| 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League champions National League West champions | ||||
| League | National League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Dodger Stadium | |||
| City | Los Angeles, California | |||
| Record | 95–67 (.586) | |||
| Divisional place | 1st | |||
| Owner | Walter O'Malley | |||
| President | Peter O'Malley | |||
| General managers | Al Campanis | |||
| Managers | Tommy Lasorda | |||
| Television | KTTV (11) | |||
| Radio | KABC Vin Scully,Jerry Doggett,Ross Porter XEGM Jaime Jarrín,Rudy Hoyos | |||
| ||||
The1978 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 89th season for theLos Angeles Dodgers franchise inMajor League Baseball (MLB), their 21st season inLos Angeles,California, and their 17th season playing their home games atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles California.
The team won their second straightNational Leaguepennant and losing to theNew York Yankees in theWorld Series again. Dodger coachJim Gilliam died at the end of the season and his uniform number, 19, was retired by the team prior to Game 1 of the World Series; the team also wore a black memorial patch with Gilliam's number during the World Series. Unlike the previous Dodger team, no member of the team hit 30 home runs after seeing four members hit that mark the previous season (the team leader was Reggie Smith, with 29).
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 54–27 | 41–40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 69 | .571 | 2½ | 49–31 | 43–38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | 50–31 | 39–42 |
| San Diego Padres | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11 | 50–31 | 34–47 |
| Houston Astros | 74 | 88 | .457 | 21 | 50–31 | 24–57 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 93 | .426 | 26 | 39–42 | 30–51 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 | |||||
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | |||||
| Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | |||||
| New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | |||||
| San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | |||||
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — | |||||
| 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
On August 20, before a night game in New York against theNew York Mets,Steve Garvey approachedDon Sutton in the Dodgers' clubhouse over an article inThe Washington Post in which Sutton was quoted as saying toTom Boswell:
"All you ever hear about on our team is Steve Garvey, the all-American boy...well, the best player on this team for the past two years--and we all know it--isReggie Smith. Reggie doesn't go out and publicize himself. He doesn't smile at the right people or say the right things. Reggie's not a façade or a Madison Avenue image. He's a real person."
Garvey and Sutton wrestled for two minutes in the clubhouse over Sutton's words and had to be pulled apart by teammates. Neither was seriously injured. Both had facial scratches and bruises and Garvey had a bloodshot left eye where it appeared a finger or thumb had been inserted by Sutton. Days later, Sutton publicly apologized for the incident, but not to Garvey personally.[6]
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Steve Yeager | 94 | 228 | 44 | .193 | 4 | 23 |
| 1B | Steve Garvey | 162 | 639 | 202 | .316 | 21 | 113 |
| 2B | Davey Lopes | 151 | 587 | 163 | .278 | 17 | 58 |
| 3B | Ron Cey | 159 | 555 | 150 | .270 | 23 | 84 |
| SS | Bill Russell | 155 | 625 | 179 | .286 | 3 | 46 |
| LF | Dusty Baker | 149 | 522 | 137 | .262 | 11 | 66 |
| CF | Bill North | 110 | 304 | 71 | .234 | 0 | 10 |
| RF | Reggie Smith | 128 | 447 | 132 | .295 | 29 | 93 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Monday | 119 | 342 | 87 | .254 | 19 | 57 |
| Lee Lacy | 103 | 245 | 64 | .261 | 13 | 40 |
| Joe Ferguson | 67 | 198 | 47 | .237 | 7 | 28 |
| Vic Davalillo | 75 | 77 | 24 | .312 | 1 | 11 |
| Johnny Oates | 40 | 75 | 23 | .307 | 0 | 6 |
| Jerry Grote | 41 | 70 | 19 | .271 | 0 | 9 |
| Ted Martinez | 54 | 55 | 14 | .255 | 1 | 5 |
| Manny Mota | 37 | 33 | 10 | .303 | 0 | 6 |
| Glenn Burke | 16 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 0 | 2 |
| Rudy Law | 11 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Pedro Guerrero | 5 | 8 | 5 | .625 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Simpson | 10 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 0 | 1 |
| Myron White | 7 | 4 | 2 | .500 | 0 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Sutton | 34 | 238.1 | 15 | 11 | 3.55 | 154 |
| Burt Hooton | 32 | 236.0 | 19 | 10 | 2.71 | 104 |
| Tommy John | 33 | 213.0 | 17 | 10 | 3.30 | 124 |
| Doug Rau | 30 | 199.0 | 15 | 9 | 3.26 | 95 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Rhoden | 30 | 164.2 | 10 | 8 | 3.66 | 79 |
| Bob Welch | 23 | 111.1 | 7 | 4 | 2.02 | 66 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Forster | 47 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 1.93 | 46 |
| Charlie Hough | 55 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3.28 | 66 |
| Lance Rautzhan | 43 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2.93 | 25 |
| Bobby Castillo | 18 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3.97 | 30 |
| Mike Garman | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.41 | 5 |
The Dodgers defeated thePhiladelphia Phillies 3 games to 1 in the NLCS.
