Dave Garcia obit

Former Cleveland Indians manager Dave Garcia dies at 97

 

He was not on the list.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Dave Garcia, who managed the Cleveland Indians from 1979-82, died recently in San Diego after a lengthy stay in managed care, according to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was 97.

Garcia, who spent 65 years in professional baseball, also managed the California Angels for parts of the 1977 and 1978 seasons, and coached three seasons for the Padres. He was a minor-league manager and scout in the Padres, Angels and Giants organizations.

A minor-league infielder for nearly 20 seasons, Garcia never reached the majors as a player. He complied a 890-785 managerial mark in the minors and guided teams to three championships.

Garcia compiled a 310-311 career record as a big league manager. He took over the Indians on July 22, 1979 after Jeff Torborg was fired.

Garcia picked up his first win as Cleveland's manager on July 24 that season, a 5-4 decision against Milwaukee. The Tribe went on to a 38-28 record under Garcia the remainder of the 1979 campaign.

The Indians never finished higher than fifth in the American League East Division under Garcia, and he was fired after the 1982 season.

He went on to coach for Milwaukee and Kansas City. And, at age 79 then-Rockies manager Buddy Bell asked Garcia to join his staff in 2000.

Greg Garcia will not go on the bereavement list following the death of his grandfather and former MLB manager Dave Garcia, who has died at age 97. The family will hold the funeral in November so the industry can properly mourn Dave Garcia, who spent 65 years in baseball.

 

—    Joe Trezza (@JoeTrezz) May 22, 2018

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His playing career also was interrupted by three years (1943–45) of service in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and much of his later active career was spent as a player-manager in the low minor leagues. As the playing skipper of the 1951 Oshkosh Giants of the Class D Wisconsin State League, Garcia won the league's triple crown, with 23 home runs, 127 runs batted in and a batting average of .369. He threw and batted right-handed was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).

 

He began managing at age 27 in 1948 with the Giants' Knoxville Smokies farm team of the Class B Tri-State League, and would continue to manage in the New York and San Francisco Giants' minor league organization over the next two decades (1949–55; 1957; 1964; 1967–68). He also coached for Triple-A Minneapolis (1956) and scouted for the Giants (1957–63; 1965–66). Garcia then joined the San Diego Padres as a minor league manager in 1969, their maiden National League season.

 

The following season, in his 50th year, Garcia finally reached the majors as San Diego's third-base coach. He coached with the Padres (1970–73), Indians (1975–76; 1979) and Angels (1977) and in 1977 he was named manager of the Angels when Norm Sherry was fired on July 11. While the Angels continued to stumble under him in 1977 (with a 35–46 record), the Halos stood at 25–20 when Garcia was released in favor of Jim Fregosi on June 1, 1978.

 

Garcia got another chance to manage with the Cleveland Indians when Jeff Torborg was fired on July 23, 1979. Cleveland played at a 38–28 clip under Garcia for the remainder of the season, and compiled a mark of 52–51 during the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, but they never finished higher than fifth in the American League East. After a sixth-place finish in 1982, Garcia was fired. But he remained in the game into his mid 80s, as a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers (1983–84), a special assignment scout for the Brewers and Kansas City Royals, and — from 2000–02 — a coach with the Colorado Rockies. Garcia was named to the Rockies' staff when he was 79 years of age by then-skipper Buddy Bell. He also scouted for other MLB teams, including the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs.

 

As a minor league manager in the Giants, Padres and Angels organizations, Garcia won 889 games and lost 796 (.528) and won three championships. He is one of only four individuals to play, coach or announce professional baseball during part of eight decades. (Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda and Don Zimmer being the other three.)

 

Teams

As manager

California Angels (1977–1978)

Cleveland Indians (1979–1982)

As coach

 

San Diego Padres (1970–1973)

Cleveland Indians (1975–1976; 1979)

California Angels (1977)

Milwaukee Brewers (1983–1984)

Colorado Rockies (2000–2002)

 

Minor Leagues

Lake Charles Skippers

Grand Forks Chiefs

Little Rock Travelers

Minneapolis Millers

Eau Claire Bears

Sioux City Soos

Wilkes-Barre Barons

Danville Leafs

Mayfield Clothiers

Fresno Giants

Salt Lake City Bees