{{short description|American baseball player (born 1963)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Gary Eave | position = Pitcher | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|7|22}} | birth_place = Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. | bats = Right | throws = Right |debutleague = MLB | debutdate = April 12 | debutyear = 1988 | debutteam = Atlanta Braves |finalleague = MLB | finaldate = May 15 | finalyear = 1990 | finalteam = Seattle Mariners |statleague = MLB | stat1label = Win–loss record | stat1value = 2–3 | stat2label = Earned run average | stat2value = 3.56 | stat3label = Strikeouts | stat3value = 25 | teams = *Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}}) *Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|1990}}) }}
'''Gary Louis Eave''' (born July 22, 1963) is an American former professional pitcher for the Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1988}}–{{mlby|1989}}) and Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|1990}}). He later pitched in the Mexican League in {{Baseball year|1992}} and {{Baseball year|1993}} and the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 1993.
==Amateur career== Eave played two years of Division I NCAA baseball for the Grambling State Tigers where he had an 18–6 win–loss record. He gave up no home runs and struck out 157 batters in his {{Fraction|172|2|3}} innings with the Tigers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Gary Eave |url=https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/11033/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=The Baseball Cube}}</ref>
==Professional career== ===Atlanta Braves=== The Atlanta Braves drafted Eave in the 12th round of the 1985 MLB draft.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1985 Baseball Draft |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/draft/baseball-draft.php?yr=1985 |access-date=2018-03-26 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref> He then joined the Gulf Coast Braves, where he played 3 games before being moved up to the Sumter Braves, a Single-A team in 1986. In 1988, Eave played his first MLB season with the Braves. His first game was against the Houston Astros, who had Nolan Ryan on the mound. Eave pitched the final two innings of this game, an 8–3 loss. Eave pitched 5 innings in 5 games in his first MLB season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gary Eave 1988 Pitching Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=eavega01&t=p&year=1988 |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> In 1989, Eave started three games for Atlanta, going 2–0 with a 1.31 ERA.<ref name=":0" />
===Seattle Mariners=== Atlanta traded Eave and infielder Ken Pennington to the Seattle Mariners on January 24, 1990 for Jim Presley.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 24, 1990 |title=Mariners trade Presley to Braves for infielder, pitcher |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/01/24/Mariners-trade-Presley-to-Braves-for-infielder-pitcher/5485633157200/ |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=UPI |language=}}</ref> After being traded to the Mariners, Eave spent some time playing for the Triple-A Calgary Cannons, with a 3–3 record and a 7.82 earned run average (ERA). With the Mariners, he had a 0–3 record and 4.20.<ref name=":0" />
===Later career=== The Mariners traded Eave to the San Francisco Giants for Russ Swan on May 24, 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 24, 1990 |title=Mariners Deal Eave To Giants |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19900524/1073492/mariners-deal-eave-to-giants |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=The Seattle Times}}</ref> Eave finished the season with the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds. He then returned to the Mariners organization, splitting the 1991 season between bounced around between Double-A and Triple-A.<ref name=":1" />
Eave played in the Mexican League in 1992 and 1993, playing for Leones de Yucatán in 1992 and Acereros de Monclova in 1992 and 1993. He also pitched for the China Times Eagles in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Pingtun, Taiwan in 1993, going 5–2 with a 5.02 ERA in 16 games.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Gary Eave Minor, Mexican, CPBL & Independent Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=eave--001gar |access-date=2026-03-18 |website=Baseball Reference}}</ref>
In 1995, Eave was a replacement player with the Kansas City Royals in spring training during the ongoing players' strike.<ref name="Eave-AP">{{Cite news |last=Horst |first=Craig |date=February 26, 1995 |title=KC replacement liking special treatment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/199766/?match=1&clipping_id=172416328 |work=The Salina Journal |pages=39 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="Royals-replacements">{{Cite web |last=Rieper |first=Max |date=2015-02-26 |title=The Royals replacement players of 1995 |url=https://www.royalsreview.com/royals-history-trivia/2015/2/26/5258086/the-royals-replacement-players |website=Royals Review |publisher=SB Nation}}</ref> After the strike ended, he pitched for the independent Corpus Christi Barracudas in the Texas-Louisiana League that year. In 1998, he returned to that league, pitching for the Bayou Bullfrogs.<ref name=":1" />
==Personal life== Eave met his wife, Kathy Grimm, in a class at Grambling in 1982. Together, they had three children. Shortly after his wife's death in 2024, Eave re-enrolled at Grambling. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in general studies in December 2025.<ref name="Dorsica">{{cite news |last1=Dorsica |first1=Samantha |title=Former MLB Player Gary Eave ‘Finishes Strong,’ Earning A Bachelor’s Degree From Grambling State University At 62 Years Old |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-mlb-player-gary-eave-220406840.html |access-date=12 January 2026 |work=Yahoo News |date=30 December 2025}}</ref><ref name="Martin">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=De’Vante |title=Bastrop native and Grambling baseball legend earns college degree after nearly five decades |url=https://www.knoe.com/2025/12/26/bastrop-native-grambling-baseball-legend-earns-college-degree-after-nearly-five-decades/ |access-date=12 January 2026 |publisher=KNOE-TV |date=26 December 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=e/eavega01|brm=eave--001gar|retro=E/Peaveg001}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eave, Gary}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Acereros de Monclova players Category:African-American baseball players Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Category:American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Category:Atlanta Braves players Category:Baseball players from Monroe, Louisiana Category:Bayou Bullfrogs players Category:Calgary Cannons players Category:China Times Eagles players Category:Corpus Christi Barracudas players Category:Durham Bulls players Category:Grambling State Tigers baseball players Category:Greenville Braves players Category:Gulf Coast Braves players Category:Jacksonville Suns players Category:Leones de Yucatán players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Mexican Baseball League pitchers Category:Phoenix Firebirds players Category:Richmond Braves players Category:Seattle Mariners players Category:Sumter Braves players Category:Tiburones de La Guaira players Category:American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Major League Baseball replacement players