1979 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season in third place in the Western Division of the National League. Near the end of the season, owner Walter O'Malley died, and the ownership of the team went to his son, Peter.

1979 Los Angeles Dodgers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersWalter O'Malley
PresidentPeter O'Malley
General managersAl Campanis
ManagersTommy Lasorda
Local televisionKTTV (11)
Local radioKABC
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
KTNQ
Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
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Offseason

Regular season

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9071 0.559 — 48–32 42–39
Houston Astros 8973 0.549 1½ 52–29 37–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 7983 0.488 11½ 46–35 33–48
San Francisco Giants 7191 0.438 19½ 38–43 33–48
San Diego Padres 6893 0.422 22 39–42 29–51
Atlanta Braves 6694 0.412 23½ 34–45 32–49

Record vs. opponents
1979 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta—4–86–127–1112–61–94–87–54–86–1211–74–8
Chicago8–4—7–56–65–76–128–109–96–129–38–48–10
Cincinnati12–65–7—8–1011–76–68–48–48–410–76–128–4
Houston11–76–610–8—10–87–59–35–74–814–47–116–6
Los Angeles 6–127–57–118–10—6–69–33–94–89–914–46–6
Montreal9–112–66–65–76–6—15–311–77–117–57–510–8
New York8–410–84–83–93–93–15—5–138–10–14–88–47–11
Philadelphia5-79–94–87–59–37–1113–5—8–109–36–67–11–1
Pittsburgh8–412–64–88–48–411–710–8–110–8—7–59–311–7
San Diego12–63–97–104–149–95–78–43–95–7—8–104–8
San Francisco7–114–812–611–74–145–74–86–63–910–8—5–7
St. Louis8–410–84–86–66–68–1011–711–7–17–118–47–5—

Opening Day lineup
Opening Day Starters
NamePosition
Davey LopesSecond baseman
Bill RussellShortstop
Reggie SmithRight fielder
Steve GarveyFirst baseman
Ron CeyThird baseman
Dusty BakerLeft fielder
Rick MondayCenter fielder
Steve YeagerCatcher
Burt HootonStarting pitcher

Notable transactions

Roster
1979 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Starters by position

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
CSteve Yeager10531067.2161341
1BSteve Garvey162648204.31528110
2BDavey Lopes153582154.2652873
SSBill Russell153627170.271756
3BRon Cey150487137.2812881
LFDusty Baker151554152.2742388
CFDerrel Thomas141406104.256544
RFReggie Smith6823464.2741032

Other batters

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
Joe Ferguson12236395.2622069
Gary Thomasson11531578.2481445
Von Joshua9414240.282314
Ted Martínez8111230.26802
Mickey Hatcher339325.26915
Pedro Guerrero256215.24229
Johnny Oates26466.13002
Manny Mota474215.35703
Rick Monday123310.30302
Vic Davalillo29277.25902

Starting pitchers

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 Sutcliffe39242.017103.46117
Don Sutton33226.012153.82146
Burt Hooton29212.011102.97129
Andy Messersmith1162.1244.9126
Doug Rau1156.0155.3028

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jerry Reuss39160.07143.5483
Charlie Hough42151.1754.7676
Bob Welch2581.1563.9864
Gerry Hannahs416.0023.386

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Dave Patterson364165.2634
Lerrin LaGrow315143.4122
Ken Brett304323.4513
Bobby Castillo192071.1125
Joe Beckwith171224.3428
Terry Forster171225.518
Lance Rautzhan120217.455
Dennis Lewallyn70105.111

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Farm system
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 Gail Henley

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft
Main article: 1979 Major League Baseball Draft

The Dodgers drafted 36 players in the June draft and 11 in the January draft. Of those, five players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.

The Dodgers lost their first round pick in the June draft to the San Diego Padres because they signed free agent Derrel Thomas but they gained the first round picks of the Pittsburgh Pirates (compensation for Lee Lacy) and New York Yankees (for Tommy John). With those picks they drafted two players from the University of Michigan, left-handed pitcher Steve Howe and right-handed pitcher Steve Perry. Howe was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year, a 1981 World Series Champion and a 1982 All-Star. He played in 12 seasons and saved 328 games before a drug addiction forced him out of the game. Perry pitched six seasons in the minors, the last two with the AAA Albuquerque Dukes, and finished 28-40 with a 5.34 ERA before the Dodgers released him.

This year's draft class also included pitcher Orel Hershiser from Bowling Green University, who was picked in the 17th round. He pitched 18 seasons (13 with the Dodgers), winning 204 games. He set a Major League record with a 59 consecutive scoreless inning streak in 1988 en route to winning the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP. He was also a three-time All-Star.

Notes
  1. Brad Gulden page at Baseball Reference
  2. Rick Rhoden page at Baseball Reference
  3. Lance Rautzhan page at Baseball Reference
  4. Lerrin LaGrow page at Baseball Reference
  5. 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
  6. 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
  7. 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
  8. 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References
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