William Frederick Gardner (born July 19, 1927) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. During his ten-season active career in the Major Leagues, Gardner was a scrappy, light-hitting second baseman for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. His only significant time on any team was with Baltimore, where he spent four straight full seasons from 1956–59. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg). After retiring as a player, he spent over 20 years as a coach or manager, and managed the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals during the 1980s.\n', '

Gardner was signed by the Giants in 1945 and came up with them on April 22, 1954, but he could not break into the contending team\'s lineup. In early 1956, he was purchased by the Orioles. Gardner picked up a career-high of 10 steals, but in his best season of 1957, he led the league in doubles with 36, and at bats with 644. He played in every one of the 154 games that season, batting .262 with 6 home runs and 55 RBIs. In his career, Gardner also came in the top 10 in hit by pitches twice (1956 and 195757), with a career-high of 8 in 1957 (fifth in the league).\n', '

He wound up as a utility infielder with 1961 Yankees, winning the 1961 World Series with them against the Cincinnati Reds. In his one and only at bat of the post-season, he lined out to shortstop in the ninth inning of Game 2. The Yankees lost the game 6–2. Gardner ended his career with two years on the Red Sox, picking up 70 hits with them in 283 at bats. Nicknamed "Shotgun" for his rifle arm, Gardner led American League second basemen in fielding percentage in 1957 (.987), including 55 consecutive errorless games, and finished with a .976 fielding mark all-time. In all or parts of ten seasons, Gardner batted .237 with 41 home runs and 271 RBIs in 1034 games played. He picked up 841 hits, with 159 doubles and 18 triples in 3544 career at bats. He finished with 19 career steals.\n', '

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