notable in other ways. Phillies starter Chris Short also pitched the first 15 innings and struck out 18 batters, then a NL record for an extra-inning game. It was the second of a twi-night doubleheader at Shea Stadium and called after 18 because of a curfew. (That led to a make-up doubleheader on the final day of the season which the Phillies swept.)
Most strangely, few in the New York metropolitan area knew about these feats. New York City newspapers were on strike at the time and most suburban newspapers did not publish on Sunday back then.
Gardner faced 53 batters. I know “they don’t make them like they used to” but….
Mike – You mean he was allowed to face the opposing lineup more than twice? And he didn’t give up 12 runs?
RIP Mr. Gardner, thoughts and prayers to friends and relatives.
Different times. Managers wanted pitchers to go the distance if they could, even if their outing wasn’t particularly good. There are fewer than 40 CGs for the entire 2023 season and no one had more than 3. In 1965, Koufax and Marichal had 51 between them.
Very sad. Still have a ball he signed for me when he was with the Mets and I was about 8. RIP.
His was one of the first Topps bubble gum cards I ever had.
I remember having a lot of his baseball cards and seeing the tail end of his career RIP.
Most importantly he was a hero having served as a firefighter and paramedic. Quite an accomplished life.
Rob’s granddaughter here. He often said that he was lucky enough to have two careers he loved—baseball and being a paramedic. Thank you for the kind comments.
I remember him as a guest on Kiners Korner
after a win.
“I just kept throwin in there and he just kept fowling them off. So I just kept throwin in there and he just kept fowling them off.”
Made me smile!
RIP Rob!
RIP 2His family & Friends sorry 4Ur loss
RIP Brett’s dad
Brett’s dad was Jerry
Rip
I played on an all star team made up of Babe Ruth League players from the Binghamton area in 1982. Rob Gardner was a coach and threw batting practice. He threw the most effortless curves that broke 2 feet I ever faced. I still talk about that to this day. Best curve I saw as a hitter. Like a waffle ball breaking.
I was an outfielder. “Go over every possibility in your head before each pitch. If it’s a liner, where are you going. If it’s a fly, where are you throwing. If it’s a ground through base hit, where are you going? Physical mistakes happen, mental mistakes shouldn’t.”
Rest in peace, Coach.
For a second I thought Brett Gardner and was like What?!?