Off The Field
Garcia was not selected a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His normal window of eligibility has closed, and thus he would only ever be elected if by decision of the Hall's Veterans Committee. Baseball historian Bill James dismissed Garcia's low ERA due to the "cold, cavernous Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which at that time had a pitcher's mound higher than white cliffs of Dover," to which fellow baseball historian Wayne Corbett wrote, "Garcia's more famous teammates enjoyed the same home-field advantage, but it was Garcia who recorded the staff's lowest ERA in four of those six seasons," referring to the period 1949–1954. Historian Stephen Lombardi wrote, "It is a shame that Mike Garcia is sometimes disregarded. A career such as his does not deserve to fade away from the memory of the overall baseball public." Cleveland sportswriter and Hall of Fame voter Hal Lebovitz wrote, "If Garcia had pitched long enough, he probably would be in the Hall of Fame." Garcia was named one of the Top 100 Greatest Indians in March 2001 and inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame on August 11, 2007. The Indians organization annually awards the Mike Garcia Award to an area high school student who demonstrates "outstanding success in the classroom, on the field, and in their community."
Garcia married Gerda Martin on January 13, 1951; they had three children. After his playing career had finished Garcia later also raced midget cars. Of racing, Garcia said, "I can tell you that racing certainly has as many problems connected with becoming a big winner as baseball." During his playing days he had served as a sponsor for Camel cigarettes. He died in Fairview Park, Ohio in January 1986, aged 62, after he had developed diabetes and kidney disease. He died on his thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. He was later buried in his hometown of Visalia, California. Garcia participated in fundraising events, which included the attendance of former teammates and Lopez, aimed at raising money to pay his medical bills which included dialysis three times a week. Garcia, whose annual salary was never greater than $35,000, died with more than $100,000 in medical bills remaining.
Read more about this topic: Mike Garcia (AL Pitcher)
Famous quotes containing the word field:
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)