After graduating from his hometown's Key West High School in 1960, Garcia served in the United States Marine Corps as a combat engineer until 1964.
[3] His first assignment behind the plate was the Rangers' 7–5 loss to the defending World Series Champion Oakland Athletics in the same ballpark three nights later on April 11.
[7] In 1996, Garcia made an incorrect call during Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees.
[10] Garcia took part in the 1999 Major League Umpires Association mass resignation which was engineered by Richie Phillips, the union's executive director.
[12][13] Garcia, along with fellow supervisors Marty Springstead and Jim McKean, were ousted on March 6, 2010, as a result of a 2009 postseason which was plagued by various high-profile questionable calls that drew a firestorm of criticism from fans and the media.
Garcia played the first base umpire in the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston.