LOS ANGELES -- Steve Garvey didn't engage in false advertising when the former baseball player claimed a weight-loss product would work even if consumers ate forbidden foods such as buttered biscuits and ribs.

U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess ruled in Garvey's favor Monday in a $1.1 million lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres first baseman appeared in infomercials for the Enforma "Fat Trapper'' and "Exercise in a Bottle'' products.

The FTC argued that Garvey should have known his claims that people could eat high-fat foods "without guilt, without worry, and it's all because of a few little capsules'' were bogus. The suit demanded he forfeit the money he made endorsing Enforma.

Garvey's attorneys maintained that their client believed the product worked after trying it himself. They also argued that he was merely the host of the infomercials and couldn't have known the claims were false.

In a notice issued to both sides last month, the judge indicated that he was likely to side with Garvey. As an athlete, not a scientist, Garvey lacked the background to evaluate the company's claims, the judge said.