Ron "Gardy" Gardenhire was drafted in the 6th round of the 1979 amateur draft by the New York Mets.  He played shortstop for the organization from 1981-1985.  Following the 1986 season, he was traded to the Twins, where he played as high as Triple A prior to retiring as a player and moving to a coaching role.  He coached at various levels of the Twins minor league system.  In 1991 he joined Tom Kelly's Major League staff as the third base coach for the 1991 World Series Champion Twins.  Following TK's retirement following the 2021 season, Gardy was named as the new manager for the Twins.  In 2010, he was named the American League Manager of the Year, and was runner-up for that award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009. He finished 3rd in the balloting for AL Manager of the Year in 2002.  On April 5, 2014, he earned his 1000th career win as a Major League Manager with a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.  With that win, he become only the 60th manager in MLB history to top 1,000 wins, and is one of only ten managers to reach that mark while coaching the same team.  In 2017, Ron was named the manager of the Detroit Tigers where he led the club for two seasons.  On September 19, 2020, he announced his retirement from baseball.  In 2022, he was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame.