1976 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1976 Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Owners	Walter O'Malley
President	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Al Campanis
Managers	Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda
Television	KTTV
Radio	KABC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett XEGM Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
← 1975 Seasons 1977 →

The 1976 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season in second place in the National League West. The big news was when long-time manager of two decades Walter Alston resigned abruptly near the end of the season and was replaced by Tommy Lasorda who would manage the team for two decades himself.

Offseason

• November 17, 1975: Jimmy Wynn, Tom Paciorek, Lee Lacy and Jerry Royster were traded by the Dodgers to the Atlanta Braves for Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson.^[1]
• December 23, 1975: Bob Randall was traded by the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins for Danny Walton.^[2]
• March 2: Willie Crawford was traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ted Sizemore.^[3]
• March 2: Ken McMullen was released by the Dodgers.^[4]
• March 31: Orlando Alvarez and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the California Angels for Ellie Rodríguez.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	0.630	—	49–32	53–28
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	0.568	10	49–32	43–38
Houston Astros	80	82	0.494	22	46–36	34–46
San Francisco Giants	74	88	0.457	28	40–41	34–47
San Diego Padres	73	89	0.451	29	42–38	31–51
Atlanta Braves	70	92	0.432	32	34–47	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Bill Buckner	Left fielder
Ted Sizemore	Second baseman
Dusty Baker	Center fielder
Steve Garvey	First baseman
Ron Cey	Third baseman
Joe Ferguson	Right fielder
Steve Yeager	Catcher
Bill Russell	Shortstop
Don Sutton	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• June 15: Joe Ferguson, Bob Detherage and Fred Tisdale (minors) were traded by the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals for Reggie Smith.^[6]
• June 23: Mike Marshall was traded by the Dodgers to the Atlanta Braves for Elías Sosa and Lee Lacy.^[7]

Roster

1976 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 44 Al Downing 46 Burt Hooton 49 Charlie Hough 25 Tommy John 35 Dennis Lewallyn 28 Mike Marshall 31 Doug Rau 36 Rick Rhoden 27 Elías Sosa 48 Rick Sutcliffe 20 Don Sutton 45 Stan Wall		Catchers  4 Kevin Pasley 55 Sergio Robles  2 Ellie Rodríguez  7 Steve Yeager Infielders  1 Rick Auerbach 10 Ron Cey 14 Iván DeJesús  6 Steve Garvey 21 Ed Goodson 15 Davey Lopes 18 Bill Russell  5 Ted Sizemore		Outfielders 12 Dusty Baker 22 Bill Buckner  3 Glenn Burke 37 Henry Cruz 13 Joe Ferguson 43 John Hale 34 Lee Lacy  9 Leron Lee 41 Jim Lyttle 11 Manny Mota 17 Joe Simpson  8 Reggie Smith Other batters 48 Danny Walton		Manager 24 Walter Alston 52 Tommy Lasorda Coaches 26 Red Adams 54 Monty Basgall 58 Mark Cresse 19 Jim Gilliam 52 Tommy Lasorda

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	Steve Yeager	117	359	77	.214	11	35
1B	Steve Garvey	162	631	200	.317	13	80
2B	Davey Lopes	117	427	103	.241	4	20
3B	Ron Cey	145	502	139	.277	23	60
SS	Bill Russell	149	554	152	.274	5	65
LF	Bill Buckner	154	642	193	.301	7	60
CF	Dusty Baker	112	384	93	.242	4	39
RF	Reggie Smith	65	225	63	.280	10	26

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
Ted Sizemore	84	266	64	.241	0	18
Joe Ferguson	54	185	41	.222	6	18
Lee Lacy	53	158	42	.266	0	14
Ed Goodson	83	118	27	.229	3	17
John Hale	44	91	14	.154	0	8
Henry Cruz	49	88	16	.182	4	14
Jim Lyttle	23	68	15	.221	0	5
Ellie Rodríguez	36	66	14	.212	0	9
Manny Mota	50	52	15	.288	0	13
Kevin Pasley	23	52	12	.231	0	2
Rick Auerbach	36	47	6	.128	0	1
Glenn Burke	25	46	11	.239	0	5
Leron Lee	23	45	6	.133	0	2
Iván DeJesús	22	41	7	.171	0	2
Joe Simpson	23	30	4	.133	0	0
Danny Walton	18	15	2	.133	0	2
Sergio Robles	6	3	0	.000	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
Don Sutton	35	267.2	21	10	3.06	161
Doug Rau	34	231.0	16	12	2.57	98
Burt Hooton	33	226.2	11	15	3.26	116
Tommy John	31	207.0	10	10	3.09	91
Rick Rhoden	27	181.0	12	3	2.98	77
Rick Sutcliffe	1	5.0	0	0	0.00	3

Other 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
Al Downing	17	46.2	1	2	3.86	30
Dennis Lewallyn	4	16.2	1	1	2.16	4

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
Charlie Hough	77	12	8	18	2.21	81
Mike Marshall	30	4	3	8	4.45	39
Stan Wall	31	2	2	1	3.60	27
Elías Sosa	24	2	4	1	3.48	20

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Steve Garvey
• Comeback Player of the Year Award
  • Tommy John
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Don Sutton
• NL Pitcher of the Month
  • Don Sutton (September 1976)
• NL Player of the Month
  • Steve Garvey (September 1976)
• NL Player of the Week
  • Steve Garvey (May 17–23)
  • Reggie Smith (July 5–11)
  • Doug Rau (July 19–25)
  • Don Sutton (Sep. 20–26)
• Hutch Award
  • Tommy John^[8]

