Toby Gardenhire

Toby Joel Gardenhire

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.
• Schools University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, Southwest Missouri State University, University of Illinois

• Born September 11, 1982 in Manhasset, NY USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Toby Gardenhire played in the minor leagues from 2006 to 2011, reaching Triple-A twice. His is the son of Ron Gardenhire.

He was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 38th round of the 2002 amateur draft. He opted to go to college instead, attending three schools in three years. He was again selected by the Twins in the 41st round of the 2005 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the Elizabethton Twins, hitting .200 in 30 games there. In 2006, he was with the Beloit Snappers, batting just .198 with 18 RBIs in 87 games. With the Fort Myers Miracle in 2007, he again struggled at the plate, hitting .212 with just 9 RBIs in 75 games. He began the next summer with Fort Myers again and was promoted to the AA New Britain Rock Cats in later April after hitting .333 in 15 games with the Miracle. With New Britain in 2009, he hit .265 with 53 hits in 71 games and in 2010, with New Britain and the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, he hit a combined .196 with 38 hits in 65 games. He hit .247 with 82 hits in 103 games for Rochester in 2011, his final season.

In 2012, he became head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He also played that year for the German national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers; his father was born in Germany, which made him eligible. He was Germany's main second baseman, going 4 for 13 with two doubles, walk, two runs and two RBI but Germany failed to qualify for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Gardenhire stayed at UW-Stout through 2016.

Gardenhire began his transition to coaching in professional baseball in 2016 when he served as a part-time hitting coach for the GCL Twins. This move became permanent in 2017 when the Twins hired him as a full-time coach. He was slated to return to the GCL, but an injury to one of the Rochester Red Wings coaches led to a temporary assignment with Rochester that lasted from late March through most of June. He finished the year with his GCL team.

His first managerial assignment came the next year, with the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Midwest League. Gardenhire was scheduled to manage the Rochester Red Wings in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. In 2023 Gardenhire led the St. Paul Saints to a 84-64 record, the best winning percentage in his managerial career. Also in 2023, the Saints tied a modern-day Minor League record (stats going back to 2005) with 14 grand slams. No Major League team has hit more than 14 grand slams in the Modern Era (since 1901).

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2018	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Midwest League	77-62	4th	Minnesota Twins	Lost in 2nd round
2019	Fort Myers Miracle	Florida State League	74-59	3rd	Minnesota Twins	cancelled
2021	St. Paul Saints	Triple-A East	61-59	10th	Minnesota Twins	6-4
2022	St. Paul Saints	International League	74-75	10th (t)	Minnesota Twins
2023	St. Paul Saints	International League	84-64	3rd	Minnesota Twins
2024	St. Paul Saints	International League	70-79	13th	Minnesota Twins