1970 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1970  Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Record	87–74 (.540)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Walter O'Malley, James Mulvey
President	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Al Campanis
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW Jose Garcia, Jaime Jarrín
←  1969 Seasons 1971  →

The 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 81st for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 13th season in Los Angeles, California. Walter O'Malley stepped down as team president, turning the reins over to his son Peter, while remaining as the team's chairman. The Dodgers remained competitive, finishing the season in second place, 14+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion Cincinnati Reds in the National League West. The away jerseys removed the city name and instead had the team nickname which would stay until 1999 when the city name returned to the road uniforms, where it has remained ever since.

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	.630	—	57‍–‍24	45‍–‍36
Los Angeles Dodgers	87	74	.540	14½	39‍–‍42	48‍–‍32
San Francisco Giants	86	76	.531	16	48‍–‍33	38‍–‍43
Houston Astros	79	83	.488	23	44‍–‍37	35‍–‍46
Atlanta Braves	76	86	.469	26	42‍–‍39	34‍–‍47
San Diego Padres	63	99	.389	39	31‍–‍50	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1970 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–4	5–13	9–9	6–12	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	9–9	7–11	7–5
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	7–5	6–6	13–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–3	7–5	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	5–7	—	15–3	13–5	7–5	8–4	7–5	8–4	8–10	9–9	9–3
Houston	9–9	5–7	3–15	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	4–8	6–6	14–4	10–8	6–6
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	7–5	6–5	6–6	11–7	9–9	7–5
Montreal	6–6	5–13	5–7	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	11–7	9–9	6–6	6–6	7–11
New York	6–6	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	6–6	6–6	12–6
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	5–7	8–4	5–6	7–11	5–13	—	4–14	9–3	8–4	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	9–9	12–6	14–4	—	6–6	4–8	12–6
San Diego	9–9	3–9	10–8	4–14	7–11	6–6	6–6	3–9	6–6	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	9–9	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	4–8	8–4	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	5–7	11–7	3–9	6–6	5–7	11–7	6–12	10–8	6–12	8–4	5–7	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Maury Wills	Shortstop
Bill Buckner	Left fielder
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Willie Crawford	Right fielder
Wes Parker	First baseman
Steve Garvey	Third baseman
Tom Haller	Catcher
Ted Sizemore	Second baseman
Claude Osteen	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• August 21, 1970: Jerry Royster was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers. ^[1]
• August 24, 1970: Sergio Ferrer was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers. ^[2]
• September 28, 1970: Fred Norman was purchased from the Dodgers by the St. Louis Cardinals. ^[3]

Roster

1970 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 21 Jim Brewer 44 Alan Foster 49 Charlie Hough 34 Ray Lamb 31 Al McBean 46 Pete Mikkelsen 25 Joe Moeller 35 Fred Norman 23 Claude Osteen 17 Camilo Pascual 49 José Peña 40 Bill Singer 45 Jerry Stephenson 37 Mike Strahler 20 Don Sutton 38 Sandy Vance		Catchers 45 Joe Ferguson 15 Tom Haller  8 Bob Stinson 16 Bill Sudakis 10 Jeff Torborg Infielders  6 Steve Garvey  1 Billy Grabarkewitz  5 Jim Lefebvre 28 Wes Parker 41 Ted Sizemore 30 Maury Wills		Outfielders 22 Bill Buckner 27 Willie Crawford  3 Willie Davis 14 Len Gabrielson 12 Von Joshua  9 Andy Kosco 31 Gary Moore 11 Manny Mota 53 Tom Paciorek 31,18 Bill Russell		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 26 Red Adams 52 Carroll Beringer 19 Jim Gilliam  7 Roy Hartsfield 33 Danny Ozark 51 Dixie Walker

First major league foul ball injury death

On May 16, the Dodgers were playing a home game against the Giants when, during the third inning, Mota fouled off a Gaylord Perry pitch into the stands near first base. It struck Alan Fish, 14, attending the game with other boys from his nearby recreational baseball team and their coach. Fish was unconscious for a minute, and spoke incoherently when he reawakened and, while his speech had recovered, needed assistance walking to the Dodger Stadium's first-aid center. ^[4]

There, he seemed to have recovered completely. The stadium doctor did not ask whether he had lost consciousness or check his blood pressure, and released him after giving him two aspirin for the lingering pain. He returned to his seat and watched the rest of the game normally, even trying to get autographs from the Dodgers afterwards. However, on his return home he began experiencing dizziness, shaking and crying, and his parents decided to take him to a hospital. ^[4]

Two hospitals were unable to take the boy immediately, even as his condition deteriorated, and he was not admitted until early the next morning. His condition at first improved, but then became even worse, and a neurosurgeon discovered a large mass at the site of the injury. Before he could operate, however, Fish suffered a convulsion that left him brain dead, and three days later he died after being taken off life support. ^[4]

