1975 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1975  Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles
Owners	Walter O'Malley, heirs of James Mulvey
President	Peter O'Malley
General managers	Al Campanis
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KABC Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett XEGM Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos
←  1974 Seasons 1976  →

The 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers finished in second place, 20 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League West. This would be long time manager Walter Alston's final full season in charge. Alston would step down towards the end of the 1976 season and was replaced by his third base coach Tommy Lasorda.

Offseason

• January 29, 1975: Von Joshua was selected off waivers from the Dodgers by the San Francisco Giants. ^[1]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	108	54	.667	—	64‍–‍17	44‍–‍37
Los Angeles Dodgers	88	74	.543	20	49‍–‍32	39‍–‍42
San Francisco Giants	80	81	.497	27½	46‍–‍35	34‍–‍46
San Diego Padres	71	91	.438	37	38‍–‍43	33‍–‍48
Atlanta Braves	67	94	.416	40½	37‍–‍43	30‍–‍51
Houston Astros	64	97	.398	43½	37‍–‍44	27‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1975 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	3–15	12–6	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	4–8	7–11	8–9	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	1–11	7–5	5–7	9–9	7–11	12–6	6–12	5–7	5–7	11–7
Cincinnati	15–3	11–1	—	13–5	8–10	8–4	8–4	7–5	6–6	11–7	13–5	8–4
Houston	6–12	5–7	5–13	—	6–12	8–4	4–8	6–6	6–5	9–9	5–13	4–8–1
Los Angeles	10–8	7–5	10–8	12–6	—	5–7	6–6	7–5	5–7	11–7	10–8	5–7
Montreal	4–8	9–9	4–8	4–8	7–5	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	7–5	5–7	11–7
New York	8–4	11–7	4–8	8–4	6–6	8–10	—	7–11	5–13	8–4	8–4	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	6–12	5–7	6–6	5–7	11–7	11–7	—	11–7	7–5	7–5	10–8
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	6–6	5–6	7–5	11–7	13–5	7–11	—	8–4	5–7	10–8
San Diego	11–7	7–5	7–11	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–8	5–7	4–8	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–8	7–5	5–13	13–5	8–10	7–5	4–8	5–7	7–5	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	9–3	7–11	4–8	8–4–1	7–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	8–10	8–4	7–5	—

Opening day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Davey Lopes	Second baseman
Bill Buckner	Left fielder
Jimmy Wynn	Center fielder
Joe Ferguson	Right fielder
Steve Garvey	First baseman
Ron Cey	Third baseman
Steve Yeager	Catcher
Bill Russell	Shortstop
Don Sutton	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1975: Geoff Zahn and Eddie Solomon were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Burt Hooton. ^[2]
• July 15, 1975: Jim Brewer was purchased from the Dodgers by the California Angels. ^[3]

Roster

1975 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 21 Jim Brewer 44 Al Downing 46 Burt Hooton 49 Charlie Hough 35 Dennis Lewallyn 46 Juan Marichal 28 Mike Marshall 47 Andy Messersmith 31 Doug Rau 36 Rick Rhoden 41 Dave Sells 20 Don Sutton 45 Stan Wall 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 13 Joe Ferguson 12,71 Paul Powell  7 Steve Yeager Infielders  1 Rick Auerbach 10 Ron Cey 14 Iván DeJesús  6 Steve Garvey 34 Lee Lacy 15 Davey Lopes  5 Ken McMullen 18 Bill Russell		Outfielders 22 Bill Buckner 27 Willie Crawford 37 Henry Cruz 43 John Hale  9 Leron Lee 11 Manny Mota 17 Tom Paciorek  8 Jerry Royster 38 Joe Simpson 23 Jimmy Wynn Other batters  2 Orlando Alvarez 16 Charlie Manuel		Manager 24 Walter Alston 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	135	452	103	.228	12	54
1B	Steve Garvey	160	659	210	.319	18	95
2B	Davey Lopes	155	618	162	.262	8	41
SS	Bill Russell	84	252	52	.206	0	14
3B	Ron Cey	158	566	160	.283	25	101
LF	Bill Buckner	92	288	70	.243	6	31
CF	Jim Wynn	130	412	102	.248	18	58
RF	Willie Crawford	124	373	98	.263	9	46

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
Lee Lacy	101	306	96	.314	7	40
John Hale	71	204	43	.211	6	22
Joe Ferguson	66	202	42	.208	5	23
Rick Auerbach	85	170	38	.224	0	12
Tom Paciorek	62	145	28	.193	1	5
Henry Cruz	53	94	25	.266	0	5
Iván DeJesús	63	87	16	.184	0	2
Manny Mota	52	49	13	.265	0	10
Ken McMullen	39	46	11	.239	2	14
Leron Lee	48	43	11	.256	0	2
Jerry Royster	13	36	9	.250	0	1
Charlie Manuel	15	15	2	.133	0	2
Paul Powell	8	10	2	.200	0	0
Joe Simpson	9	6	2	.333	0	0
Orlando Álvarez	4	4	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
Andy Messersmith	42	321.2	19	14	2.29	213
Doug Rau	38	257.2	15	9	3.11	151
Don Sutton	35	254.1	16	13	2.87	175
Burt Hooton	31	223.2	18	7	2.82	148
Juan Marichal	2	6.0	0	1	13.50	1

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
Rick Rhoden	26	99.1	3	3	3.08	40
Al Downing	22	74.2	2	1	2.89	39

