Republican Candidate Steve Garvey Started His Career on the Left (Infield)

In California, a Former Dodger Turned Politician Demonstrates How Positions Hide Weaknesses

Many of us aren’t old enough to remember it, but Steve Garvey, now the leading Republican candidate for California’s U.S. Senate seat, started his career on the left.

The left side of the infield, that is. When the Los Angeles Dodgers first called up Garvey to the majors at the end of the 1969 season, he played third base.

Soon, however, Garvey on the left became a defensive disaster. He had a powerful arm, but he was dangerously inaccurate. He so often threw balls over the first baseman’s head and into the …