Former Dodgers Baseman Steve Garvey Considered For Hall Of Fame

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey is among nine former players and one late executive who will be considered for election to baseball's Hall of Fame on Sunday. Each person on the Modern Baseball Era ballot needs to receive at least 75 percent of the votes from a 16-member committee to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Members will cast their votes at baseball's winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The committee, appointed by the Hall of Fame, includes Hall of Fame members Don Sutton -- a teammate of Garvey's on the Dodgers from 1969-79 -- George Brett, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield and Robin Yount.
Garvey played with the Dodgers from 1969-82, is fifth in team history in RBIs and hits and was the 1974 National League MVP. He had 200 or more hits in a season six times for the Dodgers, and won four Gold Gloves for his fielding at first base.

He also played in 1,207 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in MLB history. Most of those games were with the Dodgers (Garvey completed his career by playing with the San Diego Padres from 1983-87).
The closest Garvey came to being elected to the Hall of Fame by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America was in 1995, his third year of eligibility, when he received 42.6 percent of the votes. He received over 40 percent two other times. Votes from 75 percent of those voting is required to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

The other former Dodger on the ballot is Tommy John, who pitched for the team from 1971-78, part of a 26-season career in which he won 288 games, 26th most in baseball history. All but two of the pitchers ahead of John on that list are in the Hall of Fame.

The exceptions are Roger Clemens, ninth on the list with 354 victories who has been dogged by suspicion he used performance-enhancing drugs, and the 19th century pitcher Bobby Mathews, 25th on the list with 297 victories, who played his entire career when the pitching mound was 50 feet from home plate -- 10 feet, 6 inches less than the current distance.

John received his highest percentage of votes in his final year of eligibility, 2009, with 31.7 percent, the only time he topped 30 percent.

The ballot for candidates whose greatest contributions came from 1970 to 1987, dubbed by the Hall of Fame as the Modern Era, also includes former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, chosen for his playing career with the New York Yankees, and the late Marvin Miller, who headed the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966-82.

Figures from the Modern Era will again be considered for the Hall of Fame in 2019. Individuals whose greatest contributions to baseball came from 1988 to the present will be considered next year.

--City News Service; Photo: Former Los Angeles Dodgers player Steve Garvey enters the filed during the Hall of Fame Classic baseball game in Cooperstown, N.Y., Saturday, May 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Steve Jacobs)