| Gary Roenicke | |
|---|---|
 Roenicke in 2008 | |
| Left fielder | |
| Born: (1954-12-05)December 5, 1954 (age 70) Covina, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 8, 1976, for the Montreal Expos | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 24, 1988, for the Atlanta Braves | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Home runs | 121 |
| Runs batted in | 410 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Gary Steven Roenicke (born December 5, 1954) is an American formerMajor League Baseballleft fielder for theMontreal Expos (1976),Baltimore Orioles (1978–85),New York Yankees (1986) andAtlanta Braves (1987–88).
Roenicke was originally drafted by theMontreal Expos as the eighth pick of the first round of the1973 amateur draft. He earned the MVP Award in theEastern League in 1975. A year later, he made his major league debut with theExpos, hitting .222 in 29 games with twohome runs and fiveruns batted in (RBI).
Roenicke was acquired along withDon Stanhouse andJoe Kerrigan by theOrioles from the Expos forRudy May,Bryn Smith andRandy Miller at theWinter Meetings on December 7, 1977.[1]
Roenicke appeared in 27 games in his first season with the Orioles in 1978. A year later, in his first full season, he had perhaps the best season of his career, appearing in 133 games and hitting .261 with 25home runs and 64runs batted in. He even made the top ten in at-bats per home run, with one home run every 15.0 AB. The next year, he hit .239 with 10home runs, 28runs batted in. In 1981 he hit .269, but his power numbers were still significantly down, slugging only .384, whereas he had slugged .508 in his rookie season. In 1982, he hit .270 with a slugging percentage of .499 in 137 games,platooning withJohn Lowenstein andBenny Ayala.[2] In 1984, he hit a grand slam during the Home Run Derby jackpot inning of a locally televised game against the Yankees, which resulted in a $1 million jackpot award to a Maryland viewer.[3]
Roenicke never established numbers like the 1982 season or rookie season. After a .218 campaign with 15 homers and 43 RBI, he was traded from theOrioles to theYankees forRex Hudler andRich Bordi on December 11, 1985, in a transaction that was completed five days later on December 16 whenLeo Hernández was also sent to New York.[4][5] On the Yankees, his role was limited to a bench player and his power was down, with threehome runs. He signed as a free agent in 1986 by theAtlanta Braves for less than half the amount of money he had been making ($380,000). He continued his career on the bench, this year doing better in the power department, hitting ninehome runs. The next year, he hit .228 with a .298 slugging percentage, the worst of his career. He was released by the Braves on July 26, 1988, and retired.
Roenicke resides inRough and Ready, California, and is currently an adviser for theWestern Canadian Baseball League, as well as a scout for the Orioles. His brother,Ron, had an eight-year career as anoutfielder in the 1980s while his sonJosh was a member of both theUCLA football and baseball teams as awide receiver andoutfielder. On theUCLA Bruins, Josh had the second-highest on-base percentage, third-highest batting average and compiled a perfect fielding percentage. Josh was drafted by theCincinnati Reds, made his major-league baseball debut with the Reds as a pitcher on September 13, 2008, and on July 31, 2009, was traded to theToronto Blue Jays.
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