Those of us old enough, remember when California, especially southern California, was a hotbed of Conservativism. Those days are long gone and even thinking of a Republican Senator from what was once “the Golden State” seems about as likely a pack rat learning to play the fiddle.

However, the candidacy of Steve Garvey in California and Larry Hogan in Maryland, seem promising.  Would they likely be strong Conservatives?  No, but they certainly would be better than the alternative, and if a second Trump term is a long shot, so would be Republican control of the Senate.  It would be vital just for judicial appointments let alone foreign policy issues.

I sort of grew up with Steve Garvey.  He entered the major leagues in 1969, about the time I graduated college. Like most young men, I followed sports, and since I had played baseball myself and loved it, baseball commanded most of my attention when I was not working or studying.

Long before Arizona had major league ball, most of us listened to either Dodger or Giant games on the radio.  Like many newcomers to Arizona, I could not follow my boyhood team, the Pirates. I mostly followed the Dodgers because I so enjoyed listening to Vin Scully.  In addition, the Dodgers during the 70s and 80s put on the field some terrific teams.  I listened to a lot of games during the summer evenings, the radio often crackling from gathering thunderstorms.

Scully was classy as an announcer and Garvey was classy as a player.  And both of them had incredibly durable careers.

There is something peaceful about listening to a game on the radio that seems lost on many today.  Despite all the trouble the country had during that period, you felt somehow all would be well if Vin was still on the radio.  What a loss that he is gone.

Garvey’s good guy image never seemed contrived, although at times it seemed over the top.   He seemed to realize that young boys would be following him and unlike many sports figures today, he understood that as a responsibility. At least in public, he conducted himself as one of the most fan-friendly players, even taking out a full-page newspaper ad thanking the fans for their support. He did have marital problems, and given his high profile, and that of his newscaster wife, his issues could hardly be kept private.  At the time, it was quite a scandal, even in swinging Southern California.  But Garvey just kept on performing at a high level.  Meantime he remarried as has been so for 35 years.

He got into a famous fight with pitcher Don Sutton, reportedly because Sutton did not like Garvey’s squeaky-clean image.  But Garvey just kept being Garvey, Mr. Consistency.

Unlike a lot of players, he did not unnecessarily showboat even though he was an astounding hitter and fielder, and he showed up to work.  Consistency was his hallmark and he played every day, year after year. He played one entire season without even committing an error.  In addition, I remember him being a clutch player.  With runners on base in a critical game, you wanted Steve Garvey at the plate.

You cannot play at that level,  that number of years, without having some kind of fire inside that mellow, not a hair out-of-place persona.   As you view the two videos provided, you likely will wonder during the interview if he could really been that nice and well-spoken.  I remember many post-game interviews when he was.

Even though he was quite young, he was always a very polite man.  That had to come from how he was raised. He seems the same today, well-dressed, thoughtful, and articulate. Therefore, although his chances are dim in union-dominated California, many remember that he and Vin sort of personified when California was great and exciting.  It was once clean and growing, and you didn’t have to step over human feces and needles to get to a restaurant.

It could be that California is hitting bottom and the policies of years of progressive one-party rule will create a yearning for once was a great place to live and work.  The recent vote for law and order in San Francisco was striking in that regard.

In addition to a possible swing back to normality, the country and California are ready for a little class.

Finally, Garvey deep down is the competitor with inner confidence.  You have to have that to put up the numbers he did over a long career. When it is the bottom of the ninth inning with runners on base, Republicans may have the ideal man at the plate in California.

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Image Credit: YouTube Screenshot