1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season

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1981 Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series Champions
National League Champions
NL West champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Los Angeles (since 1958)
Other information
Owner(s) Peter O'Malley
General manager(s) Al Campanis
Manager(s) Tommy Lasorda
Local television KTTV (11)
(Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter)
ONTV
(Geoff Witcher, Al Downing)
Local radio KABC
(Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter)
KTNQ
(Jaime Jarrín, Rudy Hoyos)
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The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season got off to a strong start when rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela pitched a shutout on opening day, starting the craze that came to be known as "Fernandomania." Fernando went on to win both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards.

The season was divided into two halves because of a players strike in mid-season. The Dodgers won the Western Division of the National League in the first half and advanced to the playoffs. They beat the Houston Astros in a divisional playoff and the Montreal Expos in the National League Championship Series before beating the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 66 42 0.611 32–22 34–20
Los Angeles Dodgers 63 47 0.573 4 33–23 30–24
Houston Astros 61 49 0.555 6 31–20 30–29
San Francisco Giants 56 55 0.505 11½ 29–24 27–31
Atlanta Braves 50 56 0.472 15 22–27 28–29
San Diego Padres 41 69 0.373 26 20–35 21–34


Record vs. opponents

1981 National League Records

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 3–2–1 6–5 4–8 7–7 3–7 3–3 4–5 2–3 9–6 5–7 4–3
Chicago 2–3–1 1–5 1–6 6–4 4–7 5–8–1 2–10 4–10 3–3 5–5 5–4–1
Cincinnati 5–6 5–1 8–4 8–8 5–4 7–3 5–2 4–2 10–2 9–5 0–5
Houston 8–4 6–1 4–8 4–8 5–2 6–3 4–6 2–4 11–3 9–6 2–4
Los Angeles 7–7 4–6 8–8 8–4 5–2 5–1 3–3 5–1 6–5 7–5 5–5
Montreal 7–3 7–4 4–5 2–5 2–5 9–3 7–4 10–3 4–2 2–5 6–9
New York 3–3 8–5–1 3–7 3–6 1–5 3–9 7–7 3–6–1 2–5 2–4 6–5
Philadelphia 5-4 10–2 2–5 6–4 3–3 4–7 7–7 7–5 4–2 4–3 7–6
Pittsburgh 3–2 10–4 2–4 4–2 1–5 3–10 6–3–1 5–7 6–4 3–7 3–8
San Diego 6–9 3–3 2–10 3–11 5–6 2–4 5–2 2–4 4–6 6–7 3–7
San Francisco 7–5 5–5 5–9 6–9 5–7 5–2 4–2 3–4 7–3 7–6 2–3
St. Louis 3–4 4–5–1 5–0 4–2 5–5 9–6 5–6 6–7 8–3 7–3 3–2


Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters
Name Position
Davey Lopes Second baseman
Ken Landreaux Center fielder
Dusty Baker Left fielder
Steve Garvey First baseman
Ron Cey Third baseman
Pedro Guerrero Right fielder
Mike Scioscia Catcher
Bill Russell Shortstop
Fernando Valenzuela Starting pitcher

Roster

1981 Los Angeles Dodgers

Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Notable transactions

Starting Pitchers stats

Name G GS IP ERA W/L BB SO CG
Fernando Valenzuela 25 25 192.3 2.48 13-7 61 180 11
Burt Hooton 23 23 142.3 2.28 11-6 33 74 5
Bob Welch 23 23 141.3 3.44 9-5 41 88 2
Jerry Reuss 22 22 152.7 2.30 10-4 27 51 8

