What years did Gary Gaetti play?

Gary Gaetti played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 2000.

Was Gary Gaetti a pitcher?

No. Gary Gaetti was a position player (Third Baseman), though he did pitch in 3 career games.

How many home runs did Gary Gaetti hit?

Gary Gaetti hit 360 career home runs with 2280 hits.

What was Gary Gaetti's career batting average?

Gary Gaetti batted .255 over his career, with 2,280 hits in 8,951 at bats.

How many RBI did Gary Gaetti have?

Gary Gaetti drove in 1,341 runs in his career.

What was Gary Gaetti's career ERA?

Gary Gaetti finished with a 7.71 career ERA, going 0-0 with 1 strikeouts.

Gary Gaetti

Third Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1981-2000)

Gary Gaetti was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 2000 for 6 teams, including the Minnesota Twins, a span of 20 seasons. In 2,507 career games, he hit .255 with 2,280 hits, 360 home runs, and 1,341 RBI. Gary Gaetti was a 2-time All-Star, an ALCS MVP, a 4-time Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 2,537.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 12, 2026

AVG .255

HR 360

RBI 1,341

H 2,280

OPS .741

PIV 2,537

Position: Third Baseman
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 180 lb
Born: 8/19/1958 in Centralia, IL, USA
MLB Debut: 1981-09-20
Last Game: 2000-04-12
Awards: 2× All-Star · ALCS MVP · 4× Gold Glove · Silver Slugger

Full name: Gary Joseph Gaetti

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Career Batting Statistics

Gary Gaetti — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,507	8,951	1,130	2,280	443	39	360	1,341	96	634	1,602	.255	.308	.434	.741	2,537

Career AVG .255 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .308 vs. league average .330 across their career seasons — 6.8% below league average.

Career SLG .434 vs. league average .402 across their career seasons — +7.9% above league average.

Career OPS .741 vs. league average .732 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Gary Gaetti Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1981	MIN	AL	9	26	4	5	0	0	2	3	0	0	6	.192	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	MIN	AL	145	508	59	117	25	4	25	84	0	37	107	.230	.261 (-12%)	.324 (-14%)	.388 (+14%)	.712 (+1%)	-144.7
1983	MIN	AL	157	584	81	143	30	3	21	78	7	54	121	.245	.260 (-6%)	.324 (-5%)	.389 (+6%)	.714 (+1%)	34.7
1984	MIN	AL	162	588	55	154	29	4	5	65	11	44	81	.262	.259 (+1%)	.322 (-2%)	.384 (-9%)	.707 (-6%)	-551.8
1985	MIN	AL	160	560	71	138	31	0	20	63	13	37	89	.246	.257 (-4%)	.323 (-7%)	.390 (+5%)	.714 (-1%)	-112.9
1986	MIN	AL	157	596	91	171	34	1	34	108	14	52	108	.287	.257 (+11%)	.325 (+6%)	.395 (+31%)	.720 (+20%)	2309.9
1987	MIN	AL	154	584	95	150	36	2	31	109	10	37	92	.257	.262 (-2%)	.331 (-8%)	.415 (+17%)	.746 (+6%)	441.4
1988	MIN	AL	133	468	66	141	29	2	28	88	7	36	85	.301	.254 (+19%)	.317 (+11%)	.377 (+46%)	.695 (+30%)	2526.6
1989	MIN	AL	130	498	63	125	11	4	19	75	6	25	87	.251	.254 (-1%)	.319 (-11%)	.375 (+8%)	.694 (-1%)	-231.2
1990	MIN	AL	154	577	61	132	27	5	16	85	6	36	101	.229	.257 (-11%)	.324 (-16%)	.385 (-2%)	.710 (-8%)	-954.0
1991	CAL	AL	152	586	58	144	22	1	18	66	5	33	104	.246	.255 (-4%)	.323 (-9%)	.384 (-2%)	.708 (-5%)	-554.5
1992	CAL	AL	130	456	41	103	13	2	12	48	3	21	79	.226	.255 (-12%)	.322 (-17%)	.377 (-9%)	.699 (-13%)	-984.0
1993	CAL	AL	20	50	3	9	2	0	0	4	1	5	12	.180	.265 (-32%)	.332 (-25%)	.403 (-45%)	.735 (-36%)	-296.8
1993	KCA	AL	82	281	37	72	18	1	14	46	0	16	75	.256	.265 (-3%)	.332 (-7%)	.403 (+18%)	.735 (+7%)	-296.8
1994	KCA	AL	90	327	53	94	15	3	12	57	0	19	63	.287	.269 (+7%)	.338 (-3%)	.424 (+9%)	.763 (+3%)	139.4
1995	KCA	AL	137	514	76	134	27	0	35	96	3	47	91	.261	.266 (-2%)	.337 (-3%)	.417 (+24%)	.755 (+12%)	1136.4
1996	SLN	NL	141	522	71	143	27	4	23	80	2	35	97	.274	.269 (+2%)	.340 (-4%)	.426 (+11%)	.767 (+4%)	323.8
1997	SLN	NL	148	502	63	126	24	1	17	69	7	36	88	.251	.266 (-6%)	.336 (-9%)	.419 (-4%)	.756 (-6%)	-586.7
1998	SLN	NL	91	306	39	81	23	1	11	43	1	31	39	.265	.266 (-1%)	.335 (+1%)	.420 (+8%)	.755 (+5%)	276.9
1998	CHN	NL	37	128	21	41	11	0	8	27	0	12	23	.320	.266 (+20%)	.335 (+19%)	.420 (+41%)	.755 (+31%)	276.9
1999	CHN	NL	113	280	22	57	9	1	9	46	0	21	51	.204	.271 (-25%)	.344 (-25%)	.433 (-22%)	.778 (-23%)	-1182.3
2000	BOS	AL	5	10	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 22 seasons			2,507	8,951	1,130	2,280	443	39	360	1,341	96	634	1,602	.255	—	—	—	—	1,570

