Ralph Garr
| Ralph Garr | |||
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Garr at-bat against the Blue Jays in 1977. This was the second-ever game played at Exhibition Stadium.
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| Outfielder | |||
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Born: December 12, 1945 Monroe, Louisiana |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 3, 1968, for the Atlanta Braves | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| June 4, 1980, for the California Angels | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .306 | ||
| Home runs | 75 | ||
| Runs batted in | 408 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Ralph Allen Garr (born December 12, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. Garr was a free swinger with remarkable talent for hitting to all fields, a very valuable skill because fielders could never predict how to set up their defense when Garr came to the plate. A career .306 hitter with amazing speed, Garr batted .300 or better five times during his career.
Garr was born in Monroe, Louisiana, and worked as a shoe shine boy at a local barber shop growing up. After graduation from Lincoln High School in Ruston, Louisiana, he attended historically black Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana. In 1967, as a second baseman for the Grambling Tigers baseball team, he led the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics with a record .585 batting average to lead his team to a 35–1 regular-season mark. His accomplishment earned mention in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In The Crowd" right around the same time he was being drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the third round of the 1967 Major League Baseball draft.
Though Garr was a fast runner and good contact hitter, he was a below average infielder. He was converted to an outfielder with the Shreveport Braves in 1968, and remained in the outfield for the rest of his career. After two minor league seasons in which he batted .287 with 53 runs batted in, Garr made the jump from double A to the majors in September 1968. The speedy Garr appeared in eleven games with the Braves, but never needed his glove once, as he was used as a pinch hitter or pinch runner in each of his appearances, and never once was kept in the game. Regardless, he earned an invite to Spring training 1969, and started the season as the Braves' everyday left fielder when Rico Carty dislocated his shoulder. Upon Carty's return, he was optioned to the triple A Richmond Braves, but returned in September when rosters expanded. Overall, he batted .222 in 22 games.
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