no. 377 - greg garrett

Who is the man: Greg Garrett had thrown his final major league pitch by the time this card was pulled out of packs. His last game for the Reds was in late April 1971, he was then sent down to the minors and never returned.

Can ya dig it: Garrett is wearing an Angels cap and uniform. He was traded to the Reds in December, 1970.

Right on: This is Garrett's only solo card. He appears as a rookie star with two other Angels prospects in the 1970 Topps set.

You see this cat Garrett is a bad mother: Oh, brother, is he. Garrett retired from baseball before he hit age 25 because he kept getting in disagreements with management. He won All-America honors in badminton at Cal State Fullerton after his baseball career ended. From there, he played professional slo-pitch softball and was known for blasting enormous home runs. After that, he began powerlifting and won three world champions after hitting age 40.

Shut your mouth: Garrett's career went south when he was in the Reds' minor league organization. Garrett once pitched a game where he went eight innings and the team lost in extra innings. The manager, Vern Rapp, spotted Garrett in the clubhouse with a beer and chewed him out for having a beer after a loss. Garrett told Rapp that he was going to enjoy the beer. A week later, Garrett found himself in the Giants organization.

No one understands him but his woman: Garrett was forced to give up his weightlifting career after both kidneys started failing and he needed a kidney transplant (after a successful transplant, he won gold medals in bowling and softball toss in the National Transplant Olympics). In 2001 he was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer and died in 2003 at age 56. Rumors circulated that Garrett's illnesses were related to steroid use, which family members denied.

(A word about the back): Except for 8 2/3 innings, 2 games, a loss and a handful of other stats, those are Garrett's complete "life" numbers.