A Look at Dominating Phillies Pitching Performances: Reliever Gene Garber


Baseball teams did not always employ a closer.  There was a time when a relief pitcher came out of the bullpen to rescue a starter who had gotten into trouble in the middle to late innings, and pitch two, three, four innings to finish out a game.  The conventional wisdom was to employ a good balance of left-handed and right-handed arms to put out the fire when a team found itself in a jam.
Such was the case for the Phillies in the mid to late seventies, when they began their rise to dominance in the National League East.  While Phillies fans today can all identify left-hander Tug McGaw’s iconic celebration after striking out Willie Wilson to win the team’s first ever World Series in 1980, few may recall his right-handed cohort who helped the Phils emerge from perennial basement dwellers to a force to be reckoned with in the National League.  That Phillies pitching arsenal included a quality right-hander, Gene Garber.

Garber may best be known for his years with the Braves, where in 1978 he halted Pete Rose’s chase of Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak record at 44.  But statistically speaking Garber’s best years were with the Phillies, where we boasted a .600 winning percentage, posted a 2.68 ERA and garnered 51 saves.  The side-arm throwing workhorse intimidated batters of out a formidable Phillies bullpen with his baffling change-up.  In 1977 alone, Garber appeared in 64 games, pitching 103 1/3 innings.

During the 1977 NLCS, Garber became the first Phillies pitcher to win a post-season game since Grover Cleveland Alexander defeated the Red Sox in game one of the 1915 World Series.  In game one of the NLCS, a Ron Cey grand slam tied the game for the Dodgers in the seventh, and ended Steve Carlton’s outing.  Gene Garber came in the game in relief, retiring four straight batters and earning the win before yielding the mound to Tug McGraw, who earned the save.

Garber was also on the mound for game three of the series, forever known to Phillies fans as “Black Friday.”  Garber came into the game for the seventh, with the score tied at 3.  The Phils took a two run lead in the bottom of the eighth.  Garber had retired eight straight batters, and found himself one out away from a Phils' 2-1 lead in the series.  Unfortunately, fielding miscues and a blown call led to three runs for the Dodgers, dealing Garber the loss.

In 1978, Garber started the year with a record of 3-1, with 3 saves and a 1.40 ERA.  In June, the Phillies traded Garber to Atlanta to reacquire starting pitcher Dick Ruthven. While the Phillies went on to win their third straight NL East title, Garber began his long tenure as the bright spot in the bullpen of a mediocre Braves organization.

Phillies fans of the mid to late 1970s, however, still remember Gene Garber as a solid piece of a quality pitching staff.

By: William J. Kovatch, Jr.

 
References

Baseball-Refeence.com, “1977 NLCS,” http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1977_NLCS.shtml.

Baseball-Reference.com, “Gene Garber,” http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garbege01.shtml.

“Dropping the Hammer on a 44-Game Hitting Streak,” Savanah Morning News, http://savannahnow.com/stories/072703/SPTBRAVEShitstreak.shtml#.WB3aaJXrt1s (July 27, 2003).

Freeman, Kevin, “Black Friday Revisited: Phillies’ 1977 Loss to Dodgers Still Haunts Garber,” Lancaster Online, http://lancasteronline.com/sports/black-friday-revisited-phillies-loss-to-dodgers-still-haunts-garber/article_95a98267-18e9-571a-abec-fead1938a375.html (November 5, 2016).

“Gene Garber,” The Intelligencer, http://www.theintell.com/sports/phillies/phils-ville/dream-team/gene-garber/html_4a59ced4-3969-5420-8fbe-ba0d4e87cb11.html (July 26, 2011).

McGarr, Elizabeth, “Gene Garber,” Sports Illustrated: The Vault, http://www.si.com/vault/1969/12/31/105711796/ (July 14, 2008).

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