Review of "Garvey," by Steve Garvey and Skip Rozin

 Review of

Garvey, by Steve Garvey and Skip Rozin, ISBN 0812912721

Three out of five stars

No real energy in the book

 Steve Garvey was a great baseball player, a solid competitor and his career stats make a plausible argument for his inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a member of some of the most memorable Dodger teams in the seventies and early eighties with solid performances in all postseason series. He also played in 10 All-Star games. In many ways his  baseball life is that of boyhood dreams, being a batboy exposing him to nearly all of the great Dodger players of the fifties.

 However, this autobiography of his life until the end of his baseball career lacks fire and originality. It reads like a person deadpanning the story of his life. There is some whining, specifically his not having any real friends on the Dodger team. Some of that was due to his teammates, but he was not completely without blame.

 One of the most awkward moments in baseball in the early eighties was when the Dodgers really made no attempt to re-sign Garvey and he went to the San Diego Padres. At the time, he was still hitting nearly three hundred, but injuries to his hands had reduced his home run output.

 Despite being involved in some very dramatic moments in baseball and passing the consecutive game streak of Billy Williams, this book by Garvey about Garvey just has no real energy or excitement.