Oakland Athletics minor league manager Webster Garrison battling COVID-19

According to reports, Oakland Athletics minor league manager Webster Garrison is battling COVID-19, and is currently on a ventilator.

Webster Garrison has been a baseball lifer, a former second round draft pick in the 1993 MLB Draft who spent 16 years as a player in the minor leagues, seven of those in the Oakland Athletics organization. Following his playing career, he has served as a minor league coach and manager, helping mold the next generation of A’s players.

Now, Garrison is in the fight of his life. According to reports, he is battling the coronavirus and is currently on a ventilator in a Louisiana hospital.

Despite his 16 years as a professional, Garrison only got one brief cup of coffee at the major league level. He appeared in five games for the A’s in 1996, managing just one walk in ten plate appearances. However, he was a solid minor league player, with a lifetime .268/.343/.377 batting line, hitting 315 doubles and 101 homers while stealing 208 bases.

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After his playing days, Garrison has split his time as a hitting coach and manager. He has primarily been the hitting coach of the AA Midland Rockhouds, serving four different stints in that capacity. He was also the hitting coach of the Nashville Sounds in 2015.

More recently, he has served as a manager, spending the 2019 season guiding the Stockton Ports to a 60-78 record in the California League in his second stint leading the team. Garrison has a total of 12 seasons as a minor league manager, with a combined 718-723 record in those stops.

Garrison has been one of the more respected coaches in the game, a mentor for the younger players and a great ambassador for the A’s organization. He has been known for his kind and friendly disposition, a fan friendly coach who has been instrumental in molding the current wave of young prospects. The A’s success at the major league level offensively can, in part, be traced back to his teachings.

Now, Webster Garrison is in a battle for his life. Hopefully, the longtime Oakland Athletics minor league coach and manager will pull through.