In the late ’80s, former baseball star and Tampa native Steve Garvey's personal life became so scandalous that bumper stickers started appearing all over Southern California saying, "Honk If You're Carrying Steve Garvey's Love Child."
That little tidbit probably won't be included in the Garvey wing of the new Al Lopez Baseball Museum in Ybor City. But the museum does look like a go, now that the Hillsborough County commission has approved a proposal to lease land at the northeast corner of Ninth Avenue and 19th Street to the city of Tampa and move Lopez's home to that location.
Al Lopez was the first Tampa native to play in the major leagues and the first to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. But the museum will also include information about other locals who made good in "The Show," such as Garvey, Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield.
