1968 Los Angeles Dodgers season

1968 Los Angeles Dodgers
League	National League
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
City	Los Angeles, California
Record	73–89 (.469)
Divisional place	7th
Owners	Walter O'Malley, James & Dearie Mulvey
President	Walter O'Malley
General managers	Buzzie Bavasi, Fresco Thompson
Managers	Walter Alston
Television	KTTV (11)
Radio	KFI Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett KWKW José García, Jaime Jarrín
Seasons

The 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 79th season for the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise in Major League Baseball (MLB), their 11th season in Los Angeles, California, and their 7th season playing their home games at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles California. They improved upon their 73–89 record from 1967 to a 76–86 record and finished in seventh place in the National League standings, 21 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. After the season, the Dodgers underwent some changes among the team management when long time general manager Buzzie Bavasi resigned to take over the expansion San Diego Padres. He was replaced by team vice-president Fresco Thompson. However, Thompson was diagnosed with cancer weeks after taking the job and died in November. Al Campanis became the new general manager for the following season.

Offseason

• November 28, 1967: John Roseboro, Ron Perranoski and Bob Miller were traded by the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versalles.
• November 30, 1967: Gene Michael was purchased from the Dodgers by the New York Yankees.
• November 30, 1967: Lou Johnson was traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Popovich.
• February 13, 1968: Ron Hunt and Nate Oliver were traded by the Dodgers to the San Francisco Giants for Tom Haller and Frank Kasheta (minors).
• March 26, 1968: Rocky Colavito was purchased by the Dodgers from the Chicago White Sox.

Regular season

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
St. Louis Cardinals	97	65	.599	—	47‍–‍34	50‍–‍31
San Francisco Giants	88	74	.543	9	42‍–‍39	46‍–‍35
Chicago Cubs	84	78	.519	13	47‍–‍34	37‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds	83	79	.512	14	40‍–‍41	43‍–‍38
Atlanta Braves	81	81	.500	16	41‍–‍40	40‍–‍41
Pittsburgh Pirates	80	82	.494	17	40‍–‍41	40‍–‍41
Los Angeles Dodgers	76	86	.469	21	41‍–‍40	35‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies	76	86	.469	21	38‍–‍43	38‍–‍43
New York Mets	73	89	.451	24	32‍–‍49	41‍–‍40
Houston Astros	72	90	.444	25	42‍–‍39	30‍–‍51

Record vs. opponents

1968 National League record Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	NYM	PHI	PIT	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–10	10–8	11–7	9–9	12–6–1	11–7	6–12	9–9	5–13
Chicago	10–8	—	7–11	10–8	12–6	8–10	9–9	10–8	9–9–1	9–9
Cincinnati	8–10	11–7	—	9–9	9–9	10–8	11–7	10–8–1	8–10	7–11
Houston	7–11	8–10	9–9	—	11–7	10–8	9–9	5–13	8–10	5–13
Los Angeles	9–9	6–12	9–9	7–11	—	7–11	10–8	10–8	9–9	9–9
New York	6–12–1	10–8	8–10	8–10	11–7	—	8–10	9–9	7–11	6–12
Philadelphia	7–11	9–9	7–11	9–9	8–10	10–8	—	9–9	9–9	8–10
Pittsburgh	12–6	8–10	8–10–1	13–5	8–10	9–9	9–9	—	7–11	6–12
San Francisco	9–9	9–9–1	10–8	10–8	9–9	11–7	9–9	11–7	—	10–8
St. Louis	13–5	9–9	11–7	13–5	9–9	12–6	10–8	12–6	8–10	—

Opening Day lineup

Opening Day starters
Name	Position
Willie Davis	Center fielder
Zoilo Versalles	Shortstop
Wes Parker	First baseman
Al Ferrara	Left fielder
Bob Bailey	Third baseman
Ron Fairly	Right fielder
Paul Popovich	Second baseman
Tom Haller	Catcher
Claude Osteen	Starting pitcher

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1968: Hank Aguirre was acquired by the Dodgers from the Detroit Tigers for cash and a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Fred Moulder (minors) to the Dodgers on April 4.
• April 23, 1968: Jim Hickman and Phil Regan were traded by the Dodgers to the Chicago Cubs for Ted Savage and Jim Ellis.
• July 11, 1968: Rocky Colavito was released by the Dodgers.

Roster

1968 Los Angeles Dodgers
Roster
Pitchers 17 Hank Aguirre 38 Jack Billingham 21 Jim Brewer 53 Don Drysdale 44 Alan Foster 22 Mudcat Grant 37 Mike Kekich 27 Joe Moeller 23 Claude Osteen 35 John Purdin 27 Phil Regan 47 Vicente Romo 40 Bill Singer 20 Don Sutton		Catchers 25 Jim Campanis 15 Tom Haller 10 Jeff Torborg Infielders 34 Luis Alcaraz  7 Bob Bailey 45 Ken Boyer  5 Jim Lefebvre 28 Wes Parker 26 Paul Popovich 11 Bart Shirley 16 Bill Sudakis  2 Zoilo Versalles		Outfielders 16 Rocky Colavito 43,47 Willie Crawford  3 Willie Davis 12 Jim Fairey  6 Ron Fairly  9 Al Ferrara 14 Len Gabrielson 30 Cleo James 31 Ted Savage		Manager 24 Walter Alston Coaches 52 Carroll Beringer 19 Jim Gilliam 18 Preston Gómez  8 Danny Ozark 36 Lefty Phillips

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	144	474	135	.285	4	53
1B	Wes Parker	135	468	112	.239	3	27
2B	Paul Popovich	134	418	97	.232	2	25
SS	Zoilo Versalles	122	403	79	.196	2	24
3B	Bob Bailey	105	322	73	.227	8	39
LF	Len Gabrielson	108	304	82	.270	10	35
CF	Willie Davis	160	643	161	.250	7	31
RF	Ron Fairly	141	441	103	.234	4	43

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	84	286	69	.241	5	31
Ken Boyer	83	221	60	.271	6	41
Willie Crawford	61	175	44	.251	4	14
Jim Fairey	99	156	31	.199	1	10
Ted Savage	61	126	26	.206	2	7
Rocky Colavito	40	113	23	.204	3	11
Luis Alcaraz	41	106	16	.151	2	5
Jeff Torborg	37	93	15	.161	0	4
Bill Sudakis	24	87	24	.276	3	12
Bart Shirley	39	83	15	.181	0	4
Jim Campanis	4	11	1	.091	0	0
Cleo James	10	10	2	.200	0	0
Al Ferrara	2	7	1	.143	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
Bill Singer	37	256.1	13	17	2.85	227
Claude Osteen	39	254.0	12	18	3.08	119
Don Drysdale	31	239.0	14	12	2.15	155
Don Sutton	35	207.2	11	15	2.60	162
Mike Kekich	25	115.0	2	10	3.91	84
Joe Moeller	3	16.0	1	1	5.06	11
Alan Foster	3	15.2	1	1	1.72	10

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	54	8	3	15	2.49	75
Jack Billingham	50	3	0	8	2.14	46
Mudcat Grant	37	6	4	3	2.08	35
John Purdin	35	2	3	2	3.07	38
Hank Aguirre	25	1	2	3	0.69	25
Phil Regan	5	2	0	0	3.52	7
Vicente Romo	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

Awards and honors

• Gold Glove Award
  • Wes Parker
• TSN Fireman of the Year Award
  • Phil Regan
• NL Player of the Month
  • Don Drysdale (May 1968)

All-Stars

• 1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
  • Don Drysdale, starter
  • Tom Haller, reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Roy Hartsfield
AA	Albuquerque Dodgers	Texas League	Roger Craig
A	Bakersfield Dodgers	California League	Don Williams
A	Daytona Beach Dodgers	Florida State League	Bill Berrier
A	Tri-City Atoms	Northwest League	Don LeJohn
Rookie	Ogden Dodgers	Pioneer League	Tommy Lasorda

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tri-City, Ogden

1968 Major League Baseball draft

Main article: 1968 Major League Baseball draft

This was the fourth year of a Major League Baseball draft. The Dodgers drafted 78 players in the June draft and 23 in the January draft, 15 of them would play in MLB. This was one of the Dodgers most successful drafts in history as they drafted Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes and Bobby Valentine in this draft.

