Steve Garvey
Encyclopedia
Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948), nicknamed "Mr. Clean" because of the squeaky clean image he held throughout his career in baseball, is a former Major League Baseball
first baseman
and current Southern California
businessman. Garvey was the 1974 NL MVP, 10-time All-Star, and holds the National League
record for consecutive games played (1,207).
Born in Tampa, FL
to parents who had recently relocated from Long Island, New York, from 1956 to 1961, Garvey was a bat boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers. Garvey played football
and baseball at Michigan State University
after graduating from Chamberlain High School. Garvey played his entire career in the National League West
for two teams; the Los Angeles Dodgers
(1969–82) and the San Diego Padres
(1983–87). He batted right and threw right. In a 19-year career, Garvey was a .294 hitter with 272 home run
s and 1308 RBI
in 2332 games played
.
, shortstop Bill Russell
and second baseman Davey Lopes
. The four infielders stayed together as the Dodgers' starters for eight and a half years.
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. Only 15 players in all of Major League Baseball history have had six or more 200 hit seasons (as of the end of 2010).
Garvey set a National League record with 1207 consecutive games played
, from September 3, 1975, to July 29, 1983. The streak ended 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.
In the 1978 National League Championship Series
, Garvey hit four home runs, and added a double for five extra base hits, both marks tying Bob Robertson
's 1971 NLCS
record; Jeffrey Leonard
would tie the NLCS home run record in the 1987 NLCS
.
In 1981, at a point in his career when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter
and Donald Honig
included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.
's effort to rebuild the team. Though San Diego had vastly outbid the Dodgers, McKeon particularly noted Garvey's value in providing a role model for younger players. 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 increased by 6,000 seats in Garvey's first year. Sports Illustrated
ranked the signing as the fifteenth best free agent signing ever as of 2008.
His first season in San Diego allowed him to break the National League's record for consecutive games played, a feat that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated
as baseball's "Iron Man." (In an unusual homecoming, Garvey tied the record in his first appearance back at Dodger Stadium
in Padre gold.)
It was Garvey's second season in San Diego, however, that would provide his highlight in a Padres uniform. Led by Garvey, winning his third National League Championship Series
MVP award, the Padres
won their first National League pennant
over the Chicago Cubs
in 1984. Game 4, "the best game of the series, and one of the best games in memory," provided a particularly notable effort by Garvey. His hot bat provided excellent insurance for the top of the order, including future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn
, who drew an intentional walk that Garvey converted into one of his four crucial RBI. After supplying critical hits in the third, fifth, and seventh innings, Garvey capped off his efforts with a two-run walk-off home run
off future all-time saves leader Lee Smith
in the 9th inning. As he rounded third base, Garvey, who after the game would be compared by teammates to fictional baseball hero Roy Hobbs, was met by fellow Padres who later carried him off the field in celebration. Following the 7–5 Padres victory, grateful fans thronged against stadium barricades chanting Garvey's name. Garvey, about to play in his fifth World Series, called the experience "the greatest playoffs I've ever seen."
.
Also, starting in the mid 1980s he began the Steve Garvey celebrity Blue Marlin tournament, as well as the Steve Garvey celebrity skiing challenge. These were featured on episodes of the ESPN Classic
show Cheap Seats
during its four season run.
Since 1988 he has been running Garvey Communications mainly involved in television production including infomercials. He is also the host of Baseball's Greatest Games. In addition he is hired out to do motivational speaking
, mainly for corporations.
Garvey spent 15 years in the Community Affairs department for the Dodgers, where he was a greeter for VIP
season ticket holders and a consultant for community relations. He was fired by the team on July 8, 2011 after some very public comments he made critical of Dodger owner Frank McCourt
and his involvement in a group trying to take over ownership of the team.
Garvey, who made over $10 million in his career only to go broke afterwards, currently serves as a member of the board of the Baseball Assistance Team
, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro League players through financial and medical hardships.
He currently resides in Los Angeles and Palm Desert, California
.
once commented, "If he ever came to date my daughter, I'd lock the door and not let him out." In the mid to late-1980s, however, Garvey engaged in a series of simultaneous romantic relationships and fathering of children with multiple women that led to him being the subject of national ridicule.