The autopsy found that Fish had died due to an intracerebral hemorrhage after the hairline fracture caused by the foul ball had pushed a piece of his skull into his brain. Had he been required to rest and hospitalized immediately afterward, the neurosurgeon believed he could have recovered completely. The Fishes sued the Dodgers, the stadium physician and the two hospitals that had not been able to treat their son for negligence and medical malpractice; at trial, after dropping the other hospitals, the jury found for the team and doctor. ^[4] However, an appeals court reversed that verdict three years later due to a jury instruction that should have been given but was not. ^[5]

Game log

Regular season

Legend
	Dodgers win
	Dodgers loss
	Postponement
	Eliminated from playoff race
Bold	Dodgers team member

1970 regular season game log: 87–74 (Home: 39–42; Away: 48–32) [6]
April: 10–10 (Home: 5–8; Away: 5–2) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
May: 18–10 (Home: 7–6; Away: 11–4) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
June: 15–12 (Home: 8–6; Away: 9–6) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
July: 16–10 (Home: 5–4; Away: 11–6) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
August: 13–16 (Home: 6–11; Away: 7–5) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
September: 14–16 (Home: 8–7; Away: 6–9) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak
October: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–0) # Date Time (PT) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak

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	Tom Haller	112	325	93	.286	10	47
1B	Wes Parker	161	614	196	.319	10	111
2B	Ted Sizemore	96	340	104	.306	1	34
SS	Maury Wills	132	522	141	.270	0	34
3B	Billy Grabarkewitz	156	529	153	.289	17	84
LF	Manny Mota	124	417	127	.305	3	37
CF	Willie Davis	146	593	181	.305	8	93
RF	Willie Crawford	109	299	70	.234	8	40

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
Jim Lefebvre	109	314	79	.252	4	44
Bill Russell	81	278	72	.259	0	28
Bill Sudakis	94	269	71	.264	14	44
Andy Kosco	74	224	51	.228	8	27
Jeff Torborg	64	134	31	.231	1	17
Von Joshua	72	109	29	.266	1	8
Steve Garvey	34	93	25	.269	1	6
Bill Buckner	28	68	13	.191	0	4
Len Gabrielson	43	42	8	.190	0	6
Gary Moore	7	16	3	.188	0	0
Tom Paciorek	8	9	2	.222	0	0
Joe Ferguson	5	4	1	.250	0	1
Bob Stinson	4	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	38	260.1	15	13	4.08	201
Claude Osteen	37	258.2	16	14	3.83	114
Alan Foster	33	198.2	10	13	4.26	83
Sandy Vance	20	115.0	7	7	3.13	45
Bill Singer	16	106.1	8	5	3.13	93

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
Joe Moeller	31	135.1	7	9	3.92	63

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
Jim Brewer	58	7	6	24	3.13	91
Ray Lamb	35	6	1	0	3.79	32
Pete Mikkelsen	33	4	2	6	2.76	47
Fred Norman	30	2	0	1	5.23	27
José Peña	29	4	3	4	4.42	31
Camilo Pascual	10	0	0	0	2.57	8
Charlie Hough	8	0	0	2	5.29	8
Mike Strahler	6	1	1	1	1.45	11
Jerry Stephenson	3	0	0	0	9.45	6
Al McBean	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Wes Parker
• NL Player of the Month
  • Bill Singer (July 1970)

All-Stars

• 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Billy Grabarkewitz reserve
  • Claude Osteen reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Tommy Lasorda
AA	Albuquerque Dodgers	Texas League	Del Crandall
A	Bakersfield Dodgers	California League	Don LeJohn
A	Daytona Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	Stan Wasiak
A	Medford Dodgers	Northwest League	Bill Berrier
Rookie	Ogden Dodgers	Pioneer League	Buddy Hollowell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Albuquerque, Bakersfield

1970 Major League Baseball draft

Main article: 1970 Major League Baseball draft

This was the sixth year of a Major League Baseball draft. The Dodgers drafted 45 players in the June draft and 9 in the January draft.

The most notable pick in this years draft was pitcher Doug Rau, who was selected with the 1st pick in the June Secondary draft out of Texas A&M University. Rau would play for the Dodgers from 1972 to 1979 and made 184 starts for the team, with an 80–58 record and 3.30 ERA before spending his final season with the California Angels in 1981.

The first pick in the regular June draft was pitcher Jim Haller from Creighton Prep High School. Haller was 18–18 in 123 minor league games over six seasons, with a 3.65 ERA.

