Steve Garvey grounded out during his run for public office in California ... but the Dodgers legend tells TMZ Sports there are only positives to take away from his first at-bat in politics!!
We caught up with the former MLB star shortly after the AP called his race against Adam Schiff for a seat in the United States Senate ... but despite the outcome, the World Series champ was proud of the work his campaign did.
"We're gonna end up with six to seven million votes, new platform in California for moderates," he said. "I'm very proud of the people for standing up. We've registered more people in 58 counties there. All the good things."
Even with the loss ... Garvey isn't planning on his campaign being one and done -- saying he's dedicated to helping bring necessary change.
"We're committed," he said.
Garvey focused on the issues of immigration, crime, cost of living, homelessness and border security to name a few. While he did run as a Republican, he labeled himself a "conservative moderate" -- and didn't attempt to align himself with President-Elect Donald Trump.
With how great Garvey is handling his first attempt on the ballot, it's fair to say there's no crying in baseball -- or politics!!