Next
up in my ongoing 1975 “In Action” card sub-set is Hall of Famer (I will
say that until it’s true!) Steve Garvey, who was the reigning National
League MVP when this card would have found its way in packs, ready for
the world:
Garvey just led the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series, where they were over-matched by three-peat champs the Oakland A’s.
The 1974 season would be the first of his six 200-hits years, along with
the first of his five 100-RBI, six 20+ Home Run, six .300 B.A. and four
Gold Glove seasons.
The 10x All-Star would go on to retire in 1987 with 272 homers, 2599
hits, 1308 runs batted in and a .294 batting average over 19 seasons,
with only 11 of them full seasons.
The man was solid, day in and day out, and for the life of me, even
though baseball has been my passion for over 40 years now, I will not
understand the arguments AGAINST him for the Hall of Fame.
I...just...don’t...get...it.
The man was clearly a better player than about two dozen men in the Hall at the moment, the Veteran's Committee made sure of that.