Chapter 2: 1977. The beginning of Lasordaism
The 1977 Dodgers started out hot and finished as a backdrop to Reggie Jackson
Longtime manager Walter Alston retired with a handful of games left in 1976 and Tommy Lasorda took over the reins. So although a lot of people think Lasorda’s managerial debut was the hot start in 1977, he had already been on the job for a bit.
The Dodgers came out hot in 1977, going 17-3 in April and moving into first place on April 15 and never relinquishing it. The Dodgers hit a lot of home runs by the standards of the era and by the standards of Dodger Stadium, which still playing as a pitcher’s park.
The Dodgers led the National League with 191 homers and became the first team to have four players hit 30 or more homers in season. Steve Garvey hit 33, Reggie Smith hit 32, and Ron Cey and Dusty Baker both hit 30. Baker hit his 30th on the last day of the regular season off of Houston ace J.R. Richard, who was always a Dodgers nemesis.
Lasorda relied heavily on his starting pitchers. All five of the regular starting pitchers logged over 200 innings. The top pitcher out of the pen was knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who created a lot of stress by walking 70 in 105 innings.
The most memorable game for me occurred in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Phillies. The Dodgers trailed 5-3 with two outs in the ninth. Late season acquisition Vic Davalillo pinch hit for Steve Yeager. Davalillo reached safely on a bunt. That brought up another pinch hitter, Manny Mota, batting for Lance Rautzhan.
Mota’s M.O. was usually a line drive single to left, but this time he hit the ball close to the left field wall where Greg Luzinski could get a glove on the ball, but couldn’t catch it. Luzinski threw the ball into second to try to catch the 39-year old Mota stretching for a double. Mota was already sliding in safely and Phillies second baseman Ted Sizemore couldn’t handle the throw. Davalillo scored and Mota was now the tying run at third.
Still there were two outs and Gene Garber still had a chance to put the game away. Davey Lopes hit a grounder to third that bounced off of Mike Schmidt over to Larry Bowa and Lopes beat it out for a hit (well, that’s what they said in 1977) while Mota scored the tying run. The Phillies were inscenced.
Garber had Lopes picked off of first, but made a throwing error and Lopes moved to second where he scored on a Bill Russell single. Mike Garman closed the game out in the ninth. The Dodgers won the series the next night in the rain.
The World Series lasted six games and I believe that Reggie Jackson is still hitting home runs off of Dodgers pitching.