Ron Gardenhire

While playing for Wichita Coors in the summers of 1977 and 1978, Ron Gardenhire played in the NBC World Series and met his future wife at Pogos, a legendary Wichita disco.  The couple made their home in Wichita for several years.

Born on an Army base in West Germany, Gardenhire played high school baseball in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.  Recruited by Wichita State, Gardenhire instead played collegiately at the University of Texas.

He was a sixth-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 1979 and played five seasons for them.  A middle infielder, Gardenhire was the Mets’ starting shortstop in 1982 in which he hit .240 with three home runs.

After his playing career ended in 1985, Gardenhire managed teams in Minnesota’s minor league system.  He was promoted to become the Twins’ third base coach in 1991, the same year in which the Twins won the World Series.

After 11 seasons as a coach, Gardenhire succeeded Tom Kelly as manager.  The Twins won 90+ games in four of Gardenhire’s first five seasons.  All told, he led the Twins to six American League Central titles and 1,039 wins in 13 seasons, ending in 2014.  He was named American League manager of the year in 2010 and was runner-up five times for the award.

In 2017, Gardenhire served as bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  During that season, he battled prostate cancer and was given a clean bill of health.

The following year, Gardenhire took over as manager in Detroit.  He led the Tigers for three seasons, retiring with 1,280 career managerial wins.

Gardenhire and his wife, Carol, make their home in Florida.