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

Gary Gaetti — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
0	0	3	0	0	0	0	2.1	5	2	1	1	1	7.71	0.0

Career ERA 7.71 vs. league average 4.51 across their career seasons — 71.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Gary Gaetti — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1997	SLN	NL	1	0.1	1	0	0	0	0.00	—	0.0
1998	SLN	NL	1	1.0	2	0	0	0	0.00	—	0.0
1999	CHN	NL	1	1.0	2	2	1	1	18.00	—	0.0
Career · 3 seasons			3	2.1	5	2	1	1	7.71	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Gary Gaetti — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
25	93	11	22	3	1	5	16	4	20	.237

Playoff Batting by Year

Gary Gaetti — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1998	NLDS1	CHN	3	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	.091
1996	NLCS	SLN	7	24	1	7	0	0	1	4	1	5	.292
1996	NLDS2	SLN	3	11	1	1	0	0	1	3	0	3	.091
1987	ALCS	MIN	5	20	5	6	1	0	2	5	1	3	.300
1987	WS	MIN	7	27	4	7	2	1	1	4	2	5	.259

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2509 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Gary Gaetti — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1250	4402	604	1161	172	685	.264
Away	1256	4545	525	1118	187	654	.246

Pitching — Home / Away

Gary Gaetti — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Away	3	2.1	5	2	1	1	7.71

Last 10 Games — Batting

Gary Gaetti — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SO
2000-04-12	BOS	MIN	W	3	0	0	0	1	1
2000-04-11	BOS	MIN	W	1	0	0	0	0	0
2000-04-06	BOS	SEA	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
2000-04-05	BOS	SEA	L	1	0	0	0	0	1
2000-04-04	BOS	SEA	W	4	0	0	0	0	0
1999-09-26	CHC	PIT	L	1	0	0	0	0	0
1999-09-24	CHC	PIT	W	0	0	0	0	0	0
1999-09-23	CHC	PIT	W	4	1	1	0	0	0
1999-09-21	CHC	STL	L	1	0	1	1	1	0
1999-09-19	CHC	MIL	W	1	0	0	0	0	0

Last 3 Games — Pitching

Gary Gaetti — Last 3 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1999-07-03	CHC	PHI	—	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	1
1998-07-24	STL	COL	—	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0
1997-09-20	STL	PIT	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Gary Gaetti — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	138	93	875	80	10	86
2B	2	0	0	0	0	0
3B	2282	2198	1699	4531	224	460
OF	14	13	31	0	0	0
P	3	0	0	0	0	0
SS	14	2	2	12	3	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

