The closest I had to a sure thing

The farther I get away from the age 18-49 demographic, the more the players that dominated the sports scene for seemingly forever fade out of the conversation.

 

You could have never convinced me in the 1970s and 1980s that guys like Reggie Jackson would slowly disappear, that their names would cease to be on everyone's lips, on every magazine cover, in every card set, in every sports column and TV broadcast.

 

Fewer and fewer sports fans can relate to the significant players and moments of the '70s and '80s and, yes, that means I have less to discuss on social media sites and the like. There are more modern players and moments that get all the attention and I sit on the sidelines either puzzled or with nothing to say.

 

One of those notables of the past who has become less and less significant with each passing year is Steve Garvey. I know a lot of people my age don't want to acknowledge that, but it's true. If someone isn't a Dodgers (or even Padres) fan and didn't grow up in the '70s or '80s, their first reference point for Garvey, if they know the name at all, is he was a philanderer.

 

They don't know how important he was to Dodgers fans and even in baseball in general, how he burst on the scene in 1974, so much so that he was written in as a starter in the All-Star Game and then won the game's MVP award as well as the NL MVP for the whole year.

 

Garvey's success and his clean-cut image made him hugely popular for several years. He remains popular with certain collectors (I just can't compete when it comes to some of his cards). It's understandable. He was the big star on those Dodgers teams that went to the World Series in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1981.

 

With the exception of the 1981 World Series, the Dodgers lost all those others. But you can't blame Garvey. He hit .319 over 28 World Series games. He was the closest thing to a sure thing I had growing up. I was used to my team getting close yet being so far (my first season charting standings was 1975 with the Dodgers finished second in the division -- 20 games behind the Reds).

 

So while Garvey was never my favorite player (too mechanical for me) I loved having him on my team and pulling his cards. The 1975 Topps mini card of Garvey was the first card of his I ever pulled and also the first All-Star card I ever pulled. The well-handled copy that I pulled is still in my collection and at the top of this post.

 

All of this is a lead-in to the latest envelope from Zippy Zappy of Torren' Up Cards. The highlight of the envelope was a Garvey card.

 

 

This is not my first autographed Garvey card but it is my first one with an inscription. In case you can't make it out, it says "Steve Garvey '74 NL MVP" with his number 6.

 

Pretty cool. I am wondering how ZZ ended up with this copy.

 

In total, this is my eighth autographed card of Garvey, a pretty modest total really. I never seek out his autograph cards and just about all of them have been graciously sent to me by other collectors.

 

 

I received this one last year. It remains encased.

 

 

These are also still enclosed and each pairs Garvey up with the player who was my favorite on those teams Ron Cey. It's an interesting pairing as I know that Cey could be annoyed by the fawning that went on over Garvey.

 

 

My other Garvey autos.

 

Kenny also sent another TTM/IP autographed card.

 

 

Cole Schneider was stricken by the Young Guns curse. He managed just six NHL games between 2015-17.

 

I also received a couple of Topps NPB cards from last year. I admittedly don't know the significance of these cards or the two players. I probably should.

 

But back to something this old night owl does know: Steve Garvey recently celebrated his 77th birthday and next year he will have been retired for 40 years. No wonder fewer people bring him up!

 

Still I will never forgot what he meant to Dodgers fans between 1973-82. Maybe someday he will make the Hall of Fame and the Dodgers will finally retire his number and people will talk about him again (good or bad). But if not: 

 

His peak years matched up with my first collecting period (1975-85), which means for me he will always be a topic of conversation -- for anyone still left to listen.