Gardner was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1859. He played on several amateur baseball teams in Cambridge until 1878. In 1879, he started his professional baseball career with the National Association\'s Worcester Grays, batting .188 in nine games. He then joined the National League\'s Troy Trojans and made his major league debut on August 23. He pitched in two games for Troy that year and lost both. The following season, Gardner played for the Cleveland Blues; he made nine starts, going 1–8 with a 2.57 earned run average.\n', '

Gardner spent 1881 in the Eastern Championship Association and 1882 in the League Alliance. He started 1883 with the Camden Merritts of the Interstate Association, but the team disbanded in July, and he was acquired by the American Association\'s Baltimore Orioles. Gardner was mostly an outfielder for Baltimore. Over the rest of the season, he played in 42 games and batted .273.\n', '

Gardner started 1884 with the Orioles. He played 41 games for them, batting .214, and then finished the season in the Union Association, batting .255 there. He returned to Baltimore in 1885 and hit .218 while playing mostly at second base. Gardner then went back down to the minors in 1886. He played 56 games for the Southern Association\'s Charleston Seagulls and batted .262. In 1887, he became captain of the New England League\'s Boston Blues, where he "reached the height of his fame," and also appeared in 18 games for the National League\'s Indianapolis Hoosiers. While at Indianapolis, Gardner became part of the first known platoon arrangement in baseball, as he split time with left-handed hitting Tom Brown. Gardner had a .175 batting average in his 18 games.\n', '

Return to Gid Gardner Autograph Profile