Top Blue Jays Player #25: Damaso
Garcia
Position: Second
base
Seasons With the
Jays: 7 (1980-1986)
MLB Awards: Silver
Slugger (1982)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1984, 1985
Stats: Games Played 902 Batting Average .288
Base Hits 1028 Runs
Scored 453
Home Runs 32 RBIs 296
Doubles
172 Triples 26
Stolen Bases 194
Walks 110
Damaso Garcia, it could be
argued, was one of the most talented baseball players that played for the
Toronto Blue Jays. However, his volatile temper and personality clashes with
the team’s managers kept him from realizing his true potential. Having said
that, no one who watched the Blue Jays from the early to mid 1980s will ever
forget the contributions Garcia made to the team.
He was signed by the New York
Yankees in March 1975 and played in the minor leagues for most of the next five
years. In June of 1978, he made his Big League debut but only played in 18 games
that season. After appearing in another 11 games in 1979, Garcia was traded by
the Yankees to the Toronto Blue Jays.
In 1980, he became the every day
second baseman for the Jays under manager Bobby Mattick. He batted .278, hit
four home runs (he never was much of a power hitter) and added 46 RBIs. Blessed
with speed and base running smarts, Garcia managed to steal 13 bases in his
rookie year, a sign of things to come. His performance was good enough to
finish fourth in voting for the American’s League Rookie of the Year Award.
In the strike-shortened season
of 1981, he only played in 64 games, batted .252 hit one home run and had only
13 RBIs. He did, however, manage to steal 13 bases again. But 1982 would be
Garcia’s break-out season. Toronto had a new manager, Bobby Cox, who Garcia
would flourish under, but at the same time be at odds with over his spot in the
batting order.
He played 147 games, hit over
.300 for the first time (.310), hit five home runs, added 42 RBIs and had an
impressive 54 stolen bases. He also became the lead-off hitter, the position in
the order he felt entitled to. The dispute over his lead-off spot would happen
in 1983 when Cox would flip Garcia and centre-fielder Lloyd Moseby between the
top two spots on occasion, depending on which player was performing better. It
didn’t sit too well with the second baseman and he became moody and would voice
his displeasure to the Toronto media.
Despite the controversy, Garcia
still finished the 1983 season with a .307 average, three home runs, 38 RBIs
and 31 stolen bases. He would earn his first All-Star Game selection in 1984
(.284, 5, 46 and 46 stolen bases) and his second in 1985 (.282, 8, 65, 28
stolen bases) while helping the Blue Jays to their first AL East Division
title. In the ALCS against Kansas City, Garcia only batted .233, with one RBI
and no stolen bases.
But 1986 would be his most
tumultuous with the club. Cox was replace by Jimy Williams as the manager and Garcia
was dropped to ninth in the batting order. Forever moody, Garcia sulked and his
performance at the plate suffered. On May 18, trying to break out of his slump,
he actually burned his uniform in the clubhouse, which angered Williams. He
confronted Garcia in front of the entire team, souring the second baseman even
more. He rallied to finish the season with a .281 average, six home runs and 46
RBIs, but only stole nine bases.
He was traded to the Atlanta
Braves before the 1987 season but missed the entire season after injuring his
knee. In 1988, he only 21 games with Atlanta, batting a dismal .117, with only
one home run and four RBIs. He joined the Montreal Expos for 1989, played in 80
games and was let go following the season. Prior to the 1990 season, he signed
with the Yankees but never played another game in the Major Leagues, his career
over at age 32.
A year later, he was diagnosed
with a malignant brain tumour. Even though he had the tumour removed (in 1991),
doctors told him he only had six months to live. However, 25 years later he is
still alive although the effects of the tumour have left him with limited
speech and movement.
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