What years did Garry Templeton play?

Garry Templeton played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1991.

Was Garry Templeton a pitcher?

No. Garry Templeton was a position player (Shortstop).

How many home runs did Garry Templeton hit?

Garry Templeton hit 70 career home runs with 2096 hits.

What was Garry Templeton's career batting average?

Garry Templeton batted .271 over his career, with 2,096 hits in 7,721 at bats.

How many RBI did Garry Templeton have?

Garry Templeton drove in 728 runs in his career.

Is Garry Templeton in the Hall of Fame?

No. Garry Templeton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Garry Templeton

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1976-1991)

Garry Templeton was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1991 for the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres, and the New York Mets, a span of 16 seasons. In 2,079 career games, he hit .271 with 2,096 hits, 70 home runs, and 728 RBI. Garry Templeton was a 3-time All-Star and a 2-time Silver Slugger.

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 .271

HR 70

RBI 728

H 2,096

OPS .673

PIV -7,814

Position: Shortstop
Bats / Throws: B / R
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 175 lb
Born: 3/24/1956 in Lockney, TX, USA
MLB Debut: 1976-08-09
Last Game: 1991-10-05
Awards: 3× All-Star · 2× Silver Slugger

Full name: Garry Lewis Templeton

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Career Batting Statistics

Garry Templeton — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,079	7,721	893	2,096	329	106	70	728	242	375	1,092	.271	.304	.369	.673	-7,814

Career AVG .271 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .304 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 6.2% below league average.

Career SLG .369 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .673 vs. league average .711 across their career seasons — 5.4% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Garry Templeton 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
1976	SLN	NL	53	213	32	62	8	2	1	17	11	7	33	.291	.255 (+14%)	.320 (-2%)	.360 (avg)	.681 (-1%)	-75.1
1977	SLN	NL	153	621	94	200	19	18	8	79	28	15	70	.322	.264 (+22%)	.329 (+2%)	.401 (+12%)	.730 (+8%)	687.3
1978	SLN	NL	155	647	82	181	31	13	2	47	34	22	87	.280	.257 (+8%)	.323 (-6%)	.378 (avg)	.702 (-3%)	-506.6
1979	SLN	NL	154	672	105	211	32	19	9	62	26	18	91	.314	.265 (+18%)	.329 (avg)	.397 (+15%)	.727 (+9%)	844.2
1980	SLN	NL	118	504	83	161	19	9	4	43	31	18	43	.319	.264 (+21%)	.326 (+5%)	.387 (+7%)	.714 (+6%)	497.4
1981	SLN	NL	80	333	47	96	16	8	1	33	8	14	55	.288	.255 (+13%)	.320 (-2%)	.368 (+7%)	.688 (+3%)	39.0
1982	SDN	NL	141	563	76	139	25	8	6	64	27	26	82	.247	.261 (-5%)	.324 (-14%)	.388 (-10%)	.712 (-12%)	-1163.3
1983	SDN	NL	126	460	39	121	20	2	3	40	16	21	57	.263	.260 (+1%)	.324 (-10%)	.389 (-14%)	.714 (-12%)	-903.6
1984	SDN	NL	148	493	40	127	19	3	2	35	8	39	81	.258	.259 (-1%)	.322 (-3%)	.384 (-17%)	.707 (-11%)	-769.3
1985	SDN	NL	148	546	63	154	30	2	6	55	16	41	88	.282	.257 (+10%)	.323 (+3%)	.390 (-3%)	.714 (-1%)	-57.7
1986	SDN	NL	147	510	42	126	21	2	2	44	10	35	86	.247	.257 (-4%)	.325 (-9%)	.395 (-22%)	.720 (-16%)	-1306.9
1987	SDN	NL	148	510	42	113	13	5	5	48	14	42	92	.222	.262 (-16%)	.331 (-15%)	.415 (-29%)	.746 (-23%)	-1899.1
1988	SDN	NL	110	362	35	90	15	7	3	36	8	20	50	.249	.254 (-2%)	.317 (-10%)	.377 (-6%)	.695 (-8%)	-544.4
1989	SDN	NL	142	506	43	129	26	3	6	40	1	23	80	.255	.254 (avg)	.319 (-11%)	.375 (-6%)	.694 (-8%)	-730.3
1990	SDN	NL	144	505	45	125	25	3	9	59	1	24	59	.248	.257 (-4%)	.324 (-14%)	.385 (-6%)	.710 (-10%)	-889.3
1991	SDN	NL	32	57	5	11	1	1	1	6	0	1	9	.193	.255 (-25%)	.323 (-37%)	.384 (-22%)	.708 (-29%)	-286.9
1991	NYN	NL	80	219	20	50	9	1	2	20	3	9	29	.228	.255 (-11%)	.323 (-21%)	.384 (-20%)	.708 (-21%)	-286.9
Career · 17 seasons			2,079	7,721	893	2,096	329	106	70	728	242	375	1,092	.271	—	—	—	—	-7,352

