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 →

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).

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

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 2½ 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

1978 National League record

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

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

Roster

1978 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Notable events

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

Batting

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
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

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

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
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

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

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

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

1978 National League Championship Series

Main article: 1978 National League Championship Series

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

Game 1

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)

Game 2

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)

Game 3

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)

Game 4

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)

1978 World Series

Main article: 1978 World Series

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All-Stars

Postseason

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 Jim Lefebvre

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft

Main article: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft

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

  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

External links

National League champions
National League West champions
1978 MLB season by team
Los Angeles Dodgers
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