At the age of 22 Garvey married Cyndy Garvey, "a prospective medical-school student, who dropped that ambition to be at Steve's side as he pursued his baseball career." They had two children, Krisha and Whitney. Their marriage lasted from 1971 until their divorce in 1983. Following a tempestuous marriage, she left Garvey for famed composer Marvin Hamlisch
. (Cyndi would later claim Garvey "gave me away" to Hamlisch after a private two hour conversation.) Garvey later became romantically involved with his secretary, Judy Ross. Hiding it from Ross, Garvey began a simultaneous affair with CNN
correspondent Rebecka Mendenhall. Garvey then added a third relationship when he became involved with San Diego medical products sales representative Cheryl Ann Moulton. Garvey discovered in July 1988 that Moulton was pregnant with his child, a pregnancy Garvey subsequently contended was intentional on Moulton's part but without his consent. (It ultimately took a court order before Garvey paid child support to Moulton.) He then proposed to Mendenhall because of what he termed her "ultimatum" in November 1988, while Moulton was several months pregnant with his child. Ross asserts that during this period—engaged to one woman and having a child with a second—Garvey then told her that he wished to be married to Ross and had broken up with Mendenhall. In January 1989, less than two weeks after nonetheless announcing his engagement to Mendenhall, Garvey became involved with a fourth woman, Candace Thomas, whom he met at a benefit for the Special Olympics
. Over the next few weeks, Garvey and Thomas began a whirlwind courtship that included trips to the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush and the Super Bowl
. Mendenhall, unaware that Garvey was romancing a fourth woman and believing she and the former All-Star were to be married, then discovered she, also, was pregnant with Garvey's child.
When these details became public, Garvey became the object of comedians' jokes and satirical bumper stickers as his post-baseball political ambitions were widely seen to have disappeared under the weight of the sex scandals. Garvey, in the midst of what he later termed a "midlife disaster," sued Cyndi, his ex-wife, for access to his two children. His daughters, who found his protestations of affection insincere, testified in court that they did not love their father and did not wish to see him. (Cyndi was briefly jailed for her refusal to allow Garvey access to the girls.) Under the shadow of multiple lawsuits and damage to his reputation, Garvey lost business opportunities, declared himself broke, and found himself paying half his monthly television earning in child support. He and Candace Thomas married in 1989. That same year Cyndy Garvey published a tell-all book in which she revealed the details of her marriage with Steve.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
and current Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
businessman. Garvey was the 1974 NL MVP, 10-time All-Star, and holds the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
record for consecutive games played (1,207).
Playing career
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
to parents who had recently relocated from Long Island, New York, from 1956 to 1961, Garvey was a bat boy for the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers. Garvey played football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and baseball at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
after graduating from Chamberlain High School. Garvey played his entire career in the National League West
National League West
The National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
for two teams; the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
(1969–82) and the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
(1983–87). He batted right and threw right. In a 19-year career, Garvey was a .294 hitter with 272 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 1308 RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
in 2332 games played
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...
.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Garvey was part of the most enduring infield in baseball history along with third baseman Ron CeyRon Cey
Ronald Charles Cey |Washington]]) is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics . Cey batted and threw right-handed...
, shortstop Bill Russell
Bill Russell (baseball)
William Ellis Russell is a former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series champion...
and second baseman Davey Lopes
Davey Lopes
David Earle Lopes is a former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. He batted and threw right-handed. He is currently the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.He is of Cape Verdean descent.-Playing:...
. The four infielders stayed together as the Dodgers' starters for eight and a half years.
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. Only 15 players in all of Major League Baseball history have had six or more 200 hit seasons (as of the end of 2010).
Garvey set a National League record with 1207 consecutive games played
MLB consecutive games played streaks
Listed below are the 15 longest consecutive games played streaks in Major League Baseball history. To compile such a streak, a player must appear in every game played by his team...
, from September 3, 1975, to July 29, 1983. The streak ended when he broke his thumb in a collision at home plate against the Atlanta Braves
1983 Atlanta Braves season
- Regular season :The 1983 season was one of hope for the Braves of Atlanta. The previous season they had won 89 games and advanced to the playoffs before succumbing to the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive games. This was a season to prove that the 1982 National League West Division...
. It is the fourth-longest such streak in Major League Baseball history.
In the 1978 National League Championship Series
1978 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 4, 1978 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaBecause of having to start an NL East-clinching game a few days earlier, Phillies ace Steve Carlton wasn't available for the start of the series, leaving the task to Larry Christenson...
, Garvey hit four home runs, and added a double for five extra base hits, both marks tying Bob Robertson
Bob Robertson
Robert Eugene Robertson is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. Robertson, who batted and threw right-handed, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates , Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays...
's 1971 NLCS
1971 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 2, 1971 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CaliforniaWith aces Gaylord Perry and Steve Blass taking the mound for their respective teams, Game 1 looked to be a pitchers duel. It sort of was for four innings; the Pirates struck for two in the top of the third when Dave...
record; Jeffrey Leonard
Jeffrey Leonard
Jeffrey N. Leonard is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball with a 14-year career from to...
would tie the NLCS home run record in the 1987 NLCS
1987 National League Championship Series
- Game 1 :Tuesday, October 6, 1987 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MissouriThe Giants struck first on an RBI groundout by Candy Maldonado, but the Cardinals tied it in the third on Vince Coleman's RBI single...
