Henry
Eugene Garber (born November
13, 1947) is an American former professional baseball sidearm relief pitcher who played for four Major League Baseball (MLB)
organizations from 1969 to 1988. Garber was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in
the 20th round of the 1965 amateur draft.
Over the course of his MLB career, he pitched for the Pirates, Kansas City Royals (on
two separate occasions), Philadelphia Phillies,
and Atlanta Braves. In 1977, Garber won his only postseason game, becoming the first
Phillies pitcher to win a postseason game in 62 years. While pitching for the
Braves against the Cincinnati Reds on
August 1, 1978, Garber helped prevent Pete Rose from setting a new National League (NL) hitting streak record. With the Braves winning 16–4 in
the top of the ninth inning, Rose was 0 for 4 when he came to bat with two
outs. Rose struck out swinging, on a 2–2 change-up, ending the consecutive game streak still tied
with Willie Keeler. While
pitching for the 1979 Braves, Garber
recorded 25 saves, but also 16 losses, an unusually high number for a closer. His best season came for the 1982 Braves' NL West
division-winning team. That year, Garber recorded a career-high 30 saves, along
with a 9–10 won-lost record, and he finished seventh in the NL Cy Young Award balloting. Garber's most effective
pitch was a change-up, which he effectively delivered from an unusual, herky-jerky
motion, turning his back to the batter before delivering the ball in a
side-arm, "submarine-style" manner. With 141 games saved for the
Braves, Garber ranks third on the team's all-time saves list as of 2020, behind
only Craig Kimbrel (186)
and John Smoltz (154). Upon
his retirement following the 1988 season, Garber’s 931 career pitching appearances
ranked fifth in MLB history, trailing Hoyt Wilhelm (1070), Kent Tekulve (1013), Lindy McDaniel (987), and Rollie Fingers (944).