Ronald Garth

La Ronald Ballardo Garth

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• Born November 5, 1984 in La Rosita Nicaragua

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ronald Garth spent his 8th season in the minor leagues in 2002. Garth signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and debuted in 2002 in the Venezuelan Summer League. In the VSL in 2003, he hit .266. He was a backup 2B to Jimy Gonzalez for the Nicaraguan national team in the 2003 Baseball World Cup but went 0 for 6.

In 2004, Ron batted .290 and stole 18 bases while playing in the Dominican Summer League. The next year, he was named MVP of the AZL Mariners, batting .357/.430/.616 with 23 runs in 27 games. Had he qualified, he would have finished second in the Arizona League in batting average.

Garth continued his hot hitting in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, representing Nicaragua. He hit .308/.413/.487 with 7 runs in 10 games as their starting second sacker and one of their more productive players. He did very well in games against Team USA (2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Japan (4 hits) and Taiwan (3 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI). He was not picked for the All-Tournament team as Taiwan's Yung-Chi Chen, another Mariners minor leaguer, was even better.

Garth hit .275/.339/.413 for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2006. He led the team in average and homers (10) and tied Jeff Flaig for the most RBI (48) despite missing time with left shoulder and right knee injuries. He was named Wisconsin's MVP and was named to the Midwest League mid-season All-Star team.

Garth hit .159/.242/.193 in 27 games for the 2007 High Desert Mavericks but dislocated his left shoulder on May 9 and missed over a month. He went 1 for 10 in a rehab stint with the AZL Mariners in late June. In July, he went 1 for 4 for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx before being assigned to Wisconsin to complete his busy season. He hit .277/.341/.463 in 48 games for Wisconsin, scoring 35 runs and delivering 18 extra bases (8 home runs).

In 2008, Garth was back with Wisconsin once again and batted .267/.319/.403 with 27 doubles before another left shoulder injury ended his season in mid-August.

Sources

• 2009 Mariners Media Guide
• 2007 Baseball Almanac]
• Defunct IBAF site