Gardner was born in Enosburg, Vermont, and attended Enosburg High School. He began playing baseball in the Franklin County League and attended the University of Vermont where he played baseball for three years.[1] He was the first player out of the University of Vermont to play in the American League. Gardner was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1908, and played his first professional game on June 25, 1908.[2]
He played most of his prime in the dead-ball era, as the third baseman on several successful Red Sox teams. He helped the Red Sox to victories in the 1912, 1915, and 1916 World Series. He led Boston with 5 RBIs in the 1912 Series and hit his team's only home run. In the 10th inning of the final game, the same inning that included Fred Snodgrass and Chief Meyers making critical fielding mistakes and giving the Red Sox two extra outs to work with, Gardner drove in Steve Yerkes with the series-winning sacrifice fly. He is the only batter to end a World Series with a sacrifice fly.[3] Gardner homered in consecutive games of the 1916 Series, including a three-run inside-the-park homer in Game 4. The two home runs matched his regular season total.
Gardner played a key role on the pennant-winning 1920 Indians, leading the team in RBIs (118) as well as games played (154) and at-bats (597). However, he also was a dismal 3-for-23 in stolen base attempts. He went 5-for-24 in the 1920 World Series, which Cleveland won, 5 games to 2. Gardner was on the winning side in all four of his World Series appearances. Gardner batted only .198 (17-for-86) in 25 World Series games but did score 9 runs, with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 13 RBI and 4 walks.
His best season was 1921, when he achieved career-highs in batting average (.319), RBIs (120), runs scored (101), and hits (187).
Gardner batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In his 17-season career, Larry Gardner posted a .289 batting average with 27 home runs and 934 RBI in 1923 games.
Gardner was inducted into Vermont's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969.[4] After his retirement, he returned to the University of Vermont as a baseball coach and athletic director from 1929 to 1951.[5]
