| Garvin Alston | |
|---|---|
 Alston with the Kane County Cougars in 2006 | |
| San Francisco Giants – No. 81 | |
| Pitcher /Coach | |
| Born: (1971-12-08)December 8, 1971 (age 53) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 6, 1996, for the Colorado Rockies | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 18, 1996, for the Colorado Rockies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 1–0 |
| Earned run average | 9.00 |
| Strikeouts | 5 |
| CPBL statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 1–0 |
| Earned run average | 3.18 |
| Strikeouts | 21 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Garvin James Alston Sr. (born December 8, 1971) is an American former professionalbaseball right-handedpitcher who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theColorado Rockies in 1996. After retiring from playing, he entered coaching and previously served as thepitching coach for theMinnesota Twins. He is currently the bullpen coach for theSan Francisco Giants.
Alston attended and played baseball atMount Vernon High School inMount Vernon, New York. During a game in his senior year againstRoosevelt High School on April 25, 1989, Alston threw the firstno-hitter in school history sinceRoy Smith in 1979. Following the game, he described Smith as "one of [his] idols" and said he hoped to follow his footsteps to the Major Leagues.[1] He also managed a .439batting average at the plate during his senior year and was named to the All-Westchester County First Team as a relief pitcher.[2]
In the summer following his senior year, he pitched for theBayside Yankees in the All-American Amateur Baseball Association World Series inJohnstown, Pennsylvania.[3]
Alston began hiscollege baseball career in 1990 inNCAA Division II atMercy College inDobbs Ferry, New York. As a freshman, he was selected as the New York State Coaches Association's Rookie of the Year, named to the Knickerbocker Conference All-Star Team and to a team of New York State Collegiate All-Stars which played against a team of New Jersey All-Stars atYankee Stadium.[4] In his sophomore year, he was named a Division II All-American. Over two seasons at Mercy, Alston managed anearned run average (ERA) of 2.84.[5]
In the summers of 1990 and 1991, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theBrewster Whitecaps of theCape Cod Baseball League and was named a league all-star in 1991.[6][7]
Prior to his third season of college baseball, he transferred toFlorida International.[5] In September 1991, he was invited to try out for theUnited States national baseball team in advance of the1992 Summer Olympics but ultimately did not makethe roster.[8] Alston managed an ERA of 3.83 in his only season at Florida International in 1992.[9]
Alston was selected by theColorado Rockies in the 10th round of the1992 Major League Baseball draft, the franchise's first year in the draft.[10] Alston said that he was excited to be chosen by the Rockies because he anticipated that theexpansion franchise would be advancing prospects to the Major Leagues quickly.[9]
Alston was assigned to theBend Rockies of theClass A-Short SeasonNorthwest League to start his professional career. Alston initially had difficulty adjusting to life in ruralCentral Oregon as anAfrican-American man; he found thatnightspots playedcountry music and local barbers could not cutAfro-textured hair. However, he quickly formed friendships with black teammatesAngel Echevarria andQuinton McCracken.[11] Alston spent the entirety of his first professional season in Bend, starting twelve games and allowing only onehome run in 73innings pitched.[12]
The following year, Alston progressed to theSingle-ACalifornia League but his performance suffered with theCentral Valley Rockies; his ERA jumped from 3.95 in 1992 to 5.46 in 1993.[12] The Rockies kept Alston in Single-A to start the 1994 season as astarting pitcher. He again struggled as a starter, at one pointlosing seven consecutive starts. However, after the Rockies began using him as acloser, he got his "confidence...back 100 percent."[13] Alston's newfound success as a closer earned him a promotion to theDouble-ANew Haven Ravens in mid-August 1994.[14] Alston pulled a muscle after reaching New Haven and was limited to only four appearances.[12][15]
During the 1994–95 offseason, Alston pitched for theMaui Stingrays inHawaii Winter Baseball. Alston was in Hawaii in November 1994 when he got the news that he had been added to Colorado's 40-man roster.[15] Because he was added to the 40-man, he became a member of theMajor League Baseball Players Association before ever having appeared in a Major League game and was therefore unable to participate inspring training during the1994–95 Major League Baseball strike.[16]
