Debs Garms

Debs C. Garms (June 26, 1907 – December 16, 1984) was an American professional baseball player for 12 seasons as an outfielder and third baseman for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals. Garms broke up Johnny Vander Meer's streak of hitless innings in 1938. He won the National League batting title in 1940, hitting .355 for the Pirates despite having played in only 103 games and garnering 358 at bats. Garms' batting title proved very controversial because of his limited playing time. In 1941, he set a then-major league record for consecutive pinch hits with seven, which stood until Dave Philley broke it in 1958.

Early life Born in Bangs, Texas, Garms was the eighth of 10 children, and was named after Eugene Debs. Garms' older sister married Slim Harriss, a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox in the 1920s. In 1938, Bees' manager Casey Stengel platooned Garms with Joe Stripp. After three seasons with the Bees, Garms was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1940, his first year with the Pirates, Garms won the National League batting title despite serving as a platoon player, recording only 358 at-bats in 103 games.

In 12 seasons and 1,010 games, Garms hit .293 (910 for 3111) with 438 runs scored, 141 doubles, 39 triples, 17 home runs, 328 RBI, 288 walks.355 on-base percentage, and a .379 slugging percentage. He appeared in the 1943 World Series and 1944 World Series, and was hitless in seven at-bats. Garms made the last out of the 1943 World Series when he grounded out to New York Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon in Game 5.

After baseball After Garms retired, he purchased a ranch in Glen Rose, Texas. Garms lived at the ranch until the 1950s, when the severe Texas drought forced him to sell the ranch and move into town in 1959, where he worked as foreman for a lime quarry operation, and eventually served on the school board for Glen Rose Independent School District. Garms was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the 1980s, On November 12, 2004, Garms was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Kenny Rogers, Rube Foster, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Bill Brown and Jim Gilligan at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Houston. No one represented Garms at the ceremony, with officials failing to find a relative to accept the plaque on his behalf. After the ceremony, officials found his son, David, living in Richardson, Texas and the Hall of Fame officials would make a trip to his house on December 15 to present the plaque.