1979 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 90th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball, their 22nd season in Los Angeles, California, and their 18th season playing their home games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles California. The team finished the season in third place in the National League West. Near the end of the season, owner Walter O'Malley died, and the ownership of the team went to his son, Peter.

Offseason

February 15, 1979: Brad Gulden was traded by the Dodgers to the New York Yankees for Gary Thomasson.

Regular season

Notable transactions

April 7, 1979: Rick Rhoden was traded by the Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jerry Reuss.
May 11, 1979: Lance Rautzhan was purchased from the Dodgers by the Milwaukee Brewers.
May 11, 1979: Lerrin LaGrow was purchased by the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox.

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	105	310	67	.216	13	41
1B	Steve Garvey	162	648	204	.315	28	110
2B		153	582	154	.265	28	73
SS	Bill Russell	153	627	170	.271	7	56
3B	Ron Cey	150	487	137	.281	28	81
LF	Dusty Baker	151	554	152	.274	23	88
CF	Derrel Thomas	141	406	104	.256	5	44
RF	Reggie Smith	68	234	64	.274	10	32

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 Ferguson	122	363	95	.262	20	69
	115	315	78	.248	14	45
Von Joshua	94	142	40	.282	3	14
Ted Martínez	81	112	30	.268	0	2
Mickey Hatcher	33	93	25	.269	1	5
Pedro Guerrero	25	62	15	.242	2	9
Johnny Oates	26	46	6	.130	0	2
Manny Mota	47	42	15	.357	0	3
Rick Monday	12	33	10	.303	0	2
Vic Davalillo	29	27	7	.259	0	2

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
Rick Sutcliffe	39	242.0	17	10	3.46	117
Don Sutton	33	226.0	12	15	3.82	146
Burt Hooton	29	212.0	11	10	2.97	129
Andy Messersmith	11	62.1	2	4	4.91	26
Doug Rau	11	56.0	1	5	5.30	28

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 Reuss	39	160.0	7	14	3.54	83
Charlie Hough	42	151.1	7	5	4.76	76
Bob Welch	25	81.1	5	6	3.98	64
Gerry Hannahs	4	16.0	0	2	3.38	6

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 Patterson	36	4	1	6	5.26	34
Lerrin LaGrow	31	5	1	4	3.41	22
Ken Brett	30	4	3	2	3.45	13
Bobby Castillo	19	2	0	7	1.11	25
	17	1	2	2	4.34	28
Terry Forster	17	1	2	2	5.51	8
Lance Rautzhan	12	0	2	1	7.45	5
Dennis Lewallyn	7	0	1	0	5.11	1

Awards and honors

Farm system

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

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 and New York Yankees. 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, 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.

January draft

Round	Name	Position	School	Signed	Career span	Highest level
1	Robert Silicani	3B	College of San Mateo	Yes	1979	Rookie
2	Jim Teller	OF	Sacramento City College	No Red Sox-1979	1979–1982	A
3	Kyle Dunning	RHP	Linn-Benton Community College	No
4	Joseph Siers	RHP	Palm Beach Community College	No
5	Phillip Smith	SS	Georgia Perimeter College	No
6	Eric Stack	RHP	Lane Community College	No
7	James Gleissner	C	Mount San Antonio College	No Royals-1980	1980–1984	AA

January secondary phase

Round	Name	Position	School	Signed	Career span	Highest level
1	Rick Misuraca	3B	Rose State College	Yes	1979	Rookie
2	John Millholland	SS	Louisburg College	No Yankees-1980	1980–1981	A
3	Richard Ross	OF	San Jose City College	No
4	Tommy Blackmon	RHP	Spartanburg Methodist College	No Indians-1980	19980-1984	AA

June draft

Round	Name	Position	School	Signed	Career span	Highest level
1	Steve Howe	LHP	University of Michigan	Yes	1979–1997	MLB
1	Steve Perry	RHP	University of Michigan	Yes	1979–1984	AAA
2	David Lanning	3B	University of Georgia	Yes	1979–1981	AA
3	Don Crow	C	Washington State University	Yes	1979–1982	MLB
4	Leo Mann	SS	University of Missouri	Yes	1979–1981	A
5	Terry Sutcliffe	RHP	University of Kansas	Yes	1979–1981	A
6	Dale Holman	OF	Louisiana Tech University	Yes	1979–1987	AAA
7	Timothy Gloyd	SS	Pepperdine University	Yes	1979–1981	A
8	Jeff Dietrich	LHP	Serramonte High School	No
9	Felix Oroz	LHP	University of Wyoming	Yes	1979–1984	AAA
10	John Houston	C	John F. Kennedy High School	Yes	1979–1980	Rookie
11	Mark Sheehy	2B	University of California, Riverside	Yes	1979–1987	AAA
12	Kerwin Danley	OF	Susan Miller Dorsey High School	No
13	Greg Brock	1B	University of Wyoming	Yes	1979–1991	MLB
14	Franklin Bryant	RHP	North Carolina State University	Yes	1979–1982	A
15	Tom Beyers	OF	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo	Yes	1979–1983	AAA
16	Kenneth Bullock	LHP	University of San Francisco	Yes	1980	A
17	Orel Hershiser	RHP	Bowling Green State University	Yes	1979–2000	MLB
18	Stanley Mohler	OF	University of South Alabama	Yes	1979–1980	A
19	Wayne Kellam	RHP	Indian River High School	Yes	1979	Rookie
20	William Sobbe	C	Northwest Missouri State University	Yes	1979–1981	AA
21	Clint Wickenscheimer	RHP	Ball State University	Yes	1979-1982	AA
22	Glenn Terry	LHP	Kimball High School	Yes	1979–1982	A
23	David Daniel	RHP	Antelope Valley High School	Yes	1979–1982	A
24	Morris Madden	LHP	Spartanburg Methodist College	Yes	1979–1990	MLB
25	Leonard Collins	SS	Hiram Johnson High School	No
26	Brian Dillard	OF	Bloom High School	No
27	Harry Kazanjian	C	Washington High School	No
28	Kevin Roddy	IF	Bellevue West High School	No
29	P. J. Schranz	SS	Bloom High School	No
30	Ted Salcido	SS	Wilson High School	Yes	1980	A
31	James Garcia	RHP	Bell High School	No
32	George Page	OF	Kennedy High School	No Orioles-1982	1982–1983	Rookie

June secondary phase

Round	Name	Position	School	Signed	Career span	Highest level
1	Alfredo Mejía	C	Oral Roberts University	Yes	1979–1981	AAA
2	Thomas McLaughlin	RHP	University of Nebraska–Lincoln	No Giants-1980	1980–1981	A
3	Kyle Dunning	RHP	Linn–Benton Community College	No
4	Bill Worden	C	Mission Hills JC	No Angels-1981	1981–1986	AA