1970 draft picks

January draft [7] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Jim Burnes RHP Glendale Community College No 2 Edward Womboldt C Indian Hills Community College No 3 David Holmes C Glendale Community College No Cubs – 1972 FA 1972 Rookie 4 Ralph Davis RHP Alice High School Yes 1970–1971 A- 5 Ken Harris 1B Pasadena City College No Angels – June 1970 1970–1971 A January secondary phase [8] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 John LaRose LHP Cumberland High School No Red Sox – June 1970 1970–1980 MLB 2 Kevin Kooyman C Grossmont College No Reds – 1970 FA 1970–1973 A 3 Bruce Raible RHP Western Hills High School Yes 1970–1972 AA 4 Mike Barlow RHP Syracuse University No Athletics – 1970 FA 1970–1982 MLB June draft [9] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Jim Haller RHP Creighton Prep High School Yes 1970–1975 AAA 2 Randy Fairbanks LHP Satellite Beach High School Yes 1970–1975 AA 3 Lance Rautzhan LHP Blue Mountain High School Yes 1970–1980 MLB 4 Rick Nitz RHP Hoover High School Yes 1970–1978 AAA 5 Dewey Forry OF Terra Linda High School Yes 1972–1977 AAA 6 Janes Vaeth RHP Seaford High School No 7 Thomas Jenkins OF University of Tulsa Yes 1970–1972 AA 8 Rex Peters 1B Midland Park High School No 9 John Snider 3B Fairfield Union High School Yes 1970–1975 AA 10 Wayne Ristig 2B Chapman University Yes 1970–1973 A 11 Creighton Tevlin OF Canoga Park High School No Orioles – 1974 1974–1982 AAA 12 Patrick Paulson LHP East Haven High School No Dodgers – 1971 1971 Rookie 13 Norman Brown OF University of California, Berkeley Yes 1970–1971 A 14 Thomas Corder SS San Jose State University Yes 1970–1972 A 15 John Cosmos 1B Sacred Heart University No 16 Michael Plunkett RHP Emporia State University Yes 1970–1971 A 17 Mike Vail SS Archbishop Mitty High School No Cardinals -1971 1971–1984 MLB 18 Larry Tolbert RHP East Central High School No 19 Paul Barnes OF Middle Georgia College Yes 1970–1971 A 20 Philip Keller RHP Stanford University Yes 1970–1974 AAA 21 Albert Taylor RHP Kearny High School Yes 1970–1974 A 22 Wayne Burney 1B University of Louisiana at Monroe Yes 1970–1975 AAA 23 Leslie Rogers 3B University of Tulsa Yes 1970–1971 A 24 Francisco Suarez SS Hialeah High School No Twins – 1971 1971 A- 25 Dennis Abel OF San Francisco State University No 26 Thomas Gleason LHP Grover Cleveland High School Yes 1970–1972 A 27 John Wade C Pasadena High School No 28 Ronald Hall LHP University of Oklahoma Yes 1970–1972 A 29 Steven Wilson RHP South Georgia College Yes 1970–1972 A 30 James Ivey LHP No Braves – 1971 FA 1971 A 31 Bruce Collins RHP South San Francisco High School No 32 Thaddeus Rowe INF Brookland-Cayce High School No 33 Greg Shanahan RHP Humboldt State University Yes 1970–1977 MLB 34 Chris Kinsel C St. Augustine High School No 35 Mike Garrett OF No 36 Mark Anderson OF Garden Grove High School No Cardinals -1971 1971 Rookie 37 Michael Sanders 3B D. W. Daniel High School No 38 Maury Damkroger C Northeast High School No 39 Vandon Mattison LHP John F. Kennedy High School Yes 1970–1975 A 40 Scott Waltermate RHP Steeleville High School No June secondary phase [10] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Doug Rau LHP Texas A&M University Yes 1970–1981 MLB 2 George Pugh LHP Mesa State College No 3 Red Daniels OF University of New Mexico Yes 1970–1973 AA 4 Kenneth O'Brien RHP Villanova University Yes 1970–1972 AA 5 Paul Womble 3B University of Kansas No Mets -1971 1971–1973 AA

Notes

1. "Jerry Royster". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
2. "Sergio Ferrer". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
3. "Fred Norman". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
4. Weeks, David; Gorman, Robert (2015). "15: Fans". Death at the Ballpark: More Than 2,000 Game-Related Fatalities of Players, Other Personnel and Spectators in Amateur and Professional Baseball, 1862–2014 (2nd ed.). McFarland. p. 153. ISBN   9780786479320 . Retrieved March 15, 2019.
5. Fish v. Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Club, 56Cal.App.3d620 , 640( Cal.App. 1976),archived from the original on March 25, 2019.
6. "1970 Los Angeles Dodgers schedule and results". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
7. 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
8. 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
9. 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft
10. 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Draft-Secondary Phase

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1970 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site