On a June day in 2003, Paige Bilbrey was on the phone frantically trying to reach her boss, former Dodgers All-Star Steve Garvey, at Le Parc Hotel in Paris, where he was attending the French Open tennis tournament. The matter couldn't wait: Standing in the lobby of Garvey's hilltop mansion outside Park City, Utah, was an employee of the local power company. Pay the overdue bill, the man said, or he'd turn off the lights. The incident wasn't the result of an embarrassing oversight. It was typical of the financial chaos that has reigned in Garvey's life. For years, Garvey, a Tampa native and graduate of Chamberlain High, and his wife, Candace, have neglected bills large and small, leaving dozens of people who worked for them or sold them merchandise wondering if they were ever going to get paid. The Garveys drove luxury cars, shopped in upscale boutiques and traveled extensively even as they were pursued by creditors. Garvey's gardener took him to small claims court to recover $1,773. A mirror installer did the same over $809. A caterer received a court order to seize valuable artwork from the Garveys until they paid her $14,000 bill. Garvey, 57, owes attorneys more than $300,000, according to court records. Many a former athlete has fallen on hard times, but Garvey, known during his Dodger days as "Mr. Clean," is different. As his financial troubles deepened, he continued to cast himself as a principled and accomplished businessman, charging as much as $10,000 to give motivational speeches. "To only focus on Steve Garvey's baseball accomplishments would leave out a lifetime of achievements as a businessman, philanthropist, volunteer and most importantly a devoted family man," reads www.stevegarvey.com, billed as his official Web site. "Garvey understands that in the ever-changing world we live in there is a great necessity of being a man of honor, integrity and quality." But records show that the Garveys have made a habit of dodging payments on almost every type of expense. Phone, gas and electric bills have been delinquent. Checks to the local supermarket have bounced. Fed up with not getting paid, the Garveys' pediatrician wrote a letter in March 2003 stating that future services provided to their children would be on a "cash only" basis. The Garveys' church waited nearly a year to receive the $2,700 it was owed for items the couple agreed to buy at a charity auction, according to documents and interviews. And, in violation of a court ruling, Garvey unilaterally decided to halve the child support he was ordered to pay for one son he had out of wedlock. Last year, a judge threatened to jail Garvey if he failed to make payments. Until two years ago, Garvey and his wife lived in a $5-million mansion overlooking Utah's world-renowned ski resorts. Yet despite the appearance of wealth, Garvey, under penalty of perjury, has repeatedly said in court declarations he is deeply in debt. In a two-hour interview with the Los Angeles Times, Garvey acknowledged having chronic financial problems but declined to address specifics contained in this article. He blamed his debt on a combination of tax liabilities, financial support for most of his nine children and stepchildren and legal battles over business and personal affairs. "Do I expect to pay every debt? Do I want to? Absolutely," Garvey said. "The day I'm able to be debt free is the day I'm going to be the happiest guy around." Attorneys who have sued him believe he has more money than he is letting on and allege he has hidden assets. Said one who is trying to collect on a $235,000 debt: "Once a Dodger, always a dodger." A big source of Garvey's money problems stem from a paternity suit filed by his onetime fiancee, Rebecka Mendenhall. She sued him in 1991, alleging he was the father of her child, born in 1989. In 1993, a judge ruled that Garvey was the boy's father and that Mendenhall was entitled to child support. Three years later, as Garvey sought a reduction in the amount he was ordered to pay, he filed the declaration stating he was nearly $1-million in debt. Mendenhall agreed to a reduction. But in 2000, when she heard Garvey was expected to receive $3-million in disputed pension funds from Major League Baseball, she filed court papers seeking to adjust his child support payment. Though the money never materialized, Mendenhall's lawyers became convinced Garvey was attempting to hide income through Candace. The Garveys stated in court papers that Candace Garvey was the sole owner of Garvey Management Group Inc., which oversaw Steve Garvey's public speaking services. Though the company grossed more than $900,000 in 1999, the Garveys said Steve Garvey received only a fraction. The vast majority went to Candace, whose assets, they argued, were separate and not subject to Mendenhall's child support claim. Mendehall's lawyers also discovered documents related to the purchase of the Utah house in which Candace stated she had more than $2.5-million in stock, according to court records. The Garveys argued those assets were hers alone, acquired when the couple temporarily separated. But a judge ruled the assets were community property under California law, meaning Garvey's half-interest could be considered when calculating child support. In addition, the judge decreed Garvey pay $165,000 to Mendenhall's attorney and accounting expert. With interest, the debt has since grown to $235,000, records show. Last year, having failed to pay all the court-ordered child support to Mendenhall, Garvey was found in contempt and faced possible jail time. He told Superior Court Commissioner James D. Endman that any time behind bars would do irreparable damage to his reputation, which he banked on to earn a living. Endman spared Garvey a jail sentence but warned him of the consequences if he were to be found in contempt again. "No more breaks," he said. "Okay?"