Garvey, John offer special credentials for Hall committee to examine
by Cary Osborne
On June 1, the day Steve Garvey became the second member of the Legends of Dodger Baseball, he was asked about the one honor that has eluded him in a decorated life in baseball.
Garvey was on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years and the 2017 Modern Era Committee ballot, falling short of induction each time.
But he spoke optimistically on the afternoon of his special honor by the Dodgers, knowing that he was a candidate to return to the 2020 Modern Era Committee ballot and hopeful after the Today’s Game Era Committee, in December 2018, voted Lee Smith and Harold Baines into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
“It’s been a journey toward the Hall of Fame being on the ballot every other year now,” Garvey said that day. “I thought last time would be the time (for me to get inducted), but for whatever reason with the last selection (by a Hall of Fame era committee), more people are saying let’s really do what we should do with Steve Garvey’s career and take time to look at the body of work. And I think more people are doing that. And God willing, I’ll be on the ballot in December, and they’ll vote and maybe, just maybe.”
Garvey has the opportunity.
He and former Dodger pitcher Tommy John, as well as former Dodger manager Don Mattingly, are among the 10 nominees up for selection by the Modern Era Committee.
Joining them are Dwight Evans, Marvin Miller, Thurman Munson, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Ted Simmons and Lou Whitaker.
Any person on the ballot who receives at least 75% of the votes from the 16-member committee will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 26, 2020. The voting will be conducted on Dec. 8 at the Baseball Winter Meetings.
Garvey and John each have impressive surface-level credentials. But each has more to consider — Garvey for his durability and postseason heroism and John for how his surgery changed the game.
Garvey was the 1974 National League Most Valuable Player and finished in the top six of MVP balloting six times in his career. He is a 10-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove Award winner and the 1978 and 1984 (with San Diego) NL Championship Series MVP.
He owns the NL record for consecutive games played at 1,207 games and is a career .294/.329/.446/.775 hitter with 272 career homers and 2,599 hits.
In 232 postseason plate appearances, he batted .338/.361/.550/.910 with 11 home runs. According to STATS LLC, Garvey’s postseason career batting average ranks first all time among players with at least 200 plate appearances and his slugging percentage ranks fourth.
Garvey reached a high of 41.6% on the BBWAA ballot in 1993 — his first year on the ballot. He has a career WAR of 38.1. According to Baseball Reference, the average batting WAR for a Hall of Famer is 69. Baines got in with a 38.7.
John has a unique argument in that he was a pioneering baseball player. The left-handed pitcher and four-time All-Star pitched for 26 seasons, 12 before the revolutionary surgery that was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe on him, and 14 after.
John had a 61.5 WAR. He had a 3.34 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 2,245 strikeouts an ERA+ of 111 and a 288–231 record.
John and Roger Clemens are the only pitchers since 1900 with at least 285 wins who are not in the Hall of Fame.
John had a 2.65 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 14 postseason games. He had a 0.40 ERA in three NLCS starts for the Dodgers.
In 2016, we looked into his case for induction, and part of that case was built on the success of his 1974 elbow ligament surgery and its lasting impact.
John was previously on the 2017 Modern Era ballot with Garvey.
Mattingly, the manager of the Miami Marlins, managed the Dodgers from 2011–2015. He played 14 seasons with the New York Yankees and was the 1985 American League MVP, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner and six-time All-Star.
