1978 Los Angeles Dodgers season

Summary

The 1978 season ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning their second straight National League pennant and losing to the New York Yankees in the World Series again. Dodger coach Jim 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).

1978 Los Angeles Dodgers
National League Champions
National League West Champions
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkDodger Stadium
CityLos Angeles
OwnersWalter O'Malley
PresidentPeter O'Malley
General managersAl Campanis
ManagersTommy Lasorda
TelevisionKTTV (11)
RadioKABC
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
XEGM
Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

Offseason edit

Regular season edit

Season standings edit

NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 0.586 54–27 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 92 69 0.571 49–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 89 73 0.549 6 50–31 39–42
San Diego Padres 84 78 0.519 11 50–31 34–47
Houston Astros 74 88 0.457 21 50–31 24–57
Atlanta Braves 69 93 0.426 26 39–42 30–51

Record vs. opponents edit


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


Opening day lineup edit

Opening Day starters
Name Position
Davey Lopes Second baseman
Bill Russell Shortstop
Reggie Smith Rightfielder
Ron Cey Third baseman
Steve Garvey First baseman
Dusty Baker Leftfielder
Rick Monday Centerfielder
Steve Yeager Catcher
Don Sutton Starting Pitcher

Notable transactions edit

Roster edit

1978 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Notable events edit

On August 20, before a night game in New York against the New York Mets, Steve Garvey approached Don Sutton in the Dodgers' clubhouse over an article in The Washington Post in which Sutton was quoted as saying to Tom 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--is Reggie 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]

Player stats edit

Batting edit

Starters by position edit

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

Other batters edit

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

Pitching edit

Starting pitchers edit

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

Other pitchers edit

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

Relief pitchers edit

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

Postseason edit

 
Jim Gilliam's number 19 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1978.

1978 National League Championship Series edit

The Dodgers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3 games to 1 in the NLCS.

Game 1 edit

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: PHIJerry Martin (1)   LADSteve Garvey 2 (2)   Davey Lopes (1)   Steve Yeager (1)

Game 2 edit

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   LADDavey Lopes (2)

Game 3 edit

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: PHISteve Carlton (1), Greg Luzinski (1); LADSteve Garvey (3)

Game 4 edit

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: PHIGreg Luzinski (2), Bake McBride (1); LADRon Cey (1)   Steve Garvey (4)

1978 World Series edit

The Dodgers again lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series.

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (2)

Game 1 edit

Tuesday, October 10, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los 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)

Game 2 edit

Wednesday, October 11, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los 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)

Game 3 edit

Friday, October 13, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, 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)

Game 4 edit

Saturday, October 14, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, 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

Game 5 edit

Sunday, October 15, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, 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)

Game 6 edit

Tuesday, October 17, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los 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)

Awards and honors edit

All-Stars edit

Postseason edit

Farm system edit

Level Team League Manager
AAA Albuquerque Dukes Pacific Coast League Del Crandall
AA San Antonio Dodgers Texas League Don LeJohn
A Lodi Dodgers California League Stan Wasiak
A Clinton Dodgers Midwest League Dick McLaughlin
Rookie Lethbridge Dodgers Pioneer League Jim Lefebvre

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft edit

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 the Pittsburgh Pirates as compensation for their signing of free agent pitcher Terry Forster. In the second round, they selected SS Clay Smith from Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma 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 drafted Mike Marshall in the 6th round and Steve 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 1982 NL Rookie of the Year and a five time All-Star.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Dennis Lewallyn page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Elías Sosa page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Glenn Burke page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Mike Garman page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Joe Ferguson page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ "September 04, 1978".
  7. ^ 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
  8. ^ 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
  9. ^ 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  10. ^ 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References edit

  • Baseball-Reference season page
  • Baseball Almanac season page

External links edit

  • 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
  • Los Angeles Dodgers official web site