1968 Los Angeles Dodgers season explained

Los Angeles Dodgers
Season:	1968
League:	National League
Ballpark:	Dodger Stadium
City:	Los Angeles,
Owners:	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
President:	Walter O'Malley
General Managers:	Buzzie Bavasi, Fresco Thompson
Managers:	Walter Alston
Television:	KTTV (11)
Radio:	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW José García, Jaime Jarrín

The 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers had a 76–86 record and finished in seventh place in the National League standings, 21 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. After the season, the Dodgers underwent some changes among the team management when long time general manager Buzzie Bavasi resigned to take over the expansion San Diego Padres. He was replaced by team vice-president Fresco Thompson. However, Thompson was diagnosed with cancer weeks after taking the job and died in November. Al Campanis became the new general manager for the following season.

Offseason

• November 28, 1967: John Roseboro, Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller were traded by the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles.^[1]
• November 30, 1967: Gene Michael was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Yankees.^[2]
• November 30, 1967: Lou Johnson was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Popovich.^[3]
• February 13, 1968: Ron Hunt and Nate Oliver were traded by the Dodgers to the San Francisco Giants for Tom Haller and Frank Kasheta (minors).^[4]
• March 26, 1968: Rocky Colavito was purchased by the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox.^[5]

Regular season

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters

Name	Position
	Center fielder
	Shortstop
	First baseman
	Left fielder
	Third baseman
	Right fielder
	Second baseman
	Catcher
	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1968: Hank Aguirre was acquired by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers for cash and a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Fred Moulder (minors) to the Dodgers on April 4.^[6]
• April 23, 1968: Jim Hickman and Phil Regan were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Savage and Jim Ellis.^[7]
• July 11, 1968: Rocky Colavito was released by the Dodgers.^[5]

Roster

1968 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

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		144	474	135	.285	4	53
1B		135	468	112	.239	3	27
2B		134	418	97	.232	2	25
SS		122	403	79	.196	2	24
3B		105	322	73	.227	8	39
LF		108	304	82	.270	10	35
CF		160	643	161	.250	7	31
RF		141	441	103	.234	4	43

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
	84	286	69	.241	5	31
	83	221	60	.271	6	41
	61	175	44	.251	4	14
	99	156	31	.199	1	10
	61	126	26	.206	2	7
	40	113	23	.204	3	11
	41	106	16	.151	2	5
	37	93	15	.161	0	4
	24	87	24	.276	3	12
	39	83	15	.181	0	4
	4	11	1	.091	0	0
	10	10	2	.200	0	0
	2	7	1	.143	0	0

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
	37	256.1	13	17	2.85	227
	39	254.0	12	18	3.08	119
	31	239.0	14	12	2.15	155
	35	207.2	11	15	2.60	162
	25	115.0	2	10	3.91	84
	3	16.0	1	1	5.06	11
	3	15.2	1	1	1.72	10

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
	54	8	3	15	2.49	75
	50	3	0	8	2.14	46
	37	6	4	3	2.08	35
	35	2	3	2	3.07	38
	25	1	2	3	0.69	25
	5	2	0	0	3.52	7
	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Wes Parker
• TSN Fireman of the Year Award
  • Phil Regan
• NL Player of the Month
  • Don Drysdale (May 1968)

All-Stars

• 1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Don Drysdale, starter
  • Tom Haller, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tri-City, Ogden

1968 Major League Baseball Draft

See main article: 1968 Major League Baseball Draft. This was the fourth year of a Major League Baseball Draft. The Dodgers drafted 78 players in the June draft and 23 in the January draft. This was one of the Dodgers most successful drafts in history as they drafted Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes and Bobby Valentine in this draft.

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rosebjo01.shtml John Roseboro page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/michage01.shtml Gene Michael page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/popovpa01.shtml Paul Popovich page at Baseball Reference
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/huntro01.shtml Ron Hunt page at Baseball Reference
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colavro01.shtml Rocky Colavito page at Baseball Reference
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/aguirha01.shtml Hank Aguirre page at Baseball Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hickmji02.shtml Jim Hickman page at Baseball Reference
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=LAD&year_ID=1968&draft_type=janreg& 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=LAD&year_ID=1968&draft_type=jansec& 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=LAD&year_ID=1968&draft_type=junreg& 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
11. https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=LAD&year_ID=1968&draft_type=junsec& 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase