Steve Garvey was inducted into the Legends of Dodger Baseball before Saturday evening’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium for helping lead the team to four National League pennants and the 1981 World Series championship.
Garvey played for the Dodgers from 1969 through 1982. He is fifth in team history in hits (1,968) and runs batted in (992), sixth in home runs (211), extra-base hits (579) and total bases (3,004) and third in doubles (333).
Garvey was the National League MVP in 1974 and MVP in the NL Championship Series in 1978, the second year it was awarded.
Garvey went from a wild-throwing third baseman to a slick-fielding first baseman, receiving four Gold Glove awards and sharing the Dodgers’ highest career fielding percentage for a first baseman, .996, with Wes Parker.
Garvey is the second inductee to the Legends of Dodger Baseball. The late Brooklyn Dodgers pitching great Don Newcombe was the first, inducted before the April 27 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fernando Valenzuela will be the final inductee for the 2019 season. He will be inducted July 20 before the game against Miami Marlins.
The team will induct legends on an annual basis in recognition of their impact on the franchise, both on and off the field. Inductees will receive a plaque honoring their Dodger achievements, which will also be on permanent display at Dodger Stadium.
Garvey’s induction coincided with the Dodgers Alumni game. Garvey made an appearance before the Alumni Game, along with the other three members of the team’s record-setting infield of 1973-81, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey.
The Dodgers chose Garvey in the first round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft out of Michigan State, the 13th overall selection. However, his first association with the team began in 1956 when he was 7 years old.
According to a video narrated by retired Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully played in connection with the induction ceremony, Garvey’s father Joe drove a chartered bus to pick up the Brooklyn Dodgers at Tampa International Airport on March 29, 1956 and take them to St. Petersburg for an exhibition game against the New York Yankees.
Garvey was asked by the team’s clubhouse manager if he would like to serve as the team’s bat boy. He accepted the offer and went on to play catch with Gil Hodges, then the Dodgers first baseman.
Garvey spent several years as a spring training bat boy with the Dodgers. He wrote a book about those experiences in 2008, “My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer.”
Garvey made his debut with the Dodgers on Sept. 1, 1969, striking out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets, who were managed by Hodges.
Garvey was the Dodgers opening-day starting third baseman in 1970, a day after filming a Vitalis commercial that featured Pete Rose, destined to become MLB’s career hits leader.
Garvey was 2-for-23 to start the 1970 season, an .087 average, and was demoted to the Dodgers’ Pacific Coast League affiliate in Spokane, Washington.
Garvey returned to the Dodgers in July when Russell left for military duty, but demoted again to Spokane later that month to make room on the roster for catcher-third baseman Bill Sudakis when he returned from military reserve duty.
Garvey was again a September call-up in 1970 and would remain with the team through 1982. In his 12 full seasons with the team, he was an eight-time All-Star selection, starting five times, and the All-Star Game MVP in 1974 and 1978.
Garvey is the NL’s career record-holder in consecutive games with 1,207, the fourth-longest streak in major league history.
Garvey played the final five seasons of his major league career with the San Diego Padres, helping lead them to their first NL pennant in 1984. He retired following the 1987 season.