The 1978 season ended with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

winning their second straight

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant and losing to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

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

* November 23, 1977: Dennis Lewallyn was purchased from the Dodgers by the Minnesota Twins. * January 31, 1978:

Elías Sosa Elías Sosa Martínez (born June 10, 1950) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He was signed by the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB) as an amateur free agent on March 4, 1968, and played for the Giants (1972–1 ...

was purchased from the Dodgers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Opening day lineup

Notable transactions

* May 17, 1978: Glenn Burke was traded by the Dodgers to the Oakland Athletics for

Billy North William Alex North (born May 15, 1948) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1971 to 1981, he played for the Chicago Cubs (1971–72), Oakland Athletics (1973–78), Los Angeles Dodgers (1978) and San Francisco Giants (1979– ...

. * May 20, 1978: Mike Garman was traded by the Dodgers to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

for Larry Landreth and Gerry Hannahs. * July 1, 1978: The Dodgers traded players to be named later to the Houston Astros for

Joe Ferguson Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Arkansas. Early year ...

and cash. The Dodgers completed the deal by sending Rafael Landestoy to the Astros on July 7 and Jeff Leonard to the Astros on September 11.

Roster

Notable events

On August 20, before a night game in New York against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

approached

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakla ...

in the Dodgers' clubhouse over an article in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' 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 Carl Reginald Smith (born April 2, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Profe ...

. 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.

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Postseason

1978 National League Championship Series

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

Game 1

October 4,

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for foo ...

Game 2

October 5,

Game 3

October 6,

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

Game 4

October 7,

1978 World Series

The Dodgers again lost to the

in the World Series. AL

(4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (2)

Game 1

Tuesday, October 10, 1978, at

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Game 2

Wednesday, October 11, 1978, at

Game 3

Friday, October 13, 1978, at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

in Bronx, New York

Game 4

Saturday, October 14, 1978, at

in Bronx, New York

Game 5

Sunday, October 15, 1978, at

in Bronx, New York

Game 6

Tuesday, October 17, 1978, at

Awards and honors

Gold Glove Awards The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

Davey Lopes David Earle Lopes (; born May 3, 1945) is an American former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted and threw right-handed. He played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Houston ...

* NL Player of the Month **

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

(April 1978) * NL Player of the Week **

(Apr. 17–23) **

(Aug. 14–20)

All-Stars

1978 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1978 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 49th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 11, 197 ...

, starter, first base **

, starter, outfield **

Ron Cey Ronald Charles Cey (; born February 15, 1948), nicknamed "Penguin", is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from through , most notably as an integral member of the Los Angeles Do ...

, reserve **

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

, reserve **

, reserve * Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award **

* TSN National League All-Star **

Postseason

NLCS Most Valuable Player The League Championship Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players deemed to have the most impact on their teams' performances in each of the two respective League Championship Series that ...

Farm system

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

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 Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9–12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. History Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Okla ...

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. 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 Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he w ...

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 In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

and a five time All-Star.

Notes

References

Baseball-Reference season pageBaseball Almanac season page

External links

1978 Los Angeles Dodgers uniformLos Angeles Dodgers official web site
{{Los Angeles Dodgers Los Angeles Dodgers seasons Los Angeles Dodgers season National League West champion seasons National League champion seasons Los Angel