Wes Gardner, who graduated from Benton High School in 1979, and went onto play for four Major League Baseball teams throughout out an eight-year career, died on Wednesday. He was 65 years old. Gardner was inducted into the Benton Athletic Memorial Museum in 2002.
Wes was born in Benton, Arkansas. He attended Westside Junior High School where he played on the Bulldog Football Team for Coach John Zackery and in high school he played for the Panthers under Coach Max Graham. He graduated from Benton High School in 1979.
In 1978 and 1979 he played Benton American Legion Ball and was an All-Star both years. After graduation from high school he attended the University of Central Arkansas for three years and made all AIC all three years. He pitched the UCA Bears to two conference championships and a second-place finish. Wes won 20 and lost 5 at UCA.
In 1982 he was drafted by the New York Mets. He played “A” ball until 1983 and then moved up to AAA in the New York Mets organization. In 1984 he was voted the Most Valuable AAA Player. He also received the “Fireman of the Year Award” in the International League where Wes had twenty saves.
In the same year he was called up to play for the New York Mets team. The Mets later traded Wes to the Boston Red Sox. Wes was required to have arm surgery before he could return to the Boston Red Sox and in 1987 he came back with a vengeance.
In a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers, Wes shut out seven of nine Rangers on one outing. In another game he gave up only one run in an 8 1/3-inning relief job against the California Angels. He finished the year 3-6 with 10 saves.
His best year was in 1988 when he started 18 games on a Roger Clemens-led pitching staff that helped the Boston Red Sox win the American League East. That year Wes had 106 strikeouts in 149 innings with a 3.50 earned run average.
Gardner had a career ERA of 4.9, 14 saves, 44 starts, and 76 games finished. His career MLB record was 18-30.
All in all Wes played eight years in the Majors.