.
In 1981, at a point in his career when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter
Lawrence Ritter
Lawrence S. Ritter was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball.Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School of Business Administration of New York University. He also edited the academic periodical...
and Donald Honig
Donald Honig
Donald Martin Honig is a novelist, historian and editor who mostly writes about baseball.While a member of the Bobo Newsom Memorial Society, an informal group of writers, Honig attempted to get Lawrence Ritter to write a sequel to The Glory of their Times. Ritter declined but gave Honig his blessing...
included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.
San Diego Padres
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 McKeonJack McKeon
John Aloysius McKeon , nicknamed Trader Jack, is a former Major League Baseball manager. In 2003, he won a World Series with the Florida Marlins...
's effort to rebuild the team. Though San Diego had vastly outbid the Dodgers, McKeon particularly noted Garvey's value in providing a role model for younger players. 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 increased by 6,000 seats in Garvey's first year. Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
ranked the signing as the fifteenth best free agent signing ever as of 2008.
His first season in San Diego allowed him to break the National League's record for consecutive games played, a feat that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
as baseball's "Iron Man." (In an unusual homecoming, Garvey tied the record in his first appearance back at Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in Padre gold.)
It was Garvey's second season in San Diego, however, that would provide his highlight in a Padres uniform. Led by Garvey, winning his third National League Championship Series
National League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...
MVP award, the Padres
1984 San Diego Padres season
-Offseason:* October 21, 1983: Sandy Alomar, Jr. was signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent.* December 6, 1983: Joe Pittman and a player to be named later were traded by the Padres to the San Francisco Giants for Champ Summers...
won their first National League pennant
1984 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Tuesday, October 2, 1984 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IllinoisBob Dernier led off the game for the Cubs with a homer, and things went steadily downhill for the Padres as Chicago romped to a crushing 13–0 win in their first postseason game since 1945. Gary Matthews also homered in the first...
over the Chicago Cubs
1984 Chicago Cubs season
The Chicago Cubs' 1984 season was the 109th season for the Cubs. The team finished with a record of 96-65 in first place of the National League Eastern Division. Chicago was managed by Jim Frey and the general manager was Dallas Green...
in 1984. Game 4, "the best game of the series, and one of the best games in memory," provided a particularly notable effort by Garvey. His hot bat provided excellent insurance for the top of the order, including future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn
Tony Gwynn
Anthony Keith "Tony" Gwynn, Sr. , nicknamed Mr. Padre and Captain Video, is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. He is statistically one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the San Diego Padres...
, who drew an intentional walk that Garvey converted into one of his four crucial RBI. After supplying critical hits in the third, fifth, and seventh innings, Garvey capped off his efforts with a two-run walk-off home run
Walk-off home run
In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. It must be a home run that gives the home team the lead in the bottom of the final inning of the game—either the ninth inning, or any extra inning, or any other regularly scheduled final inning...
off future all-time saves leader Lee Smith
Lee Smith (baseball)
Lee Arthur Smith is an American right-handed former baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball for eight teams. Pitching primarily for the Chicago Cubs, with whom he spent his first eight seasons, Lee served mostly as a relief pitcher during his career...
in the 9th inning. As he rounded third base, Garvey, who after the game would be compared by teammates to fictional baseball hero Roy Hobbs, was met by fellow Padres who later carried him off the field in celebration. Following the 7–5 Padres victory, grateful fans thronged against stadium barricades chanting Garvey's name. Garvey, about to play in his fifth World Series, called the experience "the greatest playoffs I've ever seen."
Honors
He is a member of the Irish American Hall of Fame and the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame. Steve Garvey Junior High School, in Lindsay, California, is named for him. Garvey's jersey No. 6, worn when he was both a Padre and Dodger is retired by the Padres. His number was displayed at the site of his 1984 NLCS home run in right field at Qualcomm StadiumQualcomm Stadium
Qualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
.
Post-baseball career
Garvey, a Republican who harbored political ambitions after baseball, earned the nickname "Senator" from teammates. Those aspirations diminished after the public learned embarrassing details of his personal life.Also, starting in the mid 1980s he began the Steve Garvey celebrity Blue Marlin tournament, as well as the Steve Garvey celebrity skiing challenge. These were featured on episodes of the ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event...
show Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats without Ron Parker, commonly shortened to Cheap Seats, is a television program broadcast on ESPN Classic hosted by brothers Randy and Jason Sklar...
during its four season run.