At the conclusion of the delayed spring training following the end of the strike in 1995, Colorado general managerBob Gebhard told Alston he would be on the team's expandedOpening Day roster.[17] He was returned to Double-A on May 6, however, without appearing in a Major League game when pitcherLance Painter returned from an ankle injury.[18][19] Alston spent the remainder of the season working out of thebullpen in New Haven. He set career bests in 1995 in ERA, hit rate,walk rate andstrikeout rate.[12]
Alston was sidelined during spring training in 1996 by elbow injuries and assigned to theTriple-AColorado Springs Sky Sox to start the season.[20] By early June, he was leading Colorado Springs pitchers in ERA[21] and, on June 5, 1996, he was added to the Major League roster to replace pitcherMike Munoz.[22] He made his Major League debut the following night in a game against theHouston Astros.[19] Alston entered the game in the eighth inning in relief ofKevin Ritz at theAstrodome and allowed bothinherited runners to score and was charged with three earned runs of his own over1+1⁄3 innings pitched.[23] He did not allow any runs over his next three appearances and lowered his ERA from 20.25 to 6.75. He earned his firstpitching win and recorded his first strikeout on June 11, retiring both Houston Astros batters he faced in a game atCoors Field. In his next two games, however, he allowed three runs on five hits in two innings pitched. His outing on June 18, 1996, would prove to be the final of his Major League career.[24] On June 27, the Rockies activated Mike Munoz and returned Alston to Colorado Springs.[25] He would return to the big league club briefly in August to fill a roster spot following an injury to Lance Painter but would not appear in a game and would otherwise pitch the remainder of the season in Colorado Springs.[26][24][12]
Alston was expecting to vie for the Rockies' closer job in 1997 but underwent surgery before the start of the season to reroute a nerve, shrink a ligament and removebone chips from his elbow.[27] Although he initially expected to return to pitching as early as August 1997, he would end up missing the entire season.[28][12] He returned to the mound in 1998 and pitched the entire season in Triple-A, posting a career-worst 6.45 ERA.[12]
Alston began the 1999 season pitching in Taiwan'sChinese Professional Baseball League for theWei Chuan Dragons.[12][29] On August 26, he signed a minor league contract with theLos Angeles Dodgers and finished the season in Triple-A with theAlbuquerque Dukes.[12][29] He split the following season between Albuquerque and in theKansas City Royals organization with the Double-AWichita Wranglers. It would be his final season playing in affiliated baseball.[12] He missed part of the year due toappendicitis.[30] In 2003, Alston returned to baseball and signed with theMontreal Royales of theindependentCanadian Baseball League (CBL) with the ultimate goal of returning to the Major Leagues.[31] The CBL folded midseason and Alston did not play in another professional baseball game.[12]
Reflecting on his career later in life, Alston said "It was everything I dreamt of." Though he added that he regretted focusing too much on advancing his career at the expense of enjoying "creating memories with friends."[32]
Alston coached in theOakland Athletics organization from 2005 to 2015. He served aspitching coach of the Class AKane County Cougars (2005–06) and Class A-AdvancedStockton Ports (2007–08), minor league rehab coordinator (2009–14), and minor league pitching coordinator (2015). TheArizona Diamondbacks hired Alston as their bullpen coach for the 2016 season.[33] In June 2017, he was re-hired by the Athletics as the major league bullpen coach.[34] Alston served as pitching coach for theMinnesota Twins during the 2018 season, but did not return when new managerRocco Baldelli was hired in the offseason. Alston's highlights with the Twins included improving the command and pitch selection of relieverRyan Pressly.[35]
In 2021, Alston became the pitching coach for theSacramento River Cats.[36]
On November 14, 2023, theSan Francisco Giants hired Alston to be their bullpen coach.[37]
Alston's wife, Natasha, also graduated from Mount Vernon. In 1996, the couple was in the process of writingscreenplays based on each of their lives.[27]
Alston's son, Garvin Altson Jr., was drafted by theChicago White Sox in 2015 and 2019, joining the organization after playing college baseball atArizona State atUSC Aiken.[38][39] Alston is the cousin of former Major League BaseballoutfielderDell Alston.[40][41]
| Preceded by | Minnesota Twinspitching coach 2018 | Succeeded by |