Around the Curve | Gary Green’s Experience Drives Altoona’s Success in the Field
Through a lifetime in the game, Curve Bench Coach Gary Green has become one of the most valuable instructors in the Pirates minor league system. Born in Pittsburgh, while his father, Fred, pitched for the Pirates and won a World Series in 1960, Gary was born into the game and
Through a lifetime in the game, Curve Bench Coach Gary Green has become one of the most valuable instructors in the Pirates minor league system. Born in Pittsburgh, while his father, Fred, pitched for the Pirates and won a World Series in 1960, Gary was born into the game and became a top-end defensive shortstop as an amateur.
Drafted in 27th overall in 1984 by the San Diego Padres, Green gained notoriety as the starting shortstop for Team USA in the 1984 Summer Olympics. He made his major league debut in September of 1986 with the Padres and played 106 major league with the Padres, Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.
After his playing career wrapped up, Green began working in player development and coaching, joining the Tigers first as a Manager in the Gulf Coast League in 1999. Green managed five seasons with the Tigers, spending summers on the buses back and forth from Oneonta, New York in the New York-Penn League and eventually in the sweltering summer sun in Lakeland from 2002-2004. In 2006, Green joined his hometown club, the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 2006 and managed their Carolina League and South Atlantic League affiliates five seasons. In 2011, he was appointed to the role of Minor League Infield Coordinator where he roved from minor league affiliate to affiliate during the season, working with the top infield prospects in the Pirates organization.
“Gary Green’s lifetime in the game has made him an invaluable member of the organization,” said Pirates Director of Coaching and Player Development Michael Chernow. “He is an incredible teacher and mentor. The future of the Pittsburgh Pirates is made better by his presence on the field every day in Altoona.”
The 2026 season is Green’s fifth season with the Curve working as the Bench Coach where he has taken on a significant role in setting the team’s infield defense and working with the organization’s top infield prospects. In 2021, he spent the season working with top prospects Oneil Cruz, Rodolfo Casto and Ji-Hwan Bae and followed that group to the Triple-A staff in 2022. Green returned to Altoona in 2023 to work with Liover Peguero and aided his defensive development to help him reach the Pirates in 2023 for 59 games as the team’s starting second baseman.
After aiding the development of Konnor Griffin, alongside Manager Andy Fox last season, The Curve have seen their infield defense improve as the season goes on during each season that Green has been on staff, in part, due to the daily routines of infield defense that the two work each day.