on his worries. Like many ballplayers of his day, Garver entertained certain superstitions. When he was pitching, he made sure to lead with his left foot when crossing the third base line, and he always avoided stepping right on the line. He also preferred to pick up the baseball he would start the inning with from the ground, rather than have a player or coach hand it to him. Once the inning had started, Garver wanted the third baseman to throw him the ball following each out. Legacy and life after baseball Garver never played for a first division team, but he did not let that bother him. "I never felt sorry for myself as a St. Louis Brown," he said. "In fact, I loved that organization. They were the ones that gave me a chance to play." In a conversation with Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams recalled having "trouble" with Garver. "He could throw anything up there and get me out." The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative postmark in Ney in 1996, marking the 45th anniversary of Garver's 20-win season. Preferring to live in a small town, Garver and his family returned to Ney following his career. He had invested in farms in the area, and he made a living off of farming, as well as working at an area meat packing facility for 18 years. Garver served in local government positions as a member of Ney's Village Council and Ney's Park Board. He served as Ney's mayor for seven or eight years. Personal life While still attending high school, Garver married Ney native Dorothy Sims. She was supportive of his professional baseball career, driving to the different cities he pitched in even when the couple had young children. Their offspring consisted of Donnie, Chery, and Ned Alan. When their kids reached school age, Dorothy would stay with them in Ney until school was out for the year, at which point the Garvers would rent a home in whatever city Ned's team was located in. Dorothy died of leukemia in 1995, and Garver remarried in 2001 to Dolores Hart. His nephew, Bruce Berenyi, became an MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets. Garver died of heart failure in Bryan, Ohio on February 26, 2017, at the age of 91. Footnotes References External links Ned Garver at SABR (Baseball BioProject) 1925 births 2017 deaths Baseball players