Gary Gaetti — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1981	MIN	3B	8	7	5	17	0	1
1982	MIN	3B	142	138	106	286	15	35
1982	MIN	SS	2	2	0	5	2	1
1983	MIN	3B	154	154	131	360	17	46
1983	MIN	SS	3	0	0	1	0	0
1984	MIN	3B	154	153	142	334	20	26
1984	MIN	OF	8	8	19	0	0	0
1984	MIN	SS	2	0	2	1	1	1
1985	MIN	1B	1	1	6	0	0	0
1985	MIN	3B	156	143	146	316	18	31
1985	MIN	OF	4	4	10	0	0	0
1986	MIN	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1986	MIN	3B	156	154	118	334	21	36
1986	MIN	OF	1	1	2	0	0	0
1986	MIN	SS	2	0	0	1	0	0
1987	MIN	3B	150	149	134	261	11	28
1988	MIN	3B	115	115	105	189	7	24
1988	MIN	SS	2	0	0	2	0	0
1989	MIN	1B	2	2	11	2	0	1
1989	MIN	3B	125	123	104	251	10	23
1990	MIN	1B	2	1	23	0	0	0
1990	MIN	3B	151	150	102	318	18	36
1990	MIN	SS	2	0	0	1	0	0
1991	CAL	3B	152	151	111	353	17	39
1992	CAL	1B	44	40	371	33	5	35
1992	CAL	3B	67	63	52	163	17	18
1993	CAL	1B	6	5	37	2	0	2
1993	CAL	3B	7	1	1	5	1	1
1993	KCA	1B	18	10	97	10	1	11
1993	KCA	3B	72	65	50	136	5	15
1994	KCA	1B	9	5	38	4	0	5
1994	KCA	3B	85	80	61	162	4	15
1995	KCA	1B	11	10	92	10	1	10
1995	KCA	3B	123	118	90	218	15	21
1996	SLN	1B	14	9	85	7	1	6
1996	SLN	3B	133	130	63	224	9	16
1997	SLN	1B	20	4	61	6	0	8
1997	SLN	3B	132	127	72	243	7	24
1997	SLN	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1998	SLN	1B	3	1	15	0	0	2
1998	SLN	2B	1	0	0	0	0	0
1998	SLN	3B	83	78	47	153	3	15
1998	SLN	OF	1	0	0	0	0	0
1998	SLN	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1998	CHN	3B	36	34	24	68	2	2
1999	CHN	1B	8	5	39	6	2	6
1999	CHN	3B	81	65	35	140	7	8
1999	CHN	P	1	0	0	0	0	0
1999	CHN	SS	1	0	0	1	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Gary Gaetti Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	3
First Base	138
Second Base	2
Third Base	2282
Shortstop	14
Left Field	13
Right Field	1
Designated Hitter	48

Awards & Honors

Gary Gaetti — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1995	Player of the Week	Week of 1995-06-03
1995	Silver Slugger	3B
1989	Gold Glove	3B
1989	Player of the Week	Week of 1989-06-16
1988	Gold Glove	3B
1987	ALCS MVP
1987	Gold Glove	3B
1986	Gold Glove	3B

Salary History

Gary Gaetti — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2000	BOS	AL	$350,000
1999	CHN	NL	$2,000,000
1998	CHN	NL	$170,000
1998	SLN	NL	$1,000,000
1997	SLN	NL	$2,100,000
1996	SLN	NL	$2,000,000
1995	KCA	AL	$1,065,000
1994	CAL	AL	$3,000,000
1994	KCA	AL	$109,000
1993	CAL	AL	$3,000,000
1993	KCA	AL	$109,000
1992	CAL	AL	$2,700,000
1991	CAL	AL	$2,700,000
1990	MIN	AL	$500,000
1989	MIN	AL	$2,400,000
1988	MIN	AL	$1,666,666
1987	MIN	AL	$950,000
1986	MIN	AL	$515,000
1985	MIN	AL	$415,000
Total Career Earnings			$26,749,666

College History

Gary Gaetti — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Lincoln Land Community College	Springfield	IL	1978
Northwest Missouri State University	Maryville	MO	1977, 1979

Award Voting History

Gary Gaetti — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1995	Most Valuable Player	AL	10th	45.0	392
1988	Most Valuable Player	AL	22th	3.0	392
1987	Most Valuable Player	AL	10th	47.0	392
1986	Most Valuable Player	AL	16th	6.0	392
1982	Rookie of the Year	AL	5th	4.0	140

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Gary Gaetti (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Gary Gaetti: the record in brief

The profile opens with Gary Gaetti's first major league game on September 20, 1981; the last one listed came on April 12, 2000. By club, Gaetti's seasons break down as the Minnesota Twins (1981 to 1990), the California Angels (1991 through 1993), the Kansas City Royals (1993 to 1995), the St. Louis Cardinals (1996 through 1998), the Chicago Cubs (1998 through 1999), and the Boston Red Sox (2000). Gaetti, born on August 19, 1958, in Centralia, IL, USA, is listed as a third baseman and threw and hit right-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-0 and 180 pounds. On the record, Gary Gaetti was born Gary Joseph Gaetti.

The batting record for Gaetti: 2,507 games, 2,280 hits in 8,951 at bats, and a .255 average, plus 360 home runs, 1,341 runs batted in, and 96 stolen bases. Reaching base at a .308 clip and slugging .434, Gaetti finished with a .741 OPS. Gaetti hit .255 while the league hit .262 over the same span, a figure close to average.

Frequently Asked Questions about Gary Gaetti

What years did Gary Gaetti play?: Gary Gaetti played in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 2000.
Was Gary Gaetti a pitcher?: No. Gary Gaetti was a position player (Third Baseman), though he did pitch in 3 career games.
How many home runs did Gary Gaetti hit?: Gary Gaetti hit 360 career home runs with 2280 hits.
What was Gary Gaetti's career batting average?: Gary Gaetti batted .255 over his career, with 2,280 hits in 8,951 at bats.
How many RBI did Gary Gaetti have?: Gary Gaetti drove in 1,341 runs in his career.
What was Gary Gaetti's career ERA?: Gary Gaetti finished with a 7.71 career ERA, going 0-0 with 1 strikeouts.