Steve Garvey

Garvey was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round of the 1968 MLB draft (June secondary phase).[11] He made his Major League debut on September 1, 1969, at the age of 20.[11] He appeared in the 7th inning to pinch hit for Ray Lamb and struck out in his one appearance at the plate.[12] He had two more plate appearances in 1969 as a pinch hitter and recorded his first hit on September 10, off Denny Lemaster of the Houston Astros. He played third base for the Dodgers in 1970 and hit his first home run on July 21, 1970, off Carl Morton of the Montreal Expos. He moved to first base in 1973 after the retirement of Wes Parker.

Garvey at bat in the mid-1970s against Cincinnati, in Dodger Stadium

Garvey was part of one of the most enduring infields in baseball history,[13] along with third baseman Ron Cey, shortstop Bill Russell, and second baseman Davey Lopes. The four infielders stayed together as the Dodgers' starters for eight and a half years, starting on June 13, 1973.[14]

Garvey is one of only two players to have started an All-Star Game as a write-in vote, doing so in 1974. That year, he won the NL MVP award and had the first of six 200-hit seasons. In the 1978 National League Championship Series, which the Dodgers won over the Philadelphia Phillies, Garvey hit four home runs and added a triple for five extra base hits, both marks tying Bob Robertson's 1971 NLCS record and earning him the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award; Jeffrey Leonard would tie the NLCS home run record in the 1987 NLCS.

Garvey's cheerful personality, his availability with reporters, and his willingness to sign autographs for fans made him a very popular player, and the Dodgers took advantage of this, making him one of the main focuses of their public relations campaigns. This caused friction with some of his Dodger teammates, such as Cey and Lopes, who thought Garvey was only acting this way to get endorsement opportunities. Cey, Lopes, and another unnamed player criticized Garvey in a mid-June 1976 San Bernardino Sun-Telegram article, which prompted manager Walter Alston to call a team meeting. At this meeting, Garvey said, "If anyone has anything to say about me, I want it said to my face, here and now."[15] No one said anything. Tommy John thought it was at this point that Alston, who retired at the end of the year, began to lose control of the team.[16]

Late in the 1978 season, the rift resurfaced when Don Sutton criticized Garvey for being the only Dodger to get publicity, insisting that Reggie Smith was a better player. The day after the article appeared, Garvey confronted Sutton with a copy of it in the locker room of Shea Stadium, where the Dodgers were for a series against the New York Mets. When Sutton affirmed that the quotes were his, the two got into a brawl. Garvey threw Sutton into Tommy John's locker, causing 96 baseballs John had been signing to fall out. Neither was hurt, though, and the two managed to overcome their feud, making sure they were the first to congratulate each other on the field for the rest of the year.[17]

With the Dodgers, Garvey played in 1,727 games over 14 seasons and hit .301 with 211 homers and 992 RBI.[11] He was selected to eight All-Star Games and won the All-Star Game MVP Award for the 1974 and 1978 games.[11] He also won four straight Gold Glove Awards from 1974 to 1977, won the 1981 Roberto Clemente Award, and finished in the top 10 in the NL MVP Award voting five times.

After Garvey signed with the San Diego Padres in 1982, the Dodgers kept his number 6 out of circulation for 21 years until it was given to utility player Jolbert Cabrera in 2003. It is Dodger policy not to officially retire a number unless a player who spent a majority of his playing days with the franchise gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In December 1982, Garvey signed with the Padres for $6.6 million over five years in what some felt was a "masterstroke" to General Manager Jack McKeon's effort to rebuild the team.[18] Though San Diego had vastly outbid the Dodgers, McKeon noted Garvey's value in providing a role model for younger players.[19] Additionally, Garvey's "box office appeal"—his impending departure from the Dodgers provoked some Girl Scouts to picket the stadium—helped San Diego increase its season ticket sales by 6,000 seats in Garvey's first year.[20] Sports Illustrated ranked the signing as the 15th best free agent signing ever as of 2008.[21]

Garvey's No. 6, retired by the Padres in 1988, displayed at Petco Park.

His first season in San Diego allowed him to break the National League record for consecutive games played, a feat that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated as baseball's "Iron Man".[22] In an unusual homecoming, Garvey tied the record in his first appearance back at Dodger Stadium in Padre brown.[23][24] For breaking the record, he was named the National League Player of the Week. The streak ended at 1207 consecutive games played (from September 3, 1975, to July 29, 1983) when he broke his thumb in a collision at home plate against the Atlanta Braves. It is the fourth-longest such streak in Major League Baseball history.

It was Garvey's second season in San Diego, however, that would be his highlight in a Padres uniform. In 1984, Garvey became the only first baseman in MLB history to commit no errors while playing 150 or more games.[25] He handled 1,319 total chances (1,232 putouts and 87 assists) flawlessly in 159 games for the Padres.

Led by Garvey, winning his second National League Championship Series MVP award, the Padres won their first National League pennant over the Chicago Cubs in 1984.[26] In Game 4, Tony Gwynn drew an intentional walk that Garvey converted into one of his four RBIs.[26] After getting hits in the third, fifth, and seventh innings, Garvey capped off his efforts with a two-run walk-off home run off Lee Smith in the ninth inning.[26] As he rounded third base, Garvey was met by fellow Padres who later carried him off the field in celebration.[26]

The home run became popular among San Diego Padres fans and was captured in a sequence of three shots by Padres team photographer Martin Mann. He was the only photographer to get a sequence of shots of the swing, and went on to sell limited edition series photos of "The Home Run", along with appearances on local television. In an interview with The San Diego Union Tribune, Martin Mann said, "It was like nothing I've ever seen at a baseball game. It was just a magical night. There was something about that night, I don't know what it was. It felt like something was going to happen."[27]

Garvey's career spanned from 1969 to 1987.[11] He made his final appearance in a game on May 23, 1987, pinch-hitting for Lance McCullers in the ninth inning and flying out.[28] In his 19-year MLB career, Garvey was a .294 hitter with 272 home runs and 1308 RBI in 2332 games played.[11]

In his 15 years (1993–2007) on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), Garvey failed to reach the 75% required for induction. His highest percentage of votes was 42.6% in 1995; he received 21.1% in his final year on the ballot.

He was considered by the Hall of Fames's Expansion Era Committee (for the 1973–present era) in voting for 2011 and 2014 and was not elected. In 2017, he was on the 10-candidate ballot that was considered by the Hall's Modern Baseball Era Committee (for the 1970–1987 era) in voting for 2018 and fell short of the 75% threshold. In the December 2019 voting by the Modern Baseball Era's 16-member committee for the 2020 Hall of Fame class, Garvey received six votes (37.5%).[29] The Modern Baseball Era Committee votes next in December 2023.[30]

On October 10, 2023, Garvey announced that he was running in the 2024 United States Senate election in California as a Republican.[35][11] Garvey is seeking the Senate seat that was held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein from 1992 until her death in 2023; following Feinstein's death, Democrat Laphonza Butler was appointed to the seat by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.