1968 draft picks

January draft Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Larry Hall 1B Broward Community College Yes 1968–1969 A 2 Bonnie Smith C No 3 Craig Brown 1B Chipola College No 4 Theodore Rohde OF Fresno City College Yes 1968–1970 A 5 Ronnie Hilton 2B Gulf Coast Community College No 6 Tommy Graham OF No 7 Lynn Morrison OF Long Beach City College No 8 Gordon Crook OF Arizona State University Yes 1968 A 9 Vernon Price LHP Chaffey College Yes 1968–1970 A 10 Donald Pierce 1B Yes 1968 A- January secondary phase Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Marv Galliher INF San Diego Mesa College Yes 1968–1976 AAA 2 Davey Lopes OF Washburn University Yes 1968–1987 MLB 3 Steve Moore OF Santa Barbara City College No Royals – 1969 1969–1971 A 4 Randy Smith OF Lincoln Land Community College Yes 1968–1970 A 5 Geoff Zahn LHP University of Michigan Yes 1968–1985 MLB 6 Davd Grangaard 3B Arizona State University No Astros – 1968 1968–1972 AAA 7 Gregory Wellman LHP Palm Beach Community College Yes 1968–1972 AAA 8 James Loll INF Los Angeles Pierce College No Royals – 1969 1969 Rookie 9 Thomas Jackson SS Citrus College No 10 Ed Crosby 2B Long Beach City College No Cardinals – 1969 1969–1979 MLB 11 John Marino C Los Angeles Valley College No 12 Greogory Smith RHP Rio Hondo College No 13 William Templeton RHP No June draft Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Bobby Valentine OF Rippowan High School Yes 1968–1979 MLB 2 Bill Buckner 1B Napa High School Yes 1968–1990 MLB 3 Sonny Johnson OF South Carolina State University Yes 1968–1972 AAA 4 Mike Pazik LHP Lynn English High School No Yankees – 1971 1971–1979 MLB 5 Tom Paciorek OF University of Houston Yes 1968–1987 MLB 6 Bob Auger 1B Putnam High School No Cardinals – 1969 1969–1972 A 7 Joseph Barkauskas C Piscataway High School No Yankees – 1972 1972 AA 8 Joe Ferguson OF University of the Pacific Yes 1968–1983 MLB 9 Doyle Alexander RHP Woodlawn High School Yes 1968–1989 MLB 10 Rich Anderson RHP Trumbull High School No Pirates – 1972 1972–1976 AAA 11 Robert Baxter C Lower Dauphin High School Yes 1969 Rookie 12 Charles Land OF Midwest City High School No 13 Tom Pratt LHP Righetti High School No Royals – 1969 1969–1971 A 14 Frederick Willard 3B Yes 1968–1969 A 15 Jeff Port 3B Birmingham High School No 16 Artie Brown RHP New York University No Cardinals – 1969 1969–1971 A 17 Bob Gallagher OF Stanford University Yes 1969–1976 MLB 18 Fred Nelson 2B Arizona State University Yes 1968–1970 AA 19 Jeff Stout SS La Puente High School No Royals – 1969 1969–1973 A 20 Theodore Gilje LHP College Park High School Yes 1968–1973 AAA 21 James Rich OF Centennial High School Yes 1969–1975 AAA 22 Brooks Anderson OF Cardinal McCloskey High School No 23 Daniel Copeland OF West Newton High School Yes 1968–1969 A 24 Milton Guggia 2B Santa Maria High School No 25 Thomas Sowinski RHP St. John's University Yes 1968–1970 AA 26 Robert Baxter OF Southampton High School No 27 Albert Strane SS Santa Clara University No Pilots – 1969 1969 A 28 Alvin Strane 2B Santa Clara University Yes 1969 A 29 Bob Wissler OF California Polytechnic State University, Pomona No Twins – 1969 1969–1972 AAA 30 Roy