A young Steve Garvey with Gil Hodges. Garvey, then a boy growing up in Tampa, Florida, became the Dodgers’ batboy thanks to his father’s job as a Greyhound bus driver for the team during Spring Training. Steve Garvey served as a batboy for five years (1956–1961), beginning at age seven, during Dodgers Spring Training in Florida. This experience allowed him regular, up-close contact with many of his baseball idols, including Hodges.
I wanted to post this pic of Steve Garvey on the left, and Gil Hodges on the right because my dad was such a Steve Garvey fan, mainly because Garv was a Catholic and a hardworking man and athlete. Perhaps an even stronger reason for my dad's admiration of Garvey was the fact that Garv is Irish Catholic, "Steve Garvey is Irish-American on his father's side; his father's ancestry is from County Cork, Ireland."
Garv had early signs of talent, drafted by the Twins when he was just 17, "drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Twins in the June 1966 amateur draft at age 17."
Oh, and did I say that he's Catholic? Wealthpeeps answers this question,
he identifies as a devout Roman Catholic.
Throughout his life, Garvey has remained steadfast in his Catholic faith, and his interactions with individuals from diverse religious backgrounds highlight his openness to engage with people of differing beliefs.
He played 3rd base for the Dodgers in 1970 and hit his first home run on July 21, 1970, off Carl Morton of the Montreal Expos. He moved to first base in 1973 after the retirement of Wes Parker.
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