Column: Garvey had better luck against the Yankees in 1981 than he will in the November election

Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, left, first batsman Steve Garvey, right, and catcher Steve Yeager celebrate.

By George SkeltonCapitol Journal Columnist

Oct. 25, 2024 3 AM PT

SACRAMENTO — Steve Garvey vividly remembers the final out of the 1981 World Series when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees. He calls it the highlight of his All-Star baseball career.

Even if he did get clobbered seconds later during the wild celebration.

Garvey was the Dodgers’ first baseman. Reliever Steve Howe was pitching. Center fielder Ken Landreaux caught a fly ball for the last out.

“We all run to the mound. That’s when your dream comes true …,” Garvey recalled.

“Winning a championship is the ultimate — whether it’s the World Series or the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup.”

But on the mound, he continued, “[catcher Steve] Yeager picks up Howe, pulls him around and Howe slams his elbow into my head. My hat flies off onto the mound. I gathered myself and got to the dugout, then went in to the obligatory ceremony with champagne.”

The Dodgers routed the Yankees 9-2 that day, Oct. 28, at Yankee Stadium. They won the Series in six games, 4-2, in an improbable comeback after losing the first two in New York.

“The most significant was Game 3 that Fernando [Valenzuela] pitched,” Garvey said. The inspirational Mexican immigrant tossed 147 pitches — unheard of today when managers freak out as hurlers reach 100 — and gutted it through the full nine innings for a 5-4 victory.

I interviewed Garvey, 75, the day after Valenzuela died Tuesday at age 63. “He was phenomenal,” Garvey said. “Very special to us and the history of the Dodgers.”

Garvey hit .417 in that series, the highest of any Dodgers regular.

We spoke as the Dodgers and Yankees prepared to meet Friday to resume their legendary World Series rivalry, the 12th time they’ve played each other in the Fall Classic — but the first since 1981.

The Yankees have won eight times — twice when Garvey was a Dodger, in 1977 and 1978. That’s what made the 1981 victory so sweet.

But Garvey doesn’t need to worry about being inadvertently belted during a victory celebration on election night Nov. 5. He’s the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat. And he has absolutely no chance of beating Democratic Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank.

Garvey has been on the losing side in four World Series — as a Dodger and a San Diego Padre. So defeat is no stranger.

I asked if he was prepared to lose his Senate playoff against Schiff.

“I’m never prepared to lose because that takes away my thinking about winning,” he replied. “Like the Dodgers being two games behind in the World Series. Maybe something will happen.”

But not even Valenzuela could change the outcome of this contest.

A poll of likely voters released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California showed Garvey trailing far behind Schiff, 63% to 37%. The campaign season hasn’t made any difference. The poll standings were virtually the same in April.

In L.A. County, where he was a Dodgers star for 14 seasons, Garvey was winning only 28% of the vote against Schiff’s 71%.

Garvey’s main problem is that he wears the wrong uniform. He’s a Republican. And the California GOP isn’t in the same league with Democrats in this blue state. It’s in the low minors.

No Republican has won a U.S. Senate seat in California since Pete Wilson was reelected in 1988. Wilson ran as a moderate. And no Republican has won any statewide office since 2006 when global celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger — also a moderate — was reelected governor.

Garvey calls himself a “moderate conservative,” which I guess means he’s a mainstream Republican, not a right-wing kook. But that’s still too far right for California.

Meanwhile, Schiff has been hitting big league pitching in Washington for years, including nasty spitballs hurled by Donald Trump, who loves to throw beanballs at opponents’ heads.

Garvey hasn’t formally endorsed Trump, but acknowledges voting for him three times, including in this year’s primary election. He also plans to vote for Trump against Democrat Kamala Harris.

“I will vote for Trump,” Garvey told me. “I think he’s the best person to move the country forward.”

But how about Trump’s crappy character?

“I never judge people,” Garvey replied. “I decide based on substance — like on border policy. That’s the existential crisis in our country right now. The border has to be closed.”

What prompted him to enter this sure-loser race?

“I saw a dysfunctional Washington,” Garvey said.

He recalled being invited by President Reagan to a small dinner at the White House in 1984. At the table, Republican Reagan and Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill “joked with each other, bantering back and forth. They couldn’t have been more opposite politically. But they worked together for the best of the country.”

That inspired Garvey and prompted him to ultimately run for the Senate, he said.

“I knew it was going to be hard. But I love the state and the people needed another choice. Obviously it was a very narrow pathway. But maybe somebody like me could run in this state. Schwarzenegger had a recognizable name and voice. And I had a recognizable name and voice.”

Garvey was a terrific ballplayer. He made 10 All-Star teams. And he holds the National League record for most consecutive games played, 1,207.

In politics, however, he never got out of the Instructional League.

Garvey recalled that I once wrote that he was a “deer-in-the-headlights rookie.” It seemed to have upset him a bit.

“I was not a deer in headlights,” he told me. “It was the steely-eyed look I’d give to Bob Gibson or …” And he named some other famous pitchers.

Garvey plans to attend the first two World Series games at Dodgers Stadium.

His prediction? “Dodgers in six.”

Maybe an ‘81 replay.

In politics, Garvey at least stepped up to the plate — something lots of pro politicians lack the courage to do these days.