Nelson P Vigor High School SELECTION VOIDED 31 Richard Breese RHP Port Chester High School No Mets – 1969 1969–1971 A 32 Dennis Major 1B Laney College No 33 Michael St. John RHP West Valley College Yes 1968–1970 A 34 Alan Blair SS Leeds High School No 35 William Estey SS University of New Hampshire Yes 1968–1969 A 36 Roger Wallace RHP Englewood Senior High School Yes 1968–1969 A 37 Danny Nichols 3B Kansas State University Yes 1968 Rookie 38 James Curnow C Morristown High School No 39 Thomas Joyce SS Solano Community College No Royals – 1969 1969–1974 AAA 40 Jim Mueller SS Arkansas State University No White Sox – 1969 1969–1972 AA 41 Samuel Pasquatonio C Franklin High School No 42 Richard Dorsch RHP Valparaiso University Yes 1968–1972 A 43 Peter Brown RHP Hayward High School No 44 Johnny Rushing LHP Tuscaloosa County High School No 45 Kenneth Van Bell RHP Richmond Hill High School Yes 1968–1969 46 Gary Whitmore LHP University of New Mexico No 47 Gary Weese RHP Midwest City High School No Indians – 1972 1972–1976 AA 48 John Fargnoci 1B Bryant High School No 49 Edgar Ott LHP Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Yes 1968 A- 50 Kenneth Plau RHP El Camino College No 51 Robert Woodruff OF Port Chester High School Yes 1969 A 52 Bob Sheldon SS Montebello High School No Brewers – 1972 1972–1977 MLB 53 Charles Elwis LHP Marshall High School No Angels −1969 1969 A 54 Beau Robinson 1B Central High School No Yankees – 1969 1969–1971 A 55 Tod Rush LHP Montebello High School No 56 Anthony Embessi RHP Bristol Jr./Sr. High School No 57 Steve Angelo INF Montebello High School No Expos – 1969 1969–1971 AA 58 Douglas Blake OF Hackettstown High School No 59 Jeff Paquette C Lincoln High School No 60 Gary Welch OF San Rafael High School No Mets – 1970 1970 Rookie 61 Merritt Barnes SS University of San Francisco Yes 1968–1969 Rookie 62 Chester Teklinski RHP Tarentum High School No 63 Lee Driggers OF Colonial High School Yes 1969 A 64 Jeffrey Burns C Rollins College No Twins – 1969 1969 A 65 Charles Cochrane SS Lincoln High School Yes 1969 A 66 William Homik C University of Southern California Yes 1968–1971 AAA 67 Charles Calver RHP California Polytechnic State University, Pomona Yes 1968–1969 A- 68 Peter Scarpati RHP St. Francis University Yes 1968–1971 AAA 69 Stephen Krines 3B Villanova University Yes 1968–1970 A- 70 John DeBrino RHP Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School No 71 Carl Amendola C Plainedge High School No June secondary phase Round Name Position School Signed Career span Highest level 1 Steve Garvey 3B Michigan State University Yes 1968–1987 MLB 2 Sandy Vance RHP Stanford University Yes 1968–1973 MLB 3 Ron Cey 3B Washington State University Yes 1968–1987 MLB 4 Bruce Kinder SS Florida Southern College No Pilots – 1969 1969–1970 A 5 Bill Seinsoth 1B University of Southern California No Dodgers – 1969 1969 A 6 Ellsworth Jones LHP New York University No 7 Bob Randall SS Kansas State University No Dodgers – 1969 1969–1980 MLB

References

• Baseball-Reference season page
• Baseball Almanac season page

External links

• 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
• Los Angeles Dodgers official web site