Former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey is among nine former players and one late executive who will be considered for election to baseball's Hall of Fame Sunday.
Each person on the Modern Baseball Era ballot needs to receive at least 75 percent of the votes from a 16-member committee to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The committee members will cast their votes at baseball's winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The committee appointed by the Hall of Fame includes Don Sutton, a teammate of Garvey's on the Dodgers from 1969-79; George Brett, Rod Carew, Dave Winfield and Robin Yount; and three other Hall of Famers; five major league executives and three media members or historians.
Garvey played with the Dodgers from 1969-82, is fifth in team history in RBIs and hits and was the 1974 National League MVP.
Garvey's 1,207 consecutive game streak from 1975 to 1983 was the third longest in major league history. It ended when he broke his thumb in a home plate collision on July 29, 1983. It is now the fourth longest behind Cal Ripken Jr. (2,632), Lou Gehrig (2,130) and Everett Scott (1,307).
The first 1,107 games were with the Dodgers and the final 100 were with the San Diego Padres, where Garvey completed his career from 1983-87.
The closest Garvey came to being elected to the Hall of Fame by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America was in 1995, his third year of eligibility, when he received 42.6 percent of the votes. He received over 40 percent two other times.
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Votes from 75 percent of those voting is required to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
The other former Dodger on the ballot is Tommy John, who pitched for the team from 1971-78, part of a 26-season career in which he won 288 games, 26th most in baseball history. All but two of the pitchers ahead of John are in the Hall of Fame.
The exceptions are Roger Clemens, ninth on the list with 354 victories, who has been dogged by suspicion he used performance-enhancing drugs, and the 19th-century pitcher Bobby Mathews, 25th on the list with 297 victories, who played his entire career when the pitching mound was 50 feet from home plate, 10 feet, 6 inches less than the current distance.
John received his highest percentage of votes in his final year of eligibility, 2009., 31.7 percent, the only time he topped 30 percent.
The ballot for candidates whose greatest contributions came from 1970 to 1987, dubbed by the Hall of Fame as the Modern Era, also includes former Dodger manager Don Mattingly, chosen for his playing career with the New York Yankees, and the late Marvin Miller, who headed the Major League Baseball Players Association from 1966-82.
Figures from the Modern Era will again be considered for the Hall of Fame in 2019. Individuals whose greatest contributions to baseball came from 1988 to the present will be considered next year.