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

Garry Templeton — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
10	34	3	11	2	0	0	2	2	3	.324

Playoff Batting by Year

Garry Templeton — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1984	NLCS	SDN	5	15	2	5	1	0	0	2	2	0	.333
1984	WS	SDN	5	19	1	6	1	0	0	0	0	3	.316

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2079 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Garry Templeton — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1045	3800	457	1028	36	367	.271
Away	1034	3921	436	1068	34	361	.272

Last 10 Games — Batting

Garry Templeton — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1991-10-05	NYN	PHI	L	4	0	2	0	0	0	0
1991-10-04	NYN	PHI	L	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
1991-10-02	NYN	PIT	W	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1991-10-01	NYN	PIT	L	3	0	1	0	0	0	1
1991-09-29	NYN	PHI	W	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
1991-09-28	NYN	PHI	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
1991-09-26	NYN	PIT	W	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
1991-09-26	NYN	PIT	L	1	0	1	1	1	0	0
1991-09-21	NYN	STL	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1991-09-17	NYN	WSN	W	4	0	2	0	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Garry Templeton — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1B	25	18	152	12	1	9
3B	19	10	6	25	1	3
OF	2	0	0	0	0	0
SS	1964	1910	3393	6041	384	1164

Season-by-Season Fielding

Garry Templeton — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1976	SLN	SS	53	51	111	172	24	41
1977	SLN	SS	151	146	285	453	32	98
1978	SLN	SS	155	153	285	523	40	108
1979	SLN	SS	150	150	292	525	34	102
1980	SLN	SS	115	114	223	451	29	85
1981	SLN	SS	76	76	160	272	18	54
1982	SDN	SS	136	135	220	422	26	70
1983	SDN	SS	123	122	219	355	24	66
1984	SDN	SS	146	143	225	407	26	79
1985	SDN	SS	148	148	245	460	23	96
1986	SDN	SS	144	134	207	358	20	60
1987	SDN	SS	146	141	253	447	20	77
1988	SDN	3B	2	0	2	0	0	0
1988	SDN	SS	105	99	168	316	16	62
1989	SDN	SS	140	136	232	409	20	74
1990	SDN	SS	135	132	214	367	26	74
1991	SDN	3B	15	8	2	17	1	2
1991	SDN	SS	1	0	1	0	0	0
1991	NYN	1B	25	18	152	12	1	9
1991	NYN	3B	2	2	2	8	0	1
1991	NYN	OF	2	0	0	0	0	0
1991	NYN	SS	40	30	53	104	6	18

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Garry Templeton Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
First Base	25
Third Base	19
Shortstop	1964
Right Field	2

Awards & Honors

Garry Templeton — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1984	Silver Slugger	SS
1980	Silver Slugger	SS
1980	TSN All-Star	SS
1979	TSN All-Star	SS
1977	TSN All-Star	SS

Salary History

Garry Templeton — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1991	SDN	NL	$530,000
1990	SDN	NL	$550,000
1989	SDN	NL	$700,000
1988	SDN	NL	$1,143,502
1987	SDN	NL	$1,143,225
1986	SDN	NL	$1,103,018
1985	SDN	NL	$1,137,000
Total Career Earnings			$6,306,745

Award Voting History

Garry Templeton — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1979	Most Valuable Player	NL	25th	5.0	336	0
1977	Most Valuable Player	NL	13th	20.0	336	0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Garry Templeton (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Garry Templeton: the record in brief

Garry Templeton played a first major league game on August 9, 1976 and a last one on October 5, 1991. The season rows list, in order, the St. Louis Cardinals (1976 through 1981), the San Diego Padres (1982 to 1991), and the New York Mets (1991). Templeton, a shortstop by primary position, switch-hit and threw right-handed. The recorded size is 5 feet, 11 inches and 175 pounds. The birth record reads March 24, 1956, in Lockney, TX, USA. Templeton's full given name, per the bio, is Garry Lewis Templeton.

In 2,079 games and 7,721 at bats, Templeton batted .271 with 2,096 hits, along with 70 homers, 728 RBI, and 242 stolen bases. Templeton's career OPS of .673 combines a .304 on-base mark with .369 slugging. Templeton hit .271 while the league hit .259 over the same span, a figure close to average. In OPS terms, Templeton's .673 stands 5.4% below the league's .711. The highest hit total in a season was 211, in 1979. 1977 brought the most runs batted in, 79.

Frequently Asked Questions about Garry Templeton

What years did Garry Templeton play?: Garry Templeton played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1991.
Was Garry Templeton a pitcher?: No. Garry Templeton was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Garry Templeton hit?: Garry Templeton hit 70 career home runs with 2096 hits.
What was Garry Templeton's career batting average?: Garry Templeton batted .271 over his career, with 2,096 hits in 7,721 at bats.
How many RBI did Garry Templeton have?: Garry Templeton drove in 728 runs in his career.
Is Garry Templeton in the Hall of Fame?: No. Garry Templeton has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.