Garland, longtime scout for two big-league teams, dies

12/11/2002 JOURNALNOW.COM

JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

Jim Garland, a baseball scout for two major-league teams for 28 years, died Sunday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He was 86.

Garland was signed as a scout by the Kansas City Royals in 1970 after retiring from the U.S. Naval Department's research-and-development program. He scouted for the Royals until 1973 when they began to use a central scouting system.

He wasn't out of the business long, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, and he stayed with them until 1998. His region was North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, and he had moved to Winston-Salem in 1972 as a central location.

Garland's signees included Sid Bream, Franklin Stubbs, Tracy Woodson, Brian Holton, Wayne Kirby and Darren Holland, now with the Atlanta Braves.

His signees helped produce four World Series champions, and he had four World Series rings. According to his son, Jim Jr., three of his signees were on the field at one time during the 1988 World Series between the Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics.

Garland was inducted into the Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame in 1999.

According to Garland's son, the major-league teams were attracted to his father because of his success coaching junior baseball in northern Virginia.

"Nobody could beat him," said the younger Garland, who played in the Royals' minor-league system. "Little League, Babe Ruth, American Legion ... he always won."