Garry Templeton Marquee

b. March 24, 1956 · St. Louis Cardinals 1976–1981, San Diego Padres 1982–1991, New York Mets 1991

In 1979 he had 211 hits — 111 batting right-handed and 100 left-handed — the first switch-hitter to reach a hundred from both sides in a season. He led the National League in triples three years running and in hits that season, at twenty-three.

In August 1981 he made an obscene gesture to the St. Louis crowd and was pulled off the field by Whitey Herzog; that winter he was traded to San Diego for Ozzie Smith, which improved both clubs and one of them enormously. He captained the Padres to the 1984 World Series.

Sixteen seasons gave him 2,096 hits, 329 doubles, 106 triples, 242 stolen bases and a .271 average, with three All-Star selections and two Silver Sluggers. Knee operations took the range and most of the speed by thirty. The 1997 ballot gave him two votes of 473.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	3	1977, 1979, 1985
The Sporting News All-Star	3	1977, 1979, 1980
Silver Slugger	2	1980, 1984

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1976	STL	53	213	32	62	8	2	1	17	7	33	11	.291
1977	STL	153	621	94	200	19	18	8	79	15	70	28	.322
1978	STL	155	647	82	181	31	13	2	47	22	87	34	.280
1979	STL	154	672	105	211	32	19	9	62	18	91	26	.314
1980	STL	118	504	83	161	19	9	4	43	18	43	31	.319
1981	STL	80	333	47	96	16	8	1	33	14	55	8	.288
1982	SDP	141	563	76	139	25	8	6	64	26	82	27	.247
1983	SDP	126	460	39	121	20	2	3	40	21	57	16	.263
1984	SDP	148	493	40	127	19	3	2	35	39	81	8	.258
1985	SDP	148	546	63	154	30	2	6	55	41	88	16	.282
1986	SDP	147	510	42	126	21	2	2	44	35	86	10	.247
1987	SDP	148	510	42	113	13	5	5	48	42	92	14	.222
1988	SDP	110	362	35	90	15	7	3	36	20	50	8	.249
1989	SDP	142	506	43	129	26	3	6	40	23	80	1	.255
1990	SDP	144	505	45	125	25	3	9	59	24	59	1	.248
1991	NYM/SDP	112	276	25	61	10	2	3	26	10	38	3	.221
Career	—	2079	7721	893	2096	329	106	70	728	375	1092	242	.271

On this day & linked events

1956

Born March 24, 1956

Lockney, TX, USA

1976

Major-league debut: Garry Templeton

Garry Templeton made a major-league debut on August 9, 1976.

1991

Final major-league game: Garry Templeton

Garry Templeton played a final major-league game on October 5, 1991.

Image: Mark Mauno on Flickr, CC BY 2.0