Super Mario

Mario Garza

A friend of this blog sent me a text last night. The person was attending a New York-Penn League game between the Hudson Valley Renegades and the Staten Island Yankees. Much to his surprise -- and mine, too -- the Staten Island manager was former Wild Things catcher Mario Garza. It had slipped past me that Garza is in his second year as a manager.

You might remember Garza as a member of the 2007 Wild Things team. He was a left-handed hitting catcher who came to Washington after four years in the Houston Astros system and led the New York-Penn League in home runs and RBI in 2004. During one season with the Astros, Garza finished second on his team in OPS, behind Ben Zobrist and ahead of Hunter Pence, both current major leaguers.

With the Wild Things, Garza played in a platoon at catcher with Pat O'Brien. Garza struggled at the plate during the regular season, hitting only .237. However, he came up big in Game 2 of a first-round playoff series against Gateway, hitting two home runs, including one that I recall clearing the second wall (the one with the scoreboard, behind the lawn seating) at Gateway and disappearing into the darkness, seemingly still on an upward trajectory. That ball might still be going up.

Garza was knocked out of the remainder of the playoffs when, during Game 3, he broke his collarbone in a collision at home plate.

One other note about Garza: Though he ended his college playing career at Florida, Garza was the only Wild Thing to ever play at Stanford.

Garza, who is in his fourth year as a coach with the Yankees, is one of two former Wild Things who are currently managers in affiliated ball. Former second baseman Ryan Ellis is the manager of the New York Mets' St. Lucie affiliate in the Class A Florida State League.