All-Stars

• 1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Steve Garvey, starter, first base
  • Ron Cey, reserve
  • Rick Rhoden, reserve
  • Bill Russell, reserve^[9]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Albuquerque Dukes	Pacific Coast League	Stan Wasiak
AA	Waterbury Dodgers	Eastern League	Don LeJohn
A	Lodi Dodgers	California League	James B. Williams
A	Danville Dodgers	Midwest League	Dick McLaughlin
Rookie	Bellingham Dodgers	Northwest League	Bill Berrier

1976 Major League Baseball draft

The Dodgers drafted 41 players in the June draft and 14 in the January draft. Of those, ten players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.

The top draft pick in the June draft was catcher Mike Scioscia from Springfield High School in Pennsylvania. He would be the Dodgers starting catcher from 1980 to 1992 and was a 2-time All-Star and two-time World Series Champion with the Dodgers (1981 and 1988). After his playing career ended he became the manager of the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels and would win another World Series as their manager in 2002.

1976 Draft Picks

January draft [10] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Michael Wetklow OF Sacramento City College No 2 Dave Patterson RHP Cerritos College Yes 1976–1982 MLB 3 Paul Bain RHP El Camino College Yes 1976–1981 AAA 4 Mookie Wilson OF Spartanburg Methodist College No Mets-1977 1977–1991 MLB 5 Timothy DeWald RHP Cypress College No 6 Robert Weis RHP Sacramento City College No 7 Mark Garber RHP Antelope Valley College No 8 Richard Barnhart RHP Green River Community College No Indians-1978 1979–1980 A 9 Rickey Lear RHP Valencia Community College No Reds-1976 1976–1977 A 10 Robert Benda SS Palm Beach Community College No Tigers-1978 1978–1979 A 11 Charles Young RHP Los Angeles Pierce College No January Secondary phase [11] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Jack Lawson RHP Phoenix College Yes 1976 A- 2 Charles Dorgan LHP Green River Community College Yes 1976–1978 A 3 Larry Buckle RHP Long Beach City College No Reds-1978 1978–1984 AA June draft [12] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Mike Scioscia C Springfield High School Yes 1976–1994 MLB 2 Don Ruzek SS Lakewood High School Yes 1976–1985 AA 3 Max Venable OF Cordova High School Yes 1976–1993 MLB 4 George Kunkler LHP University of Oklahoma Yes 1976–1977 AA 5 Ted Power RHP Kansas State University Yes 1976–1998 MLB 6 Mike Howard OF Sacramento High School Yes 1976–1984 MLB 7 Kelly Snider 1B University of Oklahoma Yes 1976–1982 AAA 8 Robert Kownacki SS Fairfield University Yes 1976 A 9 Charles Phillips LHP University of Southern California Yes 1976–1980 AAA 10 Bill Swoope C Norfolk Catholic High School Yes 1976–1981 AA 11 William Martin RHP William Carey College Yes 1976–1978 A 12 Jimmie Giles OF Alcorn State University Yes 1976 A- 13 James Peterson RHP Arizona State University Yes 1976–1977 A 14 Douglas Elliott 2B Fullerton Union High School No Mets-1979 1979 A- 15 Keith MacWhorter RHP Bryant College Yes 1976–1984 MLB 16 Jack Perconte 2B Murray State University Yes 1976–1987 MLB 17 Miguel Rodriguez RHP Adlai Stevenson High School Yes 1976 A- 18 Timothy Jones C Wooster High School Yes 1976–1978 A 19 Eric Schmidt LHP Mission Viejo High School Yes 1976–1979 A 20 Dan Henry 3B Loyola Marymount University Yes 1976–1978 A 21 Jeff Albert RHP Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus Yes 1976–1979 AA 22 Bob Amico 1B University at Buffalo, State University of New York Yes 1976 A 23 Richard Martini OF University of California, Davis No 24 Mickey Lashley RHP University of Oklahoma Yes 1977–1979 AA 25 José Martínez SS South San Francisco High School No 26 George Kaage 1B Kankakee Community College Yes 1976–1978 A 27 Mark Kryka RHP Antigo High School Yes 1976–1978 A 28 Steven Silagi RHP El Rancho High School No 29 Mickey Martin C Grant High School No 30 Douglas Foster OF Compton High School Yes 1976–1978 A 31 Bubba Holland RHP South Florence High School No Astros-1978 1978–1985 AAA 32 Stephen Nelson RHP Wilson High School No 33 Jeff Hunter 3B Millard High School No Red Sox-1980 1980–1982 A 34 Mark Wychopen C South Houston High School No 35 Scott Fletcher SS Wadsworth High School No Cubs-1979 1979–1995 MLB 36 Bruce Scheidegger 3B Chadwick High School No 37 Donald Brodell OF University of Arkansas at Little Rock Yes 1976–1977 A 38 James Riedel RHP University at Buffalo, State University of New York No 39 Gerald Snow RHP Madras High School No June secondary phase [13] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Joe Ferri OF Pasadena City College No 2 Mike Walters RHP Chaffey College No Angels-1977 1977–1985 MLB

Notes

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1976 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site