Garko finds his place in the field

Terry Pluto, 15 Sept 2007

It's about 90 minutes before Friday night's game with Kansas City, and Ryan Garko sat in the Tribe dugout. He couldn't stop smiling.

"When you go from staring Buffalo in the face in spring training to batting in the middle of this lineup . . ."

Then Garko paused.
"It's feel good," he said. "Really good."

He paused again.

"There were a lot of sleepless nights this spring," he said. "I worried about making the team. I felt a lot of pressure when I was at first base, like everyone was watching me."

Unlike some pro athletes, Garko is candid about his emotions. He went from the last player to make the team in spring training to a guy hitting .295 with 18 homers and 57 RBI. He's matured from a Doctor Strange-glove at first base to "a pleasant surprise" in the field, according to manager Eric Wedge.

"I was never a Baseball America darling," Garko said. "I went to Stanford, but they recruited me as much for my grades [4.2 GPA] as baseball. For a long time, I never even knew if I'd get drafted."

Garko didn't begin his pro career until he was 22, putting him at an immediate disadvantage.

"I was with a bunch of guys 18 and 19 years old in Class A," he said. "I realized that I didn't have a lot of time."

What Garko did have was a degree in American Studies (a combination of history, political science and economics) from Stanford. He had a bat that roared, a .402 hitter as a senior and a first team All-American.

But he also had a question mark next to his name. Yes, he could hit, but where would he play?

He was a catcher at Stanford, and played there for two years in the Tribe farm system. But the Indians believed he was better suited for first base. He arrived in Cleveland in July of 2006, hitting .292 with 45 RBI in 50 games.
But he had six errors in 45 starts at first. The front office feared he was a liability in the field. In spring training, the plan seemed to be Casey Blake at first base, and Garko on the bench - or perhaps headed back to Class AAA Buffalo for a third year at the age of 26.

"I never thought I was as bad [at first] as some people thought," he said. "It's just that the position was so new to me. The game seemed so fast. But I was working hard at it. I knew I could do it."

Garko is 6-2, 225 pounds. Graceful he is not. Give him relentless. Give him determined. Give him a chance, that's all he asked after being a .293 hitter in the minors.

"In this game, they liked to tell you what you can't do," he said. "They label you, and it's so hard to overcome. I've had to prove a lot of people wrong."

But not manager Eric Wedge.

"He's been in my corner from the beginning," Garko said. "That's why I've been working my tail off to make it. When a manager goes to bat for you like Eric did, I want to prove him right."

Wedge saw Garko spending so much time in the field. He kept Garko on the roster, believing that his "time would come." It did early, when Andy Marte was injured, and Blake moved to third base.

First base opened for Garko, and he grabbed it.

"Ryan hasn't hurt us in the field, and he's made some good plays to help us," General Manager Mark Shapiro said. "He's been very good at digging throws out of the dirt, and that helps our infielders."

Meanwhile, Garko hits.
He began the recent 10-game trip in a slump, then made an adjustment.

"My dad told me to pull my [uniform] pants down over my socks," he said.

Garko did, and has three homers in the last seven games. Garko was 1-for-4 in the Indians' 5-4 win over the Royals on Friday night.

In his major-league career, he's a .294 hitter with 25 homers and 102 RBI in 623 at-bats.

"I don't take anything for granted," he said. "I appreciate the Indians sticking with me. Playing with this team, that means so much to me."