A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Gagliano came from a baseball family; he was the nephew of a prominent American Legion and high school coach, Tony Gagliano, and his younger brother Ralph also was an infielder in professional baseball who appeared in the majors, although only for one game in 1965. Phil graduated from Memphis' Christian Brothers High School, where he played for his uncle and was a teammate and schoolmate of Tim McCarver. Gagliano and McCarver, as fellow Cardinals from 1963 through 1969, became two of the four Christian Brothers High School baseball alumni to have played in the World Series as of 2017.
Gagliano reached the majors for the first time after three full years in the St. Louis farm system; then he spent 3.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1⁄2 months of the 1964 season on the Redbird roster as a pinch hitter and backup second baseman before returning to Triple-A to complete his minor-league seasoning. In 1965, he spent the first of ten full seasons as a major-leaguer, and, with regular second baseman Julián Javier hobbled by injuries, established career-bests in games played (122), games started (90, including 48 at second base, 25 in the outfield, and 19 at third base), and in most offensive categories, including hits (87), runs scored (46), extra-base hits (24), home runs (eight) and runs batted in (53, fifth on the club). He got into another 90 games for the Cardinals in 1966, starting 39 contests at third base and further cementing his role as a utilityman. He helped the 1967 and 1968 Cardinals win National League pennants, and appeared in each World Series that followed as a pinch hitter, going hitless in four at bats; he earned a championship ring when the Cardinals defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games in 1967.
Gagliano's tenure in St. Louis ended in May 1970 when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, who used him in only 26 games over the last four months of the campaign. After his contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the Cubs at the Winter Meetings on December 2, 1970, he established himself as one of the majors' top pinch hitters of the day. From 1971 through 1973, he batted .364, .346 and .366, with 32 hits, in pinch-hitting roles for the 1971–1972 Red Sox and the 1973 Cincinnati Reds. But in 1974, Gagliano could muster only two hits and 15 bases on balls in 46 plate appearances, and he retired from baseball.

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