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Garber helps revamp Phillies bullpen | Get Your Phil

The Elizabethtown relief pitcher hit his stride when he found his way to the Phillies.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Lancaster's Gene Garber was raised on a dairy farm in Elizabethtown.

If he wasn't in school or working on the farm, you could find him on the diamond. In his senior year, he pitched five one-hitters and was taken in the 20th round of the first MLB Draft by the Pirates.

Garber balanced classes at Elizabethtown College while playing in the Carolina League in the late 60s.

In 1969, he made his big league debut with the Pirates, who would eventually trade him to the Royals three years later.

Kansas City was getting ready to option him to Triple-A Omaha when the Phillies bought his contract in 1974.

Returning to the commonwealth, Garber and Tug McGraw helped lead a revamped Phillies bullpen and the team to the first winning season in eight years. In 71 appearances, the Elizabethtown grad tallied 14 saves.

The next year, he went 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 11 saves in 59 games, helping the Phillies to a National League (NL) East title.

Philadelphia would repeat as division champs in 1977.

The Phillies' continued rise to the World Series in 1980 cost them Garber in a trade with Atlanta in 1978, as the Braves insisted that he be included in the deal.

Garber went from a team in contention to a Braves team that was trying to find its footing.

One highlight in Atlanta was putting an end to Pete Rose's 44-game hit streak.

In 1982 he helped the Braves win NL West and came in seventh in the Cy Young voting.

He was traded back to the Royals in 1987 and released in 1988, ending his Big League career.

At the time, he was seventh all-time in saves, sixth all-time in games pitched, and was one of only six pitchers with at least 900 appearances, 1,500 innings and 200 saves.

Garber returned to the only other job he knew, farming in Elizabethtown, where he lives to this day. 

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