# Bob Gebhard

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American baseball player (born 1943)

Baseball player

Bob Gebhard Pitcher Born: (1943-01-03) January 3, 1943 (age 83) Lamberton, Minnesota, U.S. Batted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut August 2, 1971, for the Minnesota Twins Last MLB appearance September 3, 1974, for the Montreal Expos MLB statistics Win–loss record 1–3 Earned run average 5.93 Strikeouts 26 Stats at Baseball Reference Teams Minnesota Twins (1971–1972) Montreal Expos (1974)

**Robert Henry Gebhard** (born January 3, 1943) is an American retired front-office executive in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) and a former right-handed [pitcher](/source/Pitcher) for the [Minnesota Twins](/source/Minnesota_Twins) and [Montreal Expos](/source/Montreal_Expos). He was the first [general manager](/source/General_manager_(baseball)) in the history of the [Colorado Rockies](/source/Colorado_Rockies) of the [National League](/source/National_League_(baseball)), serving from [1992](/source/1992_in_baseball), the year before the Rockies made their MLB debut, until his resignation near the end of the [1999](/source/1999_in_baseball) season.[1][2]

## Career

### As a player

Born in [Lamberton, Minnesota](/source/Lamberton%2C_Minnesota), Gebhard attended the [University of Iowa](/source/University_of_Iowa). During his playing career, he stood 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall, weighed 210 pounds (95 kg), and batted right-handed. Gebhard was selected by the Twins in the 44th round of the first-ever baseball [amateur draft](/source/Major_League_Baseball_Draft) in 1965, but he didn't reach the Twins until the age of 28, on August 2, [1971](/source/1971_in_baseball), when he hurled two scoreless innings against the [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox). He appeared in 30 games over the 1971 and [1972](/source/1972_in_baseball) seasons with Minnesota, then was signed as a free agent by the Expos in January 1974. He appeared in one game for Montreal on September 3, [1974](/source/1974_in_baseball), giving up one [earned run](/source/Earned_run) and five [hits](/source/Hit_(baseball)) in two [innings pitched](/source/Inning_(baseball)). All told, Gebhard compiled a record of one win, three defeats and an [earned run average](/source/Earned_run_average) of 5.93 over 31 games and 41 innings of Major League play.

### In the front office

Gebhard's front office career began with the Expos in [1976](/source/1976_in_baseball) as field director of [minor league](/source/Minor_League_Baseball) operations. He was a [coach](/source/Coach_(baseball)) on the Expos' Major League staff in [1982](/source/1982_Montreal_Expos_season), and then served as the club's [farm system](/source/Farm_system) director from 1983 to 1986. He then returned to the Twins to become assistant general manager under [Andy MacPhail](/source/Andy_MacPhail), working with Minnesota during its [1987](/source/1987_in_baseball) and [1991](/source/1991_in_baseball) world championship seasons, before becoming the first GM in Rockies' history during the 1991–92 offseason.

He supervised the building of the Rockies' farm system during [1992](/source/1992_in_baseball), ran the [expansion draft](/source/1993_Major_League_Baseball_expansion) for them, and hired [Don Baylor](/source/Don_Baylor) as the club's first [manager](/source/Manager_(baseball)). The early years of the Rockies were successful at the gate and on the field. In [1993](/source/1993_in_baseball), they set a Major League attendance record of 4.483 million fans in their maiden season at [Mile High Stadium](/source/Mile_High_Stadium), led both leagues in attendance four times, and drew over 3.2 million fans every year during Gebhard's tenure. They also enjoyed three consecutive winning seasons from 1995 to 1997, and a National League [wild card](/source/Wild_card_(sports)) playoff appearance in [1995](/source/1995_in_baseball). However, successive losing campaigns in 1998–99, amplified by the Rockies' pitching staff's struggles at [Coors Field](/source/Coors_Field), resulted in rampant speculation in late 1999 that Gebhard would be replaced as general manager. In response, he turned in his resignation on August 20.[3]

Gebhard then moved to the [St. Louis Cardinals](/source/St._Louis_Cardinals) as vice president and top assistant to general manager [Walt Jocketty](/source/Walt_Jocketty) from 2000 to 2004, then joined the [Arizona Diamondbacks](/source/Arizona_Diamondbacks) as interim general manager between [Joe Garagiola Jr.](/source/Joe_Garagiola_Jr.) and [Josh Byrnes](/source/Josh_Byrnes) from August to October [2005](/source/2005_in_baseball). He then was the D-Backs' vice president and assistant to the general manager for several years before returning to the Cardinals as special assistant to GM [John Mozeliak](/source/John_Mozeliak) in 2016.[1] Gebhard retired in [2020](/source/2020_in_baseball) after a 55-year career in professional baseball.[4]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) ["Coaching And Front Office Notes: Rockies, Rangers, Cardinals"](https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/coaching-and-front-office-notes-rockies-rangers-cardinals.html). *MLB Trade Rumors*. Retrieved December 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Baseball America"](http://www.baseballamerica.com).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** The New York Times, August 22, 1999

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Wolter, Doug (August 10, 2021). ["Major Leaguer Bob Gebhard Returns to His Lamberton Roots"](https://www.dglobe.com/sports/scott-mansch-major-leaguer-bob-gebhard-returns-to-his-lamberton-roots). *dglobe.com*. [The Worthington Daily Globe](/source/The_Globe_(Minnesota_Newspaper)). Retrieved June 26, 2023.

## External links

- Career statistics from [Baseball Reference](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gebhabo01.shtml) · [Baseball Reference (Minors)](https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gebhar001rob) · [Retrosheet](https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/Pgebhb101.htm) · [Baseball Almanac](https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=gebhabo01)

Sporting positions Preceded by Franchise established Colorado Rockies General Manager 1992–1999 Succeeded by Dan O'Dowd Preceded by Joe Garagiola Jr. Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager August 7, 2005 – October 28, 2005 Succeeded by Josh Byrnes

v t e Colorado Rockies general managers Bob Gebhard Dan O'Dowd Jeff Bridich Bill Schmidt Josh Byrnes

v t e Arizona Diamondbacks general managers Joe Garagiola Jr. (1997–2005) Bob Gebhard (2005) Josh Byrnes (2005–2010) Jerry Dipoto (2010) Kevin Towers (2010–2014) Dave Stewart (2014–2016) Mike Hazen (2017–present)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bob Gebhard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gebhard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gebhard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.