Phil Garner

Second Baseman · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1973-1988)

Phil Garner was a second baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1988 for 5 teams, including the Athletics, a span of 16 seasons. In 1,860 career games, he hit .260 with 1,594 hits, 109 home runs, and 738 RBI. Phil Garner was a 3-time All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 528.

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

AVG .260
HR 109
RBI 738
H 1,594
OPS .711
PIV 528
Position
Second Baseman
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'10" / 175 lb
Born
4/30/1949 in Jefferson City, TN, USA
MLB Debut
1973-09-10
Last Game
1988-10-02
Awards
3× All-Star

Full name: Philip Mason Garner

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Career Batting Statistics

Phil Garner — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,860 6,136 780 1,594 299 82 109 738 225 564 842 .260 .323 .389 .711 528

Career AVG .260 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .323 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .389 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .711 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Phil Garner 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
1973 OAK AL 9 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 OAK AL 30 28 4 5 1 0 0 1 1 1 5 .179 — — — — 0.0
1975 OAK AL 160 488 46 120 21 5 6 54 4 30 65 .246 .257 (-5%) .327 (-10%) .374 (-7%) .701 (-9%) -734.0
1976 OAK AL 159 555 54 145 29 12 8 74 35 36 71 .261 .255 (+2%) .320 (-4%) .360 (+11%) .681 (+4%) 166.7
1977 PIT NL 153 585 99 152 35 10 17 77 32 55 65 .260 .264 (-2%) .329 (-1%) .401 (+10%) .730 (+5%) 466.6
1978 PIT NL 154 528 66 138 25 9 10 66 27 66 71 .261 .257 (+1%) .323 (+7%) .378 (+6%) .702 (+6%) 685.4
1979 PIT NL 150 549 76 161 32 8 11 59 17 55 74 .293 .265 (+10%) .329 (+9%) .397 (+11%) .727 (+10%) 1135.2
1980 PIT NL 151 548 62 142 27 6 5 58 32 46 53 .259 .264 (-2%) .326 (-3%) .387 (-8%) .714 (-6%) -539.8
1981 PIT NL 56 181 22 46 6 2 1 20 4 21 21 .254 .255 (-1%) .320 (+2%) .368 (-12%) .688 (-5%) -124.6
1981 HOU NL 31 113 13 27 3 1 0 6 6 15 11 .239 .255 (-7%) .320 (+2%) .368 (-23%) .688 (-12%) -124.6
1982 HOU NL 155 588 65 161 33 8 13 83 24 40 92 .274 .261 (+5%) .324 (-1%) .388 (+9%) .712 (+4%) 324.4
1983 HOU NL 154 567 76 135 24 2 14 79 18 63 84 .238 .260 (-9%) .324 (-3%) .389 (-7%) .714 (-5%) -399.7
1984 HOU NL 128 374 60 104 17 6 4 45 3 43 63 .278 .259 (+7%) .322 (+10%) .384 (+1%) .707 (+5%) 442.6
1985 HOU NL 135 463 65 124 23 10 6 51 4 34 72 .268 .257 (+4%) .323 (-2%) .390 (+2%) .714 (avg) -75.2
1986 HOU NL 107 313 43 83 14 3 9 41 12 30 45 .265 .257 (+3%) .325 (+1%) .395 (+5%) .720 (+3%) 159.5
1987 HOU NL 43 112 15 25 5 0 3 15 1 8 20 .223 .262 (-15%) .331 (-19%) .415 (-16%) .746 (-17%) -358.3
1987 LAN NL 70 126 14 24 4 0 2 8 5 20 24 .190 .262 (-28%) .331 (-10%) .415 (-35%) .746 (-24%) -358.3
1988 SFN NL 15 13 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 .154 — — — — 0.0
Career · 18 seasons 1,860 6,136 780 1,594 299 82 109 738 225 564 842 .260 — — — — 666

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

Phil Garner — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
21 68 10 21 5 1 1 8 8 7 .309

Playoff Batting by Year

Phil Garner — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1986 NLCS HOU 3 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 2 .222
1981 NWDIV HOU 5 18 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 .111
1979 NLCS PIT 3 12 4 5 0 1 1 1 1 0 .417
1979 WS PIT 7 24 4 12 4 0 0 5 3 1 .500
1975 ALCS OAK 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1860 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Phil Garner — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home951301840179046366.262
Away909311837980463372.258

Last 10 Games — Batting

Phil Garner — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1988-10-02 SFGLADW 000000010
1988-09-30 SFGLADL 100000001
1988-09-27 SFGCINW 100000100
1988-09-26 SFGCINL 100000000
1988-09-23 SFGLADL 101000000
1988-09-22 SFGCINL 100000000
1988-09-11 SFGHOUL 100000000
1988-09-10 SFGHOUW 100000000
1988-09-09 SFGHOUL 100000001
1988-09-07 SFGATLL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Phil Garner — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 975 921 2124 2760 129 606
3B 839 721 593 1542 127 135
SS 42 11 29 54 3 11

