Player Profile #2 : Sean Gardner
31-year-old pitcher Sean Gardner and I have crossed paths previously when I was GM of Louisville in the late ‘30’s and I traded for him to add to the Sluggers farm system. Sean started his pro career in 2032 when he was a second round draft pick of the Havana Sugar Kings (now San Fernando), he lasted just a year there before they shipped him on to Brooklyn. He’d been there two years when in 2035 I traded for him and a couple of other players, sending the Sluggers’ first baseman Fernando Cruz to the Robins in exchange. He made his BBA debut in 2038 with five starts, posting a 1-4 record with a 5.63 ERA. He did though pitch his first BBA complete game (he eventually ended up with eight over his career). When I moved on to Cairo one of the first things the new GM did was send him off to Calgary in a five-player trade. In Calgary he spent most of 2039 in Triple-A before adding another seven BBA starts to his tally where his ERA had climbed to 6.83 although his record was 1-3. At the end of 2039 he was on his way to his fifth BBA franchise in seven years as he was drafted in the tenth round of the Expansion Draft by the Charlotte Cougars. In Charlotte he finally became a full-time BBA starter, over the next three years he started 82 games, posting a 21-39 record, including a career high 13 wins in 2041. He got just one start in Charlotte in 2043 before Las Vegas claimed him off waivers from the Cougars. The Hustlers gave him 21 BBA appearances including 11 starts and he through his only two career shutouts, against Mexico City and of course my Wichita Aviators. He had 31 outings, 21 starts in 2044 before Las Vegas released him hallway through 2045 Spring Training. His final BBA tally with six different franchises was 167 games (127 starts) and a 34-62 record with two saves. His career ERA was 5.84 and in 803 innings pitched he struckout 453 batters.
Wasting no time, he signed on with Beirut of the UMEBA, but made just six starts for them going 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA. That wasn’t enough for the Cedars to offer him arbitration and once more he was a free agent. For the second time in his varied career he ended up with an expansion team as the Riyadh Red Crescents handed him the biggest contract of his pro career, a three-year deal worth $2.9 million. He started the year in the bullpen where in 11 appearances he pitched 16 innings, allowed 16 hits and nine runs. He also had a 14/3 K/BB ration and a 2-1 record; the loss he was tagged with was the Red Crescents first ever game against Manama who won 102 games in 2045. Rich Young then moved him into the rotation, he took the win over his former club Beirut in his first start and has since added a no-decision pitching into the seventh against Jerusalem. His Riyadh record now stands at 3-1 with an ERA of 2.22, a 19/8 K/BB and a 1.16 WHIP.