{{short description|American baseball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography| | name = Webster Garrison | image = 1988 Jennings Southern League All-Stars - Webster Garrison (cropped).jpg | caption = Garrison with the Knoxville Blue Jays in 1988 | position = Infielder | bats = Right | throws = Right | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|8|24}} | birth_place = Marrero, Louisiana, U.S. | team = |debutleague = MLB | debutdate = August 2 | debutyear = 1996 | debutteam = Oakland Athletics |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=August 7 |finalyear=1996 |finalteam=Oakland Athletics |statleague = MLB | stat1label = Batting average | stat1value = .000 | stat2label = Home runs | stat2value = 0 | stat3label = Runs batted in | stat3value = 0 | teams = *Oakland Athletics ({{mlby|1996}}) }} '''Webster "Webby" Leotis Garrison''' (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional baseball infielder and coach and manager in the Oakland Athletics farm system. He played in five games for the Athletics in 1996 and worked as a coach or manager from 1999 to 2020.
==Playing career== Born in Marrero, Louisiana, Garrison attended John Ehret High School in Marrero. The Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the second round of the 1983 MLB draft.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Webster Garrison - MLB, Minor League Baseball Statistics |url=https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/11768/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=The Baseball Cube}}</ref> He planned to attend the University of New Orleans but signed with the Blue Jays after the team increased its signing bonus offer. He reached Triple-A in 1989 but suffered several leg injuries in 1990, limiting him to 37 games.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-08-30 |title=Webster Garrison Interview, Part 1, Every Day |url=https://www.greatest21days.com/2012/08/webster-garrison-interview-part-1-every.html |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Greatest 21 Days}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Webster Garrison Minor Leagues Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=garris001web |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Baseball Reference}}</ref> He joined the Oakland Athletics minor league system the following year, then the Colorado Rockies system in 1994.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2012-08-31 |title=Webster Garrison Interview, Part 2, Never Quit |url=https://www.greatest21days.com/2012/08/webster-garrison-interview-part-2-never.html |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=Greatest 21 Days}}</ref> In 1995, Garrison was a replacement player with the Rockies in spring training during the ongoing strike. He played in the first game at Coors Field, hitting a two-run double in an exhibition game.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1995-04-01 |title=Take me out to the ballgame |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel-take-me-out-to-the-ba/183342749/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |work=The Daily Sentinel |pages=2B |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="Etkin">{{Cite news |last=Etkin |first=Jack |date=1995-04-10 |title=What happens when big leaguers, replacements cross paths? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/358651016/?match=1&clipping_id=171955009 |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=Waterloo Courier |page=B3 |agency=Scripps Howard News Service}}</ref>
Garrison returned to the A's system in 1996. He played in the majors in five games in August that year. In 10 plate appearances, he had no hits and one walk.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Chron">{{cite news |last=Slusser |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Slusser |date=March 28, 2020 |title=A's minor-league coach Garrison battling coronavirus, on ventilator |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/A-s-minor-league-coach-Webster-Garrison-15164117.php |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> He continued to play in the minors through 1998. He started his coaching career in 1999, also playing in 43 Double-A games.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
==Coaching career== Garrison began his coaching career in 1999 with the Athletics' Double-A Midland RockHounds. During the 1999 season in Midland, Garrison served as a player-coach, playing in 43 games while acting as the hitting coach for the team. From 2011 to 2013, he managed the Stockton Ports.<ref name=Chron/> He was named "Banner Island Ballpark All-Time Manager" in 2015.<ref name="Banner" /> In 2015, he managed the Nashville Sounds<ref name="Banner">{{cite web |date=February 24, 2015 |title=Catching up with Banner Island Ballpark's All-Time Manager, Webster Garrison |url=https://theportspost.mlblogs.com/catching-up-with-banner-island-ballparks-all-time-manager-webster-garrison-cdb1aa7830ab |access-date=April 18, 2020 |publisher=Major League Baseball}}</ref> and in 2016 and 2017, the Arizona League Athletics, before being promoted to manager of the Class A Beloit Snappers for 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last=Locked |first=Melissa |url=http://oaklandclubhouse.com/changes-abound-oakland-athletics-2018-milb-coaching-staffs/ |title=Changes abound for Oakland Athletics 2018 MiLB coaching staffs |website=Oakland Clubhouse |date=December 5, 2017 |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619151951/http://oaklandclubhouse.com/changes-abound-oakland-athletics-2018-milb-coaching-staffs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2019, he returned to managing the Ports. In 2020, he was named the manager of the Arizona League Athletics in his 22nd year with the organization, but the minor league season was cancelled and he was hospitalized for much of the year.<ref>{{cite news |last=McCauley |first=Janie |date=April 16, 2020 |title=A's minor league manager off ventilator in coronavirus fight |url=https://apnews.com/2e5a7177be62319f78eb7454461b7e63 |access-date=April 18, 2020 |publisher=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name=Chron/>
== Personal life == Garrison married in July 2020. He was hospitalized with symptoms from COVID-19 in March 2020 and was married in a New Orleans, Louisiana hospital.<ref name="Chron" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Slusser |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Slusser |date=September 4, 2020 |title=Coronavirus nearly took A’s coach’s life, but it couldn’t stop the wedding |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/Coronavirus-nearly-took-A-s-coach-s-life-but-15544499.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906213801/https://www.sfchronicle.com/athletics/article/Coronavirus-nearly-took-A-s-coach-s-life-but-15544499.php |archive-date=2020-09-06 |work=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 31, 2020 |title=Statement on former Ports manager Webster Garrison |url=https://www.milb.com/press-release/statement-on-former-ports-manager-webster-garrison |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=MiLB.com |language=en}}</ref> His stepson, John Emery Jr., has played football for the LSU Tigers and UTSA Roadrunners.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arena |first=Ryan |date=2021-01-22 |title=Former pro battling back after 7-month hospital stay |url=https://www.heraldguide.com/news/former-pro-battling-back-after-7-month-hospital-stay/ |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=St. Charles Herald Guide |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=John Emery Jr. - 2025 UTSA Football Roster |url=https://goutsa.com/sports/football/roster/player/john-emery-jr |access-date=2025-10-20 |website=UTSA Athletics}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=g/garriwe01|brm=garris001web}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Webster}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:African-American baseball managers Category:African-American baseball players Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada Category:Baseball players from Louisiana Category:Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Category:Dunedin Blue Jays players Category:Edmonton Trappers players Category:Florence Blue Jays players Category:Huntsville Stars players Category:Kinston Blue Jays players Category:Knoxville Blue Jays players Category:Midland RockHounds players Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:Sportspeople from Marrero, Louisiana Category:Syracuse Chiefs players Category:Tacoma Tigers players 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