Jarrett Gardner was on an 11-hour bus ride to Traverse City, Mich., when he learned an F5 tornado was approaching his hometown of Moore, Okla.
“We were somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Indiana when my wife began texting me,” said Gardner, a pitching coach for the Evansville (Ind). Otters. “When she texted Eastern and 12th Street I thought ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s right where we live. I cross those streets every day to go to work or to buy groceries when I am home.’”
Gardner is a former pitcher who played for the Arkansas baseball team in 2002 and 2003. He is unique in that he played on Norm DeBriyn’s final team at Arkansas and Dave Van Horn’s first team as head coach of the Razorbacks. Gardner also played seven years in the minor leagues and threw a no-hitter for the Lincoln (Neb.) Salt Dogs in 2009.
But none of that matters as Gardner anxiously awaited news about the horrible event last week in Moore, where 24 people were killed and as many as 13,000 homes destroyed. Fortunately for Gardner, both his wife and two kids escaped injury and his home and business were left intact with only a small amount of wind damage.
“My wife was texting me from the basement at the FedEx building where both my parents work,” Gardner said. “My stomach sank and it was a hopeless feeling knowing I couldn’t be there for them.”
Gardner was on the road with the Razorbacks at Tennessee when an F3 tornado hit Moore in 2003. That twister injured 145 and caused plenty of property damage, but no one was killed. He was in his hometown and a senior in high school on May 3, 1999, when another F5 tornado killed 41 and caused more than $1 billion in property damage.
“All three of those tornadoes struck within two miles of each other,” said Gardner, who owns a baseball training facility in Moore. “My business was in the path of this last one, but it veered off and didn’t do any real damage. We got lucky.”
With this latest scare behind him, Gardner can now focus on helping develop the pitching talent for the Evansville Otters, an independent league team.
“We joke about moving, but where do you go?” Gardner said. “All of Oklahoma is in Tornado Alley, but it’s my home state and it’s where my family and friends live. Tornado season is just something you learn to deal with.”
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RICK FIRES IS A SPORTS REPORTER FOR NWA MEDIA.