Gary Geiger
| Gary Geiger | |||
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: April 4, 1937 Sand Ridge Township, Illinois |
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Died: April 24, 1996 (aged 59) Murphysboro, Illinois |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 15, 1958, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| July 10, 1970, for the Houston Astros | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .246 | ||
| Home runs | 77 | ||
| Runs batted in | 283 | ||
| Teams | |||
Gary Merle Geiger (April 4, 1937 – April 24, 1996) was a major league outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and Houston Astros from (1958- 1970). He was born in Sand Ridge, Illinois. His offseason home while a major leaguer was Murphysboro, Illinois. His wife Lyn's parents were St. Louis, Missouri residents.
His career batting average was .246, with 77 home runs and 283 runs batted in. He was a weak hitter against left-handed pitching. He fielded 985, with 24 lifetime errors. He was a fast runner, once timed at 3.5 seconds from home plate to first on a bunt. Geiger ranked 8th in stolen bases in 1959 & 1961 with 9 & 16 steals respectively, but as high as 2nd in 1962 with 18 steals although he was caught 11 times. Geiger is one of three Red Sox to hit an inside-the-park grand slam home run at Fenway Park. His came in 1961. The others to accomplish the feat are Don Lenhardt (1952) and Mike Greenwell (September 1, 1990).
He was signed as an amateur free agent by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954. Cleveland drafted him as a pitcher from the Cards' Rochester Red Wings top farm club on December 2, 1957. He was 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), but weighed only 168 lb. He liked to keep his weight between 171 & 175 lb, but was often unable to and even dropped below 135 lb following an ulcer operation. He batted left and threw right, and in July 1958 was accidentally beaned by Camilo Pascual of the Washington Senators.
On December 2, 1958, the Indians received Jimmy Piersall from the Red Sox for Geiger and veteran slugger Vic Wertz (no money was involved) after Geiger had hit .231 in 91 games as a 21-year-old Cleveland rookie.
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