Relief Pitchers stats

Name G GS IP ERA W/L BB SO SV
Steve Howe 41 0 54.0 2.50 5-3 18 32 8
Bobby Castillo 34 1 50.7 5.33 2-4 18 32 5
Dave Stewart 32 0 43.3 2.49 4-3 14 29 6
Terry Forster 21 0 30.7 4.11 0-1 15 17 0
Dave Goltz 26 8 77.0 4.09 2-7 25 48 1
Rick Sutcliffe 14 6 47.0 4.02 2-2 20 16 0
Tom Niedenfuer 17 0 26.0 3.81 3-1 6 12 2
Alejandro Peña 14 0 25.3 2.84 1-1 11 14 2
Ted Power 5 2 14.3 3.14 1-3 7 7 0

Batting Stats

Name Pos G AB Avg. R H HR RBI SB
Mike Scioscia C 93 290 .276 27 80 2 29 0
Steve Yeager C 42 86 .209 5 18 3 7 0
Jerry Grote C 2 2 .000 0 0 0 0 0
Steve Garvey 1B 110 431 .283 63 122 10 64 3
Davey Lopes 2B 58 214 .289 35 44 5 17 20
Bill Russell SS 82 262 .233 20 61 0 22 2
Ron Cey 3B 85 312 .288 42 90 13 50 0
Derrel Thomas 2B/3B/SS/OF 80 218 .248 25 54 4 24 7
Steve Sax 2B 31 119 .277 15 33 2 9 5
Pepe Frías SS/2B/3B 25 36 .250 6 9 0 3 0
Reggie Smith 1B 41 35 .200 5 7 1 8 0
Mike Marshall 1B/3B/OF 14 25 .200 2 5 0 1 0
Gary Weiss SS 14 19 .105 2 2 0 1 0
Jack Perconte 2B 8 9 .222 2 2 0 1 1
Dusty Baker OF 103 400 .320 48 128 9 49 10
Pedro Guerrero OF/3B/1B 98 347 .300 46 104 12 48 5
Ken Landreaux OF 99 390 .251 48 98 7 41 18
Rick Monday OF 66 130 .315 24 41 11 25 1
Jay Johnstone OF/1B 61 83 .205 8 17 3 6 0
Ron Roenicke OF 22 47 .234 6 11 0 0 1
Joe Ferguson OF 17 14 .143 2 2 0 1 0
Candy Maldonado OF 11 12 .093 0 1 0 0 0
Bobby Mitchell OF 10 5 .125 0 1 0 0 0
Mark Bradley OF 9 6 .167 2 1 0 0 0

Postseason

1981 National League Division Series

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In the divisional series, the Dodgers fell behind the Houston Astros two games to zero but came back to win the next three games to take the series and advance to the LCS.

Game 1

October 6, The Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
Houston 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 8 0
W: Nolan Ryan (1-0)  L: Dave Stewart (0-1)  
HRs: LASteve Garvey (1)  HOUAlan Ashby (1)

Game 2

October 7, The Astrodome, Houston, Texas

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 0
W: Joe Sambito (1-0)  L: Dave Stewart (0-2)  
HRs: LA – none   HOU – none

Game 3

October 9, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Los Angeles 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 X 6 10 0
W: Burt Hooton (1-0)  L: Bob Knepper (0-1)  
HRs: HOUArt Howe (1)  LASteve Garvey (2)

Game 4

October 10, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 X 2 4 0
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0)  L: Vern Ruhle (0-1)  
HRs: HOU – none  LAPedro Guerrero (1)

Game 5

October 11, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 X 4 7 2
W: Jerry Reuss (1-0)  L: Nolan Ryan (1-1)  
HRs: HOU – none  LA – none

1981 National League Championship Series

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The Dodgers faced the Montreal Expos in the 1981 NLCS and beat them three games to two, thanks to a ninth-inning home run by Rick Monday in Game 5.

