This year, Rafters Opening Day at Historic Witter Field will provide baseball fans the chance to welcome back one of the great players to ever don a Wisconsin Rapids Twins uniform. After 20 Big League seasons, two All-Star selections, and four Gold Glove Awards, Gary Gaetti is set to make a return to where it all started.
Gaetti will make an appearance at the Rafters Home Opener on June 1st against the Madison Mallards. Gates to the contest will open at 6:05 p.m., with the first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. Gaetti will be available for autographs at the game and will also throw out the Ceremonial first pitch that night as well.
Gaetti was drafted twice by Major League Teams (St. Louis Cardinals 4th Round 1978 January Draft; Chicago White Sox 3rd Round 1978 June Draft) before accepting an offer from the Minnesota Twins after being selected in the 1st Round (11th overall) of the 1979 June MLB Draft. He played in 66 games that summer in the rookie league for the Elizabethton Twins of the Appalachian League where he batted .257 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI. The following summer he moved even further onto the Twins radar after his performance during the 1980 season in Wisconsin Rapids.
The 1980 Wisconsin Rapids Twins finished 2nd in the Midwest League and featured three future Major Leaguers with the likes of Gaetti, Kent Hrbek, and Jim Eisenreich. Gaetti played 138 games at third base that season while posting some impressive statistics. He finished the 1980 season with a .266 (134-for-503) batting average, 22 home runs, 82 RBI, and 77 runs scored, while also stealing 34 bases. He also smacked 27 doubles and carried a .358 on-base percentage that season.
Following his tenure in Wisconsin Rapids, Gaetti played the following season with AA Orlando before making the leap directly to the Major Leagues with the Minnesota Twins as a 22 year old in 1981. He went on to play 20 seasons in the Major League with the Twins, California Angels, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox. Gaetti won a World Series championship with Minnesota in 1987 and was the MVP of that year’s America League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. That year, he became the first player ever to hit home runs in his first two postseason plate appearances.
In his 20 Major League seasons, Gaetti played in 2,507 games and amassed 2,280 hits, 360 home runs, 1,341 RBI while posting a lifetime .255 batting average. He was honored for his defensive prowess by being awarded four consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1986 through 1989 and was a two-time All-Star selection during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Gaetti retired from Major League Baseball as an active player during the 2000 season.
Following his playing career, Gaetti was inducted into the North West Missouri State University athletic hall of fame, his alma mater, in October 2003. He coached in the Houston Astros minor league system as a hitting coach with the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs from 2002 to 2004 and was promoted to hitting coach for the Houston Astros on July 14, 2004 when the team dismissed manager Jimy Williams, hitting coach Harry Spilman, and pitching coach Burt Hooton. Gaetti remained in that position until July 12, 2006, when he was relieved of his duties. Following the 2006 season, he was hired as the hitting coach for Tampa Bay’s AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls. Gaetti is currently working at Baseball USA in Houston, Texas. On August 19, 2007, the Minnesota Twins inducted him into the team’s Hall of Fame.
