In our 17th installment of our Legends Series we sit down with Ty Gainey, whose debut with the Astros in 1985 was brief and memorable.
Q: What do you remember about being called up in April of 1985 ?
A: It was shocking because one day I’m down in the minors and then next thing I know, Yogi comes over and tells me that I better get loose around the 6th or 7th inning because I might be used as a pinch runner or possibly even pinch hit that night. That really stuck with me because he took the time to come tell me that.
Yogi was a funny guy. My first day at the dome he told me that they put the grass down before they put the top on. I just looked at him. He was funny.
Q: When I say Houston Astrodome, what comes to mind?
A: You know, I actually tripped in center field and fell. I had toe turf or something (laughs). The turf got me, crept up on me.
Q: You only appeared in 13 games. When you look back on it, do you feel they rushed you out too quickly?
A: They changed course and decided to go with the older players before the younger ones, so I just had a courtesy glance. Keep in mind, Terry Puhl, Jose Cruz, and a lot of talented guys were there, but what really happened was Kevin Bass came along, and Hal Lanier became manager and that was the end for me.
Q: And yet your one career home run, you hit off one of the very best in Orel Hershiser. What do you remember about that?
A: I was a little nervous the first pitch he threw me but then I felt okay. I started fouling balls off. I had studied Orel from the bench, so I knew what his pitches were and what he liked to go with. I knew he was going to throw me a fastball and when he did, I drove it to left field.
Q: What was it like playing all of those years in Asia after your stint in the majors?
A: It was fun. I played with Ichiro. He was a rookie when I got there and had a 30-game hitting streak even in spring training that year. Believe it or not, some of the coaches didn’t think he was ready (laughs). He stayed there longer than he should’ve and even with that, (when he joined the Mariners) he still easily got over 200 hits that rookie season with Seattle.
