Remembering the 1984 San Diego Padres

GARRY TEMPLETON- SHORTSTOP

Garry Templeton amassed 4,512 at-bats as a Padre with a .252/.325/.418 batting line. He totaled 43 home runs and drove in 427 runners with 101 stolen bases.

He played a total of 10 seasons with the Padres from 1981-1991. In 148 games that 1984 season, Templeton hit .258 with two homers and 35 runs batted in.

The St Louis Cardinals drafted him in the first round (13th pick) of the 1975 draft. It only took Templeton two years to reach the majors, as he made his professional debut on August 9, 1976. He ended up hitting .291 that year in 213 at-bats. Very impressive for a 20-year-old.

December 10, 1981, the St Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres agreed on a six-player trade.

The Padres traded defensive wizard Ozzie Smith, Al Olmsted, and Steve Mura to the Cardinals for offensive shortstop Garry Templeton, Sixto Lezcano, and Luis DeLeon. Templeton had worn out his welcome in St. Louis while Smith was in a contract battle with the Padres, so the deal seemed to make sense for both teams.

Templeton is probably most commonly known for his comments about not showing up to play the 1979 All-Star game (in which he was elected as a reserve).

He had better numbers than Dave Concepcion and Larry Bowa, who were selected as starters. Templeton openly stated: “If I ain’t startin’. I ain’t departin’”. He did not play that year in the All-Star Game and was only elected to one more Mid-Season Classic. (1985 with Padres).

As a Padre, Templeton never really displayed that prolific bat or a bad attitude, for that matter. He was still an above-average hitting shortstop but never once hit .300 as a Padre. His best season was 1985 when he hit .282 with six home runs, 55 runs batted in, and 16 stolen bases in 148 games. He was named team captain in 1987 by then-manager Larry Bowa and remained captain until he was traded in 1991.

Garry Templeton stayed in the game of baseball and has managed in the Anaheim Angels organization four different times. He lived in Poway for a time after his retirement. His son Garry Templeton Jr. played minor league baseball from 1999-2007 and became manager of the Hawaii Stars in 2012. The apple does not fall too far from the tree.

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