| Doug Rau | |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Birth Date: | 15 December 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Columbus, Texas, U.S. |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Left |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | September 2 |
| Debutyear: | 1972 |
| Debutteam: | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Finalleague: | MLB |
| Finaldate: | May 26 |
| Finalyear: | 1981 |
| Finalteam: | California Angels |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Stat1label: | Win–loss record |
| Stat1value: | 81–60 |
| Stat2label: | Earned run average |
| Stat2value: | 3.35 |
| Stat3label: | Strikeouts |
| Stat3value: | 697 |
| Teams: | |
Douglas James Rau (born December 15, 1948), is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1972 to 1981. Rau attended Texas A&M University, and was a first-round draft pick of the Dodgers in the secondary phase of the June 1970 amateur draft. He played almost exclusively for the Dodgers in his major league career.[1]
Rau broke in with the Dodgers in 1972, earning a 2.20 ERA in innings and giving up just 18 hits. In 1974, Rau became a starter and they won the NL pennant. His record was 13-11. In 1975, he went 15-9 with a 3.11 ERA. In 1976, he finished with a record of 16-12 and a 2.57 ERA, second in the National League.
In 1977 and 1978, Dodgers won the pennant again and Rau was a mainstay in the starting rotation. In 1977 he went 14-8, with a winning percentage of .636, while in 1978 he went 15-9 with a winning percentage of .625. In the 1977 World Series he did not pitch effectively, but in the 1978 World Series he gave up no runs in 2 innings pitched.
Rau's career was close to an end, though, because of injury problems. In 1979, he pitched in only 11 games, with a record of 1-5, and had rotator cuff surgery. He was not in the majors in 1980, and when he came back in 1981 with the California Angels, he appeared in only 3 games, going 1-2.
Rau was involved in an argument during Game 4 of the 1977 World Series with manager Tommy Lasorda. After Rau gave up 2 doubles, a single and one run to start the 2nd inning, Lasorda went to the mound to remove him from the game; the two men then got into a profanity-filled argument on the mound in which team captain Davey Lopes tried to calm them down. The argument was recorded on Lasorda's microphone.[2]
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