1987 Profile: Gary Ward

"A problem for the Yankees in 1986 was the lack of right-handed hitting, which which resulted in a 23-33 record versus lefties. To correct the situation in 1987, the club signed free agent Gary Ward, a right-handed hitter who is expected to help the team immensely in the drive for the pennant. 'His addition should really help us, especially against left-handed pitching,' predicted manager Lou Piniella.
The 33-year-old Ward showed that he can still get it done by hitting a career high .316 for Texas last year, seventh best among A.L. hitters with at least 250 at-bats. Toss in 51 RBI and 12 stolen bases, and this former two-time A.L. All-Star will indeed by a welcome addition in 1987.
'It will be fun playing for a contender,' Ward says, 'and I'm confident I'll be able to contribute to the success of the Yankees this year.'"

-The New York Yankees Official 1987 Yearbook

"Signed by the Yankees as a free agent on December 24, Ward spent the previous three seasons with the Texas Rangers and was with the Minnesota Twins for three full seasons and parts of two others before that. With the Rangers in 1986 he batted a career high .316, seventh best among all American League players with 250 or more at-bats. He tied for second on the club in steals (12) and was sixth in RBIs (51) despite appearing in only 105 games.
Ward began the '86 season by hitting .310 (18-for-58) over his first 16 games through April 29, then batted just .203 (15-for-74) over his next 20 contests, bringing his average down to a season low .250 on May 24. He had a nine-game hitting streak, his longest of the season, from June 3-13, batting .368 (14-for-38) with nine RBIs in that span to raise his average from .263 to .284. Beginning on June 20, Gary batted .366 (63-for-172) in his final 49 games, including a .423 performance (41-for-97) in the first 27 games of that stretch. On August 7 at Baltimore he tied his career high with four hits (in five at-bats), including a two-run homer off Scott McGregor, and had a season high five RBIs (one shy of his single game career high), only the third time in his career he drove in five or more runs in a game.
Gary hit safely in 76 of the 103 games in which he batted officially. He had a four-hit game and nine three-hit games and had six straight hits in the games of June 21-22. Gary hit .357 (25-for-70) in July.
He notched the Rangers' second inside-the-park home run ever hit in Arlington Stadium on June 20 against Oakland. He stole home in the eight inning of the June 22 game against Chicago, the 14th steal of home in Ranger history.
Gary batted .315 (82-for-260) against right-handed pitching and and .317 (38-for-120) against left-handed pitching. In addition to his five-RBI game, he drove in four runs twice- April 22 at Toronto and June 22 against Oakland. He was successful in 12 of 20 stolen base attempts (60.0%); it was the second year in a row and third time in his career that he reached double figures in stolen bases. Gary played one game as a designated hitter, on June 11 at Minnesota, going 3-for-6.
He missed a total of 18 contests, including six games from June 24-29 and nine games from July 26-August 4, because of family emergencies that forced him to leave the team on four separate occasions. He was sidelined for the season on September 5 after undergoing surgery to remove a blockage from the area of his abdomen.
Ward spent eight seasons in the Twins' farm system. Named to the Southern League All-Star team at Orlando in 1975, he led Southern League outfielders in assists (16) in 1976 after having tied for the top spot in that category in the Midwest League in 1974 (18). He hit .263 with Toledo in 1979 and joined the Twins in September, where he hit .286 (4-for-14) in 10 games.
He also spent September of 1980 with the Twins and batted .463 (19-for-41) in 13 games after spending the bulk of that season in Toledo, where he hit .282. Gary hit for the cycle on September 18 at Milwaukee, the last major league rookie to accomplish that feat until Oddibe McDowell in 1985.
Gary was named AL Rookie of the Year by Baseball Digest in 1981 and was selected to their major league all-rookie team. He hit just .231 in the first half but .292 after the strike, and led the Twins with 42 runs scored.
He was selected as the Twins Player of the Year and as Most Improved Player in 1982, topping the club in games (152), at-bats (570), runs (85), hits (165), doubles (33), triples (7), homers (28) and stolen bases (13). Gary hit just .226 through June 16 before going on a .326 tear with 22 homers and 74 RBIs in his last 96 games. He was named AL Player of the Week twice, for the week of June 28-July 4 and for the week of September 6-12.
In 1983, his final season with the Twins, Gary led Minnesota in at-bats (623), hits (173) and RBIs (88) and was second in home runs (19) and doubles (34). He had three four-hit games. He topped major league outfielders with 24 assists, the most in the AL since Stan Spence had 25 for the 1944 Washington Senators. Gary appeared in the 1983 All-Star Game at Chicago's Comiskey Park and was 0-for-1 in a pinch hitting role.
He was acquired by Texas in December 1983 in exchange for pitchers John Butcher and Mike Smithson and catcher Sam Sorce (assigned from Burlington to Orlando). In his first season with Texas he led the team with seven triples, tying the club record, and 97 runs, the third highest total in Ranger history, and was tenth in the AL in both categories. He was second on the Rangers in homers (21) and walks (55).
Gary hit just .219 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in the first 93 games of '84 through July 23 before exploding with a .373 average (95-for-255), 13 home runs and 47 RBIs over the final 62 contests to finish at .284. He was American League Player of the Month in August with a .391 average, seven homers and 24 RBIs in 28 games, and was also selected as the league's Player of the Week for August 20-26 (.480, 3 HR, 13 RBI). Gary had the fourth highest average in the American League after the All-Star Break (.343).
In 1985 he led Rangers' qualifiers with a .287 batting average, the third best mark of his career and the 21st highest figure in the AL in '85, and also led the Rangers in at-bats (593), runs (77), hits (170), triples (7) and stolen bases (26). He set a career high in steals while finishing 13th in the AL, and was tied for 11th in triples while matching the Texas team record for the second straight year. After hitting just .225 in his first 38 games, Gary batted .308 over his final 116 contests. He led Texas with 51 multiple-hit games and hit safely in 106 of his 154 games.
Gary was selected as AL Player of the Week for May 20-26 when he hit .444 (12-for-27) with two homers and eight RBIs in seven games. He hit his second career grand slam off Boston's Bruce Hurst on May 23 in Texas, the only Ranger slam in '85, and had four RBIs in a game twice. He tied the club record with three doubles on June 15 against Minnesota and matched another club record with three stolen bases on June 29 at Oakland; he was also successful on four of five steal attempts of third base. Gary was selected to play in his second All-Star Game- he lined out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning at the Metrodome in Minnesota in a game won by the National League 6-1.
Gary pitched and played shortstop at Compton High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1972. He was signed by Twins scout Jesse Flores Jr. after being bypassed in the June 1972 free agent draft."

-1987 New York Yankees Information Guide