Tim Garland

Timothy Lowell Garland

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Pensacola Junior College

• Born July 15, 1968 in Baltimore, MD USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Tim Garland played 15 seasons in the minor leagues, stealing over 350 bases.

Garland was not picked until the 48th round of the 1989 amateur draft, when the New York Yankees chose him. In his debut, he batted .327/.385/.374 for the GCL Yankees. Had he qualified, he would have ranked 4th in the Gulf Coast League in average. Moving up to the Greensboro Hornets in 1990, he hit only .213/.284/.256 with 15 steals in 19 tries. The next year, he was with the Fort Lauderdale Yankees (.240/.281/.287 in 44 G, 37 K in 129 AB) and Prince William Yankees (.150/.216/.188, 22 K in 80 AB). He batted .234/.315/.328 for Prince William in 1992. His Yankees career over, he sat out 1993.

With the independent leagues forming, Garland got his second chance. He batted .294 for the 1994 San Antonio Tejanos, then .301 with 37 steals and 85 runs for the 1995 Rio Grande Valley White Wings. The San Francisco Giants saw enough to bring him back to Organized Baseball. In 1996, Garland produced at a .311/.379/.396 rate for the San Jose Giants, with 96 runs and 51 steals in 69 attempts. He led the California League in hits (171) and was 10th in average. He also paced Giants farmhands in runs and steals.

Back with San Jose in 1997, Garland's batting line fell a bit, to .298/.350/.393 with an impressive 65 stolen bases in 80 attempts and 106 runs. He again led Giants farmhands in runs and swipes. He was 3 steals behind Cal League leader Justin Baughman and his six double plays tied for the lead among league flyhawks. In 1998, Tim batted .263/.326/.330 with 15 steals in 20 tries over 55 games for the Shreveport Captains. He ended the year in the Baltimore Orioles chain, appearing for the Frederick Keys (.263/.341/.289 in 11 G) and Bowie Baysox (.262/.373/.360 in 59 G, only 8 steals in 15 tries).

Signing with the Oakland A's organization, Garland spent 1999 with the Midland Rockhounds. The veteran scored 84 runs, legged out 10 triples and stole 28 bases in 41 attempts. He hit .289/.343/.421. He was two triples behind Texas League pacesetter Luke Allen. The Baltimore native spent most of 2000 in the Mexican League with the Campeche Pirates (.311/.359/.384, 30 SB, 11 CS) and finished with the Long Island Ducks (.234/.359/.266 in 19 G). He was 6th in the Mexican League in steals.

Garland played for four teams in 2001 - the Amarillo Dillas (.295/.380/.398 in 22 G), Sioux City Explorers (.274/.287/.357 in 20 G), Winnipeg Goldeyes (.234/.290/.266 in 15 G) and Tabasco Olmecas (.277/.319/.331 in 33 G). He split 2002 between the Reynosa Broncos (.357/.390/.411 in 14 G) and Amarillo (.293/.343/.391, 26 SB, 53 R in 73 G). In 2003, he played for the Nashua Pride (.268/.324/.347 in 73 G) and Atlantic City Surf (.258/.339/.330 in 26 G). He ended up in 2004 with Atlantic City (3 for 35, 2 BB) and the Jackson Senators (.259/.365/.324 in 28 G).

After his playing career, Garland was a hitting coach in the Oakland A's chain for the 2006 Kane County Cougars, 2007-2010 Stockton Ports, and 2011-2012 Midland RockHounds. He moved to the Houston Astros organization as hitting coach of the Corpus Christi Hooks in 2013-2014 and development specialist for the Quad Cities River Bandits in 2015. His focus with the Bandits was improving outfield play and baserunning. There is no evidence that he coached in 2016, at least not in affiliated ball. Garland next moved to the Detroit Tigers' chain as hitting coach of the Lakeland Flying Tigers in 2017-2019 and FCL Tigers West in 2021. He was slated for the GCL Tigers West hitting coach position in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Garland was bench coach of the FCL Tigers in 2022, West Michigan Whitecaps in 2023, and Toledo Mud Hens in 2024.

Sources

• 1990-2000 Baseball Almanacs
• 2010 A's Media Guide