Game 1

October 13, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 0
Los Angeles 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 X 5 8 0
W: Burt Hooton (1-0)  L: Bill Gullickson (0-1)  
HRs: MON – None  LADPedro Guerrero (1), Mike Scioscia (1)
Pitchers: MON – Gullickson, Reardon (8)  LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)
Attendance: 51,273

Game 2

October 14, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Montreal 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 10 1
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1
W: Ray Burris (1-0)  L: Fernando Valenzuela (0-1)  
HRs: MON – None  LAD – None
Pitchers: MON – Burris  LAD – Valenzuela, Niedenfuer (7), Forster (7), Pena (7), Castillo (9)
Attendance: 53,463

Game 3

October 16, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0
Montreal 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 X 4 7 1
W: Steve Rogers (1-0)  L: Jerry Reuss (0-1)  
HRs: LAD – None  MONJerry White (1)
Pitchers: LAD – Reuss, Pena (8)  MON – Rogers
Attendance: 54,372

Game 4

October 17, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 7 12 1
Montreal 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1
W: Burt Hooton (2-0)  L: Bill Gullickson (0-2)
HRs: LADSteve Garvey (1)  MON – None
Pitchers: LAD – Hooton, Welch (8), Howe (9)  MON – Gullickson, Fryman (8), Sosa (9), Lee (9)
Attendance: 54,499

Game 5

October 19, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 6 0
Montreal 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-1)  L: Steve Rogers (1-1)  SV: Bob Welch (1)
HRs: LADRick Monday (1)  MON – None
Pitchers: LAD – Valenzuela, Welch (9)  MON – Burris, Rogers (9)
Attendance: 36,491

1981 World Series

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The Dodgers met the New York Yankees in the World Series once again, this time beating them in six games to claim their first championship since 1965.

Game 1

October 20, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 5 0
New York 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 5 6 0
W: Ron Guidry (1-0)  L: Jerry Reuss (0-1)  SV: Goose Gossage (1)
HRs: LADSteve Yeager (1)  NYBob Watson (1)

Game 2

October 21, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
New York 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 X 3 6 1
W: Tommy John (1-0)  L: Burt Hooton (0-1)  SV: Goose Gossage (2)
HRs: LAD – none  NY – none

Game 3

October 23, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
Los Angeles 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 5 11 1
W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0)  L: George Frazier (0-1)  SV: none)
HRs: NYRick Cerone (1), Bob Watson (2)  LARon Cey (1)

Game 4

October 24, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 7 13 1
Los Angeles 0 0 2 0 1 3 2 0 X 8 14 2
W: Steve Howe (1-0)  L: George Frazier (0-2)  SV: none)
HRs: NYWillie Randolph (1), Reggie Jackson (1)  LAJay Johnstone (1)

Game 5

October 25, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 X 2 4 3
W: Jerry Reuss (1-1)  L: Ron Guidry (1-1)  SV: none
HRs: NY – none   LAPedro Guerrero (1), Steve Yeager (2)

Game 6

October 28, Yankee Stadium, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 1 3 4 0 1 0 9 13 1
New York 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 2
W: Burt Hooton (1-1)  L: George Frazier (0-3)  SV: Steve Howe (1)
HRs: LADPedro Guerrero (2)   NYWillie Randolph (2)

1981 Awards

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Albuquerque Dukes Pacific Coast League Del Crandall
AA San Antonio Dodgers Texas League Don LeJohn
High A Lodi Dodgers California League Terry Collins
High A Vero Beach Dodgers Florida State League Stan Wasiak
Rookie Lethbridge Dodgers Pioneer League Gary LaRocque

Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft

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The Dodgers drafted 33 players in the June draft and 18 in the January draft. Of those, eight players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received an extra pick in the 2nd round from the Houston Astros as compensation for the loss of free agent pitcher Don Sutton.

The Dodgers first round pick in the June draft was shortstop Dave Anderson from the University of Memphis. He played 10 seasons in the Majors (8 of them with the Dodgers), primarily as a utility infielder. The draft also included pitchers Sid Fernandez (round 3) and John Franco (round 5), both of whom would have lengthy Major League careers primarily with the New York Mets after the Dodgers traded them.

Notes

References

External links