Former Major League Baseball star Steve Garvey advanced in California’s U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, setting up a matchup with Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in November’s general election.
Garvey is running as a Republican and placed second in California’s ‘jungle primary,’ which puts all candidates – regardless of party affiliation – into one pot, with the top two moving on to the general election.
‘This is the first game of a doubleheader, so keep the evening of Nov. 5 open,’ Garvey told his supporters on Tuesday night in California.
Here’s what to know about the former MLB star and current U.S. Senate candidate:
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Steve Garvey’s baseball career
Garvey played 19 major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, winning the NL MVP award in 1974. He was an All-Star eight seasons in a row from 1974-1981, receiving MVP votes every single season.
He played in five World Series (1974, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984), winning his only championship with the Dodgers in 1981.
A first baseman, Garvey finished his career with four Gold Glove awards, a .294 average, 2,599 hits, 272 home runs and 1,308 RBI.
Playing for the Padres in 1984, Garvey famously hit a walk-off home run in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs, tying the best-of-five series after the Cubs won the first two games. San Diego would take Game 5 to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history, ultimately losing to the Detroit Tigers.
Garvey topped 200 hits in a season six times in his career and finished with 10 All-Star appearances.
Garvey fails to get endorsements from ex-teammates
Garvey, who has no experience as an elected official, couldn’t get the support of a number of his ex-teammates. Dusty Baker and Dave Stewart, both of whom played with Garvey in Los Angeles, instead endorsed Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee from Oakland, who finished fourth on Tuesday behind Schiff, Garvey and Rep. Katie Porter.
‘I had a San Francisco Giants fan come up to me and said, ‘Garv, I hate the Dodgers but I’m gonna vote for you,’ and that closed the deal!’ Garvey told TMZ in October after announcing his candidacy.
Garvey also cited former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda’s mentality as an inspiration in his campaign.
‘(Lasorda) used to say, ‘You got to believe,’ and maybe that’s gonna be our theme,’ Garvey said. ‘Everybody saying you can’t win in California. But we believe.’
A Republican has not won a U.S. Senate seat in California since 1988.