| Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Season: | 1979 |
| League: | National League |
| Division: | West |
| Ballpark: | Dodger Stadium |
| City: | Los Angeles |
| Owners: | Walter O'Malley |
| President: | Peter O'Malley |
| General Managers: | Al Campanis |
| Managers: | Tommy Lasorda |
| Television: | KTTV (11) |
| Radio: | KABC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter KTNQ Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos |
The 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers 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.
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Second baseman | |
| Shortstop | |
| Right fielder | |
| First baseman | |
| Third baseman | |
| Left fielder | |
| Center fielder | |
| Catcher | |
| Starting pitcher | |
| 1979 Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | CatchersInfielders | Outfielders | ManagerCoaches | ||||||
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 | 105 | 310 | 67 | .216 | 13 | 41 | ||
| 1B | 162 | 648 | 204 | .315 | 28 | 110 | ||
| 2B | 153 | 582 | 154 | .265 | 28 | 73 | ||
| SS | 153 | 627 | 170 | .271 | 7 | 56 | ||
| 3B | 150 | 487 | 137 | .281 | 28 | 81 | ||
| LF | 151 | 554 | 152 | .274 | 23 | 88 | ||
| CF | 141 | 406 | 104 | .256 | 5 | 44 | ||
| RF | 68 | 234 | 64 | .274 | 10 | 32 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 122 | 363 | 95 | .262 | 20 | 69 | ||
| 115 | 315 | 78 | .248 | 14 | 45 | ||
| 94 | 142 | 40 | .282 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 81 | 112 | 30 | .268 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 33 | 93 | 25 | .269 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 25 | 62 | 15 | .242 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 26 | 46 | 6 | .130 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 47 | 42 | 15 | .357 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 12 | 33 | 10 | .303 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 29 | 27 | 7 | .259 | 0 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 242.0 | 17 | 10 | 3.46 | 117 | ||
| 33 | 226.0 | 12 | 15 | 3.82 | 146 | ||
| 29 | 212.0 | 11 | 10 | 2.97 | 129 | ||
| 11 | 62.1 | 2 | 4 | 4.91 | 26 | ||
| 11 | 56.0 | 1 | 5 | 5.30 | 28 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 160.0 | 7 | 14 | 3.54 | 83 | ||
| 42 | 151.1 | 7 | 5 | 4.76 | 76 | ||
| 25 | 81.1 | 5 | 6 | 3.98 | 64 | ||
| 4 | 16.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.38 | 6 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 5.26 | 34 | ||
| 31 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3.41 | 22 | ||
| 30 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3.45 | 13 | ||
| 19 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1.11 | 25 | ||
| 17 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4.34 | 28 | ||
| 17 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5.51 | 8 | ||
| 12 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7.45 | 5 | ||
| 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.11 | 1 |
Teams in BOLD won League Championships
See 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.