October 4,Veterans Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 1 |
| Philadelphia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| W:Bob Welch (1-0) L:Larry Christenson (0-1) SV: None | ||||||||||||
| HRs:PHI –Jerry Martin (1) LAD –Steve Garvey 2 (2) Davey Lopes (1) Steve Yeager (1) | ||||||||||||
October 5,Veterans Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| W:Tommy John (1-0) L:Dick Ruthven (0-1) SV: None | ||||||||||||
| HRs:PHI – None LAD –Davey Lopes (2) | ||||||||||||
October 6,Dodger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 11 | 1 |
| Los Angeles | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| W:Steve Carlton (1-0) L:Don Sutton (0-1) SV: None | ||||||||||||
| HRs:PHI –Steve Carlton (1),Greg Luzinski (1);LAD –Steve Garvey (3) | ||||||||||||
October 7,Dodger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| Los Angeles | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 0 |
| W:Terry Forster (1-0) L:Tug McGraw (0-1) SV: None | |||||||||||||
| HRs:PHI –Greg Luzinski (2),Bake McBride (1);LAD –Ron Cey (1) Steve Garvey (4) | |||||||||||||
The Dodgers again lost to theNew York Yankees in the World Series.
ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (2)
Tuesday, October 10, 1978, atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | X | 11 | 15 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Tommy John (1–0) LP:Ed Figueroa (0–1) Home runs: NYY:Reggie Jackson (1) LAD:Dusty Baker (1),Davey Lopes 2 (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, October 11, 1978, atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Burt Hooton (1–0) LP:Catfish Hunter (0–1) Sv:Bob Welch (1) Home runs: NYY: None LAD:Ron Cey (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Friday, October 13, 1978, atYankee Stadium inBronx, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | X | 5 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Ron Guidry (1–0) LP:Don Sutton (0–1) Home runs: LAD: None NYY:Roy White (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday, October 14, 1978, atYankee Stadium inBronx, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Goose Gossage (1–0) LP:Bob Welch (0–1) Home runs: LAD:Reggie Smith (1) NYY: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday, October 15, 1978, atYankee Stadium inBronx, New York
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | X | 12 | 18 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Jim Beattie (1–0) LP:Burt Hooton (1–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, October 17, 1978, atDodger Stadium inLos Angeles
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Catfish Hunter (1–1) LP:Don Sutton (0–2) Home runs: NYY:Reggie Jackson (2) LAD:Davey Lopes (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams inBOLD won League Championships
The Dodgers drafted 35 players in the June draft and 12 in the January draft. Of those, seven players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.
The Dodgers did not have a first round pick this year in the June draft as their pick was given to thePittsburgh Pirates as compensation for their signing of free agent pitcherTerry Forster. In the second round, they selected SS Clay Smith fromNorthwest Classen High School inOklahoma City, Oklahoma. Smith played in the Dodgers farm system through 1981, hitting .271 in 277 games in the rookie leagues and class-A before he was released.
This draft netted the Dodgers two key players for their championship teams of the 1980s. They draftedMike Marshall in the 6th round andSteve Sax in the 9th. Marshall would hit 148 homers in 11 seasons and made the All-Star team in 1984 while playing both the outfield and first base. Sax played 14 seasons (8 of them with the Dodgers) and hit .281 with 444 steals. The Dodgers starting second baseman for most of the 1980s, he was the 1982NL Rookie of the Year and a five time All-Star.
| 1978 draft picks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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January draft[edit]
January secondary phase[edit]
June draft[edit]
June secondary phase[edit]
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