Dodgers: Steve Garvey had an iron man streak of his own

The Dodgers are visiting the Orioles, the home of baseball’s consecutive games leader Cal Ripken Jr.  Steve Garvey had an iron man streak of his own.

To complete the final east coast trip of their 2019 regular season, the Dodgers are starting a three game series with the Baltimore Orioles.  The Orioles are the second worst team in baseball this season with a 46-97 record.  The O’s are also home to Cal Ripken Jr. and the MLB all-time record for consecutive games played.

Ripken Jr. set one of the toughest records to break in sports, by playing in 2,632 consecutive games.  Given the tough rigors of the MLB season and the fact that there are 162 games plus the postseason, players rarely even appear in 162 straight games during one season.  For the Dodgers, they did have one iron man of their own in Steve Garvey.

Garvey owns the fourth longest consecutive games played streak at 1,207 games.  His streak began on September 3, 1975 and ended with the San Diego Padres on July 29, 1983.  Not only did Steve Garvey become an iron man during his streak, he also was a very good player as he made seven straight all-star teams during his consecutive games streak.

More Articles About Steve Garvey:

During his streak, Steve also had five 200 hit seasons and he won three gold gloves while becoming Mr. Reliable in the Dodgers’ lineup.  The most impressive part of his streak was how effective of a player he was while playing in so many games.  It’s one thing to play in that many games in a row, and another to be a seven time all-star during that type of streak.

How did Garvey’s streak end while with the Padres?  He suffered a dislocated left thumb in game one of a doubleheader and missed the second game while getting his thumb checked out and that ended his streak.  Steve injured the thumb attempting to score on a wild pitch.  It is unlikely Garvey’s streak gets passed and his streak is less than halfway to Ripken Jr’s amazing streak.

One of the more recent consecutive game streaks for the Dodgers was Matt Kemp and his streak of 399 games.  That streak ended in 2012 when Kemp strained his left hamstring and was placed on the disabled list.

If there was a current Dodger who could one day make a run at Cal Ripken Jr or Steve Garvey’s streak it would probably be Cody Bellinger given that he is young and can play first base on his “rest” days.