Alright, let’s talk about this fella, Steve Garvey. Is he in that there Baseball Hall of Fame? That’s what folks wanna know, right? Well, lemme tell ya what I heard and what I reckon about it.
Now, I ain’t no fancy baseball expert, ya hear? But I know a thing or two about hard work and seein’ a fella play his heart out. And from what I gathered, this Garvey, he was one heck of a player. Folks say he played from, oh, I dunno, sometime in the seventies, maybe seventy-four, up to, uh, eighty-eight, somethin’ like that. Long time, that is. Fifteen years, I think they said, he was on that ballot, waitin’ for folks to vote him in.
Them Writers and Their Votes
See, it’s these baseball writers, the ones who scribble all them stories for the newspapers, they’re the ones who decide who gets into the Hall of Fame. They have this ballot, a list of names, and they check off who they think deserves to be in. Garvey, he was on that there ballot for a long, long time. Fifteen years, they say. That’s a long time to wait on someone to make up their mind, like waitin’ for rain in a drought.
- They call it the BBWAA ballot, somethin’ fancy like that. Big words for a simple thing, if ya ask me.
- And they voted every year, I guess, seein’ if Garvey made the cut.
But for some reason, and lord knows what that reason is, they never put him in. He got some votes, sure, but not enough. And the more years went by, the less votes he got. Like folks were forgettin’ how good he was, or somethin’.
Was He Good Enough? That’s the Big Question
Now, folks argue about this all the time. Was Steve Garvey really good enough to be in the Hall of Fame? Some say yes, some say no. It’s like arguin’ about whose pie is better at the county fair, everyone’s got their own opinion.
Them that say yes, they point to his numbers. Hits, runs, all that baseball mumbo jumbo. They say he was a real consistent player, always hittin’ the ball, always doin’ his job. And he played a good first base, too, real slick with that glove of his. And don’t forget all them championships he won. Seems like he was always winnin’ something, that fella.
Steroids and Such
And here’s somethin’ else folks talk about. See, back in Garvey’s day, they say nobody was usin’ them steroids, the stuff that makes some fellas hit the ball a mile. He played clean, they say. And that, accordin’ to some, should count for somethin’. It’s like farmin’, ya do it right, ya get a good crop without cheatin’.
But them that say no, they got their reasons too. Maybe his numbers weren’t quite as high as some other fellas. Or maybe he didn’t hit enough home runs, I don’t rightly know. Baseball’s a funny game, sometimes it feels like nobody really knows what counts for sure. It’s all a bunch of numbers and opinions, if ya ask me.
Postseason and All That
Now, some folks bring up the postseason, them games after the regular season is over. They say Garvey was real good in them games, always hittin’ the ball when it mattered. And that should count for somethin’, seein’ as how them games is the most important ones. It’s like in life, what ya do when it really matters, that’s what defines ya.
And durin’ his time, the pitchers were real good. Real tough to hit against, they say. So, if he was hittin’ good against them fellas, that’s sayin’ somethin’, wouldn’t ya think?
So, What’s the Verdict?
So, where does that leave us? Is Steve Garvey in the Hall of Fame? Nope. He ain’t. He waited them fifteen years on the ballot, but he never got enough votes. And that’s a shame, some folks say. He was a good player, a real good player, by all accounts. But for whatever reason, them writers didn’t think he was Hall of Fame material.
Maybe someday they’ll change their minds. Maybe they’ll look back and say, “You know what? That Garvey fella, he deserved to be in.” But for now, he’s on the outside lookin’ in. And that’s just the way it is. Life ain’t always fair, and baseball ain’t neither. It is what it is, as they say.
And that’s about all I know about Steve Garvey and the Hall of Fame. Take it for what it’s worth, it ain’t gospel but it’s what I’ve pieced together from listenin’ to folks talk.
Tags: [Steve Garvey, Baseball Hall of Fame, BBWAA, MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers, Postseason, Steroids Era, First Baseman]
