First Baseman, Los
Angeles Dodgers
Age: 25
5th season
with Dodgers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’10” Weight: 192
Prior to 1974:
A native of
Tampa, Florida, Garvey excelled at football and baseball at Chamberlain High School.
Rejecting an offer from the Minnesota Twins, who selected him in the 1966
amateur draft, he went on to Michigan State University, where he hit
impressively but had a poor throwing arm at third base, where he was also
hindered by a football injury. Chosen by the Dodgers in the 1968 amateur draft,
Garvey signed and was assigned to Ogden of the Rookie-level Pioneer League
where he batted .338 with a league-leading 20 home runs and 59 RBIs in 62
games. He was named to the league’s All-Star team. In 1969 Garvey advanced to
Albuquerque of the Class AA Texas League where he hit .373 in 83 games with 14
home runs and 85 RBIs. He received a late-season call-up to the Dodgers and got
one-hit in three plate appearances. Garvey started the 1970 season with the
Dodgers, but after getting off to a poor start was sent to Spokane of the Class
AAA Pacific Coast League where he batted .319 with 15 home runs and 87 RBIs
which led to his return to LA where he finished up with a .269 average in 34
major league games. With the Dodgers in 1971, Garvey had a poor year at third
base, committing 14 errors in 79 games at the position while batting .227 with
7 home runs and 26 RBIs in a season in which he suffered a broken wrist. His
batting production improved to .269 with 9 home runs and 30 RBIs in 1972 while
he led all NL third basemen in errors with 28. With his career at a crossroads
with the Dodgers, Garvey started off the 1973 season as a pinch-hitter and occasional
left fielder until injuries forced the move of first baseman Bill Buckner to
left field. Garvey, who had played some first base in the minors, took over at
the position and over the course of 114 games hit .304 with 8 home runs and 50
RBIs. He remained set at first base for 1974 and became part of a long-lasting
infield with second baseman Dave Lopes, shortstop Bill Russell, and third
baseman Ron Cey.
1974 Season Summary
Appeared in 156
games
1B – 156
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 685 [10]
At Bats – 642
[5]
Runs – 95 [12,
tied with Cesar Cedeno & Dave Lopes]
Hits – 200 [3]
Doubles – 32 [9]
Triples – 3
Home Runs – 21 [12,
tied with Bobby Bonds]
RBI – 111 [3]
Bases on Balls
– 31
Int. BB – 4
Strikeouts – 66
Stolen Bases – 5
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .312
[7]
OBP - .342
Slugging Pct. -
.469 [10]
Total Bases – 301
[4]
GDP – 8
Hit by Pitches
– 3
Sac Hits – 1
Sac Flies – 8 [7,
tied with Cesar Cedeno, Tony Perez & Reggie Smith]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 15, RBI – 65, AVG - .313, OBP - .342
---
Most hits, game
– 5 (in 5 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 8/28
Longest hitting
streak – 9 games
HR at home – 8
HR on road – 13
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) at Cincinnati 4/17, (in 3 AB) at San Francisco 5/23
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 4 at Cincinnati 4/17, vs. Cincinnati 5/22, at Chi. Cubs 8/20
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 1606
Put Outs – 1536
Assists – 62
Errors – 8
DP – 108
Pct. - .995
Postseason: 9 G
(NLCS vs. Pittsburgh – 4 G, World Series vs. Oakland – 5 G)
PA – 40, AB – 39,
R – 6, H – 15, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 6, BB – 1, IBB – 1, SO – 4, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .385, OBP - .400, SLG - .564, TB – 22, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
All-Star (Started
for NL at 1B)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Steve Garvey,
LAD: 270 pts. - 13 of 22 first place votes, 80% share
Lou Brock, StL.:
233 pts. – 8 first place votes, 69% share
Mike Marshall,
LAD: 146 pts. – 1 first place vote, 43% share
Johnny Bench,
Cin.: 141 pts. – 42% share
Jim Wynn, LAD: 137
pts. – 41% share
---
Dodgers went 102-60
to finish first in the NL Western Division by 4 games over the Cincinnati Reds
while leading the league in runs scored (798), home runs (139), RBIs (744), and
slugging (.401).The Dodgers were up by 10.5 games on July 10 and held off the
Reds the rest of the way to secure the NL West title. Won NLCS over the Pittsburgh
Pirates, 3 games to 1, helped by Garvey’s four-hit, two-home run performance in
Game 4. Lost World Series to the Oakland Athletics, 4 games to 1.
Aftermath of ‘74:
Garvey followed
up in 1975 by batting .319 with 210 hits, 18 home runs and 95 RBIs, and in
addition to again being an All-Star, finished eleventh in league MVP balloting.
He also received a second Gold Glove in recognition of his defensive play at
first base. The media and team promoted his ultra-clean All-American image,
which generated some resentment among teammates. His consistent bat produced
seasons of .317 with 13 home runs and 80 RBIs in 1976 and .297 with 33 home
runs and 115 RBIs in 1977, a year in which the pennant-winning Dodgers became
the first major league team with four batters slugging 30 home runs (the others
being Reggie Smith with 32 and Ron Cey and Dusty Baker with an even 30 apiece).
Festering teammate resentment led to a locker room fight with RHP Don Sutton in
1978, a year in which Garvey hit .316 with a NL-leading 202 hits along with 21
home runs and 113 RBIs. He placed second in league MVP voting. He remained a
consistent performer in 1979 by batting .315 with 204 hits, 28 home runs, and
110 RBIs, and 1980 by hitting .304 with 200 hits, 26 home runs, and 106 RBIs. Following
another solid campaign in the strike-shortened 1981 season in which Garvey
batted .283 with 10 home runs and 64 RBIs, he came through with some timely
hits in the postseason including two home runs in the NLDS triumph over Houston
and another as the Dodgers defeated Montreal in the NLCS. In the World Series,
in which they defeated the Yankees, Garvey hit .417. In 1982, the final year of
his six-year, $1.971 million contract, he had a relative off-year, hitting .282
with 176 hits, 16 home runs and 86 RBIs. His string of eight consecutive
All-Star selections was snapped. In the offseason he signed a five-year, $6.6
million contract with the San Diego Padres. In 1983, at the end of July the
durable Garvey’s streak of 1207 consecutive games, as well as his season, came
to an end due to a broken thumb. He ended up hitting .294 in 100 games with 14
home runs and 59 RBIs. He was an All-Star in 1984 despite a statistical decline
to .284 with 8 home runs and 86 RBIs. The Padres won the NL West and the league
pennant thanks to Garvey’s MVP performance against the Cubs in the NLCS in
which he batted .400 with a game-winning home run and seven RBIs. He had one
last All-Star season in 1985 in which he hit .281 with 17 home runs and 81
RBIs. After a year of further decline in 1986, Garvey’s career came to an end
during the 1987 season due to a shoulder injury. Overall for his major league
career, Garvey batted .294 with 2599 hits that included 440 doubles, 43
triples, and 272 home runs. He further scored 1143 runs and compiled 1308 RBIs.
With the Dodgers the numbers were .301 with 1968 hits, 333 doubles, 35 triples,
211 home runs, 852 runs scored, and 992 RBIs. He had six 200-hit seasons with LA,
leading the NL twice and was a 10-time All-Star (8 with the Dodgers). He also
received four Gold Gloves. In 55 postseason games he hit .338 with 11 home runs
and 31 RBIs and was a two-time NLCS MVP (1978 with LA and 1984 with San Diego).
The Padres retired his #6. Garvey’s ultra-clean image was damaged in retirement
by scandals in his personal life, but nothing could dim his steady and
consistent playing career.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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