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 Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, 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. 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 The 1977 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1977 season. The 74th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Natio ...

with manager

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nati ...

. 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 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 ...

tried to calm them down. The argument was recorded on Lasorda's microphone.You Tube
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Baseball Gauge
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Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
1948 births Living people Albuquerque Dodgers players Albuquerque Dukes players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball players from Texas California Angels players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Columbus, Texas Redwood Pioneers players Salt Lake City Gulls players San Antonio Dodgers players Spokane Indians players Texas A&M Aggies baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub