# 1968 Los Angeles Dