Gary Thurman

Gary Montez Thurman (born November 12, 1964) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played for nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and New York Mets. He later coached several MLB teams.

The Royals selected Thurman in the first round with the 21st pick of the 1983 MLB draft out of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He played his first professional season with their rookie-league Gulf Coast Royals in 1983 and his last with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Triple-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians, in 1998. In the minors, he led his league in stolen bases in 1985 and 1987.

Thurman reached MLB with Kansas City in August 1987. Also serving as a pinch runner, he had a career-high 16 stolen bases in 1989 and was not caught once, He had his first three-hit game and scored the lone run in a 1–0 win over the Minnesota Twins in September 1990. He hit his only two MLB home runs in 1991 but tore a knee ligament in August. He played in a career-best 88 games in 1992.

The Tigers claimed him off waivers in late March 1993. After spending the 1994 season in the Chicago White Sox minor league system,

After his playing career, Thurman held various coaching, managing, and instructional roles. He was named the Arizona League manager of the year in 1999 with the Arizona League Mariners. He managed the 2001 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and 2006 Inland Empire 66ers to the minors league playoffs. for the Mariners for the second half of the season. He was the coordinator of base running for the Cleveland Indians during 2008–2011. He was the first base coach for the Miami Marlins in 2012.

Personal life Thurman and his wife have four children.