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
Mike Marshall	58	9	14	13	3.29	64
Charlie Hough	38	3	7	4	2.95	34
Jim Brewer	21	3	1	2	5.18	21
Stan Wall	10	0	1	0	1.69	6
Dave Sells	5	0	2	0	3.86	1
Geoff Zahn	2	0	1	0	9.00	1
Dennis Lewallyn	2	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Steve Garvey
  • Andy Messersmith
• NL Pitcher of the Month
  • Don Sutton (April 1975)
  • Don Sutton (May 1975)
  • Burt Hooton (August 1975)
  • Burt Hooton (September 1975)
• NL Player of the Week
  • Burt Hooton and Don Sutton (Aug. 4–10)
  • Andy Messersmith (Sep. 8–14)

All-Stars

• 1975 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Steve Garvey starter
  • Ron Cey starter
  • Jimmy Wynn starter
  • Mike Marshall reserve
  • Don Sutton reserve
  • Andy Messersmith reserve
• TSN National League All-Star
  • Steve Garvey

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Albuquerque Dukes	Pacific Coast League	Stan Wasiak
AA	Waterbury Dodgers	Eastern League	Don LeJohn
A	Bakersfield Dodgers	California League	Ron Brand
A	Danville Dodgers	Midwest League	Bart Shirley
Rookie	Bellingham Dodgers	Northwest League	Bill Berrier

1975 Major League Baseball Draft

Main article: 1975 Major League Baseball Draft

The Dodgers drafted 33 players in the June draft and 11 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues.

The top draft pick was shortstop Mark Bradley from Elizabethtown High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He spent two seasons with the Dodgers as an outfielder in 1981–82 and a third season with the New York Mets and hit .204 in 113 at-bats.

The most successful draft pick was pitcher Dave Stewart, a 16th round pick out of St. Elizabeth High School in Oakland, California. He reached the Majors in 1978 with the Dodgers and played through 1995, primarily with the Oakland Athletics. He was 168–129 with a 3.95 ERA, was a 1989 All-Star, 3 time World Series Champion, a World Series MVP and 3 time League Championship Series MVP. Following his playing career he became a coach, an agent and a General Manager.

1975 Draft Picks

January draft [4] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Donald Washington OF Laney College Yes 1975–1977 A 2 Dale Emmer OF Santa Monica College No 3 Gavin Long P College of San Mateo No Braves-1977 1977 Rookie 4 Patrick Buckner C Sacramento City College No 1977 A- 5 Steven Watson P Midland College No 6 Mike Tennant RHP Crowder College Yes 1975–1981 AAA 7 Ronald Weirum 2B Santa Barbara City College Yes 1975–1977 A 8 Terry Watkins P Sacramento City College No Blue Jays-1978 1978 A- January Secondary phase [5] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Gil Patterson OF Miami Dade College No Yankees-1975 1975–1982 MLB 2 William Yarbrough IF State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota No Royals-1977 1977–1979 AA 3 Earl Bass RHP University of South Carolina No Cardinals-1975 1975–1978 AAA June draft [6] Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Mark Bradley SS Elizabethtown High School Yes 1975–1984 MLB 2 Myron White OF Sana Ana Valley High School Yes 1975–1981 MLB 3 Rod Scheller RHP Greeley West High School Yes 1975–1979 A 4 James Evans LHP East Technical High School Yes 1975–1977 A 5 Marvin Garrison OF Verbum Dei High School Yes 1975–1980 AAA 6 Robert Adams SS Fairview High School Yes 1975–1976 A 7 Kenneth Townsend RHP Sonora High School Yes 1975–1978 A 8 Jacky Parish C University of Oklahoma Yes 1975–1976 A 9 Arthur Toal SS Tottenville High School No Tigers-1978 1978–1980 AA 10 Charles Martin OF Wheaton North High School Yes 1975 A- 11 Michael Lake LHP Hueneme High School Yes 1975–1978 A 12 Robert Healey RHP Roosevelt High School No Angels-1977 1977–1979 A 13 Robert Lowman RHP Mamaroneck High School Yes 1975 A- 14 Samuel Roberts 1B Carson-Newman College No 15 Bob Stoffie RHP John F. Kennedy High School Yes 1975–1977 A 16 Dave Stewart RHP St. Elizabeth High School Yes 1975–1995 MLB 17 Brad Gulden C Chaska High School Yes 1975–1986 MLB 18 Mike Walters RHP Alta Loma High School No Angels-1977 1977–1985 MLB 19 Robert Dove RHP Tustin High School No 20 William Seney RHP Apple Valley High School No 21 Stephen Youngman 1B North Brunswick High School No 22 Paul Jacobs OF John F. Kennedy High School No 23 Paul Touchstone RHP Galveston College No 24 Robert Newman RHP Mt. Hood Community College No 25 Kris Kaminska RHP Peoria High School No 26 Jay Nelson RHP Chaska High School No 27 Mitch Dean RHP Concord High School No 28 Arthur Fischetti 2B Lafayette College Yes 1975–1977 AA 29 Michael Otto RHP John F. Kennedy High School No 1980 A- 30 Paul Lanier C Moultrie High School No 31 Rudy Rufer SS Valley Stream High School No 32 James Black OF Camden High School No 33 Alan Clark RHP Hiawatha High School No

Notes

1. Von Joshua page at Baseball Reference
2. Burt Hooton page at Baseball Reference
3. Jim Brewer page at Baseball Reference
4. 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Regular Phase
5. 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB January Draft-Secondary Phase
6. 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1975 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site