Season-by-Season Fielding

Phil Garner — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1973 OAK 3B 9 0 2 3 0 1
1974 OAK 2B 3 0 3 1 0 0
1974 OAK 3B 19 6 6 15 1 1
1974 OAK SS 8 0 2 8 0 0
1975 OAK 2B 160 159 354 426 26 93
1975 OAK SS 1 0 1 1 0 1
1976 OAK 2B 159 159 378 465 22 91
1977 PIT 2B 50 44 114 95 6 20
1977 PIT 3B 107 101 98 240 10 28
1977 PIT SS 12 2 11 16 1 1
1978 PIT 2B 81 75 190 213 10 50
1978 PIT 3B 81 77 67 172 18 12
1978 PIT SS 4 0 1 4 0 1
1979 PIT 2B 83 76 175 234 8 58
1979 PIT 3B 78 62 47 144 13 16
1979 PIT SS 14 8 12 18 1 8
1980 PIT 2B 151 151 349 499 21 116
1980 PIT SS 1 0 0 1 0 0
1981 PIT 2B 50 50 121 148 9 31
1981 HOU 2B 31 30 62 102 3 17
1982 HOU 2B 136 136 273 429 14 90
1982 HOU 3B 18 17 12 35 3 4
1983 HOU 3B 154 153 100 311 24 22
1984 HOU 2B 35 25 65 88 7 26
1984 HOU 3B 82 68 71 163 5 16
1985 HOU 2B 15 9 26 32 1 10
1985 HOU 3B 123 103 75 197 20 14
1986 HOU 2B 7 4 8 11 0 2
1986 HOU 3B 84 76 58 141 23 13
1987 HOU 2B 2 0 0 1 0 0
1987 HOU 3B 36 29 28 54 2 3
1987 LAN 2B 12 3 6 16 2 2
1987 LAN 3B 46 29 29 67 8 5
1987 LAN SS 2 1 2 6 1 0
1988 SFN 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Phil Garner Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Second Base 976
Third Base 839
Shortstop 42
Designated Hitter 2

Awards & Honors

Phil Garner — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1986 Player of the Week Week of 1986-04-18
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-07-20
1978 Player of the Week Week of 1978-09-16
1977 Player of the Week Week of 1977-07-08

Salary History

Phil Garner — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1988 SFN NL $375,000
1987 HOU NL $450,000
1986 HOU NL $600,000
1985 HOU NL $745,000
Total Career Earnings $2,170,000

College History

Phil Garner — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
University of Tennessee Knoxville TN 1968, 1969, 1970

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Phil Garner (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Fred Merkle
    .273 avg, 61 HR
  2. 91
    Adam Kennedy
    .272 avg, 80 HR
  3. 87
    Harry Steinfeldt
    .267 avg, 27 HR
  4. 86
    Tony Taylor
    .261 avg, 75 HR
  5. 84
    Royce Clayton
    .258 avg, 110 HR
  6. 84
    Jim Fregosi
    .265 avg, 151 HR

Compare Phil Garner

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Garner's closest peers by position and era.

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Phil Garner: the record in brief

According to the bio, Phil Garner debuted on September 10, 1973 and played a final game on October 2, 1988. The season rows list, in order, the Oakland Athletics (1973 to 1976), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1977 to 1981), the Houston Astros (1981 through 1987), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1987), and the San Francisco Giants (1988). Garner played primarily as a second baseman and batted and threw right-handed. Born on April 30, 1949, in Jefferson City, TN, USA, Garner was listed at 5'10" and 175 pounds. The given name on file is Philip Mason Garner.

Garner's career batting table shows 1,860 games, 6,136 at bats and 1,594 hits, a .260 average, along with 109 homers, 738 RBI, and 225 stolen bases. Garner's career OPS of .711 combines a .323 on-base mark with .389 slugging. Against a .259 league average for those years, Garner's .260 average was near the norm. The home run peak was 17 in 1977 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The highest hit total in a season was 161, in 1979.

Frequently Asked Questions about Phil Garner

What years did Phil Garner play?
Phil Garner played in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1988.
Was Phil Garner a pitcher?
No. Phil Garner was a position player (Second Baseman).
How many home runs did Phil Garner hit?
Phil Garner hit 109 career home runs with 1594 hits.
What was Phil Garner's career batting average?
Phil Garner batted .260 over his career, with 1,594 hits in 6,136 at bats.
How many RBI did Phil Garner have?
Phil Garner drove in 738 runs in his career.
Is Phil Garner in the Hall of Fame?
No. Phil Garner has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.