Former Twins manager Billy Gardner dies at 96

Billy Gardner, who managed the Twins for parts of five seasons in the 1980s, died on Wednesday at age 96 in Waterford, Conn.

Gardner spent 22 seasons in professional baseball as a player, including 10 seasons in the major leagues. Nicknamed "Slick" — he said it wasn't because of how he did his hair, but rather "because of the way I made the double play. I could turn a double play in a phone booth" — he spent three seasons with the Minneapolis Millers and was the Opening Day second baseman for the Twins in their first game in 1961. He played on two World Series championship teams — the New York Giants in 1954 and the New York Yankees in 1961.

"We are saddened to hear about the passing of former Twins Manager, Billy Gardner," the Twins wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Gardner was a third base coach for the Twins in 1981 when he replaced Johnny Goryl as manager on May 23, 1981. He had a 268-353 record with the Twins, including a 60-102 mark in 1982, when many of the core players to the 1987 World Series championship team first came up to the major leagues.

His best record with the Twins was 81-81 in 1984. That team, which had Kirby Puckett as a rookie, was in a tie for the AL West lead with a week to play but lost its last six games, including blowing a 10-0 lead at Cleveland in an 11-10 loss to eliminate the Twins from contention with two games remaining.

The Twins fired Gardner on June 21, 1985, when they were 27-35 and in sixth place in the AL West, replacing him with Baltimore pitching coach Ray Miller. Gardner, who famously lived in a Super 8 in Roseville while managing the Twins, said Twins President Howard Fox knocked on his door to let him know the news: "There isn't a restaurant in this motel, so it wasn't room service," he said.

In 1987, the Kansas City Royals hired Gardner as their third-base coach, but he became their manager when Dick Howser resigned to undergo treatment for a brain tumor — Howser died that June at age 51. Gardner was fired on Aug. 26 with the Royals 62-64 and in fourth place in the AL West, but only 3½ games behind the first-place Twins, who by then were managed by Tom Kelly. Gardner never worked in the big leagues again, finishing his managerial career with a record of as 330–417, a .442 winning percentage.

Gardner is survived by Barbara, his wife of 71 years, as well as four children, 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. His son Billy Gardner Jr. is a manager in the Miami Marlins farm system who managed Beloit in the Midwest League last year.