Since 1988 he has been running Garvey Communications mainly involved in television production including infomercials. He is also the host of Baseball's Greatest Games. In addition he is hired out to do motivational speaking
Motivational speaking
A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
, mainly for corporations.
Garvey spent 15 years in the Community Affairs department for the Dodgers, where he was a greeter for VIP
Very Important Person
A Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance.Examples include celebrities, heads of state/heads of government, major employers, high rollers, politicians, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other...
season ticket holders and a consultant for community relations. He was fired by the team on July 8, 2011 after some very public comments he made critical of Dodger owner Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt (executive)
Frank McCourt is the owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. In , he purchased a controlling interest of the Dodgers from Fox Entertainment Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation...
and his involvement in a group trying to take over ownership of the team.
Garvey, who made over $10 million in his career only to go broke afterwards, currently serves as a member of the board of the Baseball Assistance Team
Baseball Assistance Team
The Baseball Assistance Team is a 501 non-profit affiliated with Major League Baseball. The organization's stated goal is to "help members of the baseball family who have come on hard times and are in need of assistance," and is guided by the principles of teamwork, caring, and sharing...
, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro League players through financial and medical hardships.
He currently resides in Los Angeles and Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
.
Personal
Garvey, known as "Mr. Clean," carried such a record for unblemished personal behavior during his playing days that manager Tommy LasordaTommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda is a former Major League baseball player and manager. marked his sixth decade in one capacity or another with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers organization, the longest non-continuous tenure anyone has had with the team, edging Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully...
once commented, "If he ever came to date my daughter, I'd lock the door and not let him out." In the mid to late-1980s, however, Garvey engaged in a series of simultaneous romantic relationships and fathering of children with multiple women that led to him being the subject of national ridicule.
At the age of 22 Garvey married Cyndy Garvey, "a prospective medical-school student, who dropped that ambition to be at Steve's side as he pursued his baseball career." They had two children, Krisha and Whitney. Their marriage lasted from 1971 until their divorce in 1983. Following a tempestuous marriage, she left Garvey for famed composer Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
. (Cyndi would later claim Garvey "gave me away" to Hamlisch after a private two hour conversation.) Garvey later became romantically involved with his secretary, Judy Ross. Hiding it from Ross, Garvey began a simultaneous affair with CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
correspondent Rebecka Mendenhall. Garvey then added a third relationship when he became involved with San Diego medical products sales representative Cheryl Ann Moulton. Garvey discovered in July 1988 that Moulton was pregnant with his child, a pregnancy Garvey subsequently contended was intentional on Moulton's part but without his consent. (It ultimately took a court order before Garvey paid child support to Moulton.) He then proposed to Mendenhall because of what he termed her "ultimatum" in November 1988, while Moulton was several months pregnant with his child. Ross asserts that during this period—engaged to one woman and having a child with a second—Garvey then told her that he wished to be married to Ross and had broken up with Mendenhall. In January 1989, less than two weeks after nonetheless announcing his engagement to Mendenhall, Garvey became involved with a fourth woman, Candace Thomas, whom he met at a benefit for the Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
. Over the next few weeks, Garvey and Thomas began a whirlwind courtship that included trips to the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush and the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. Mendenhall, unaware that Garvey was romancing a fourth woman and believing she and the former All-Star were to be married, then discovered she, also, was pregnant with Garvey's child.
When these details became public, Garvey became the object of comedians' jokes and satirical bumper stickers as his post-baseball political ambitions were widely seen to have disappeared under the weight of the sex scandals. Garvey, in the midst of what he later termed a "midlife disaster," sued Cyndi, his ex-wife, for access to his two children. His daughters, who found his protestations of affection insincere, testified in court that they did not love their father and did not wish to see him. (Cyndi was briefly jailed for her refusal to allow Garvey access to the girls.) Under the shadow of multiple lawsuits and damage to his reputation, Garvey lost business opportunities, declared himself broke, and found himself paying half his monthly television earning in child support. He and Candace Thomas married in 1989. That same year Cyndy Garvey published a tell-all book in which she revealed the details of her marriage with Steve.
See also
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- MLB consecutive games played streaksMLB consecutive games played streaksListed below are the 15 longest consecutive games played streaks in Major League Baseball history. To compile such a streak, a player must appear in every game played by his team...
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
External links
- Steve Garvey.com
- Baseball Library – biography and career highlights
- The Baseball Page – profile and career analysis
- Garvey's record-breaking 1,118th cover @ Sports Illustrated (April 25, 1983)
- The Diamond Angle (article), By Ken Haag with James Floto and David Marasco; should Garvey be in the Hall of Fame
- Steve Garvey Los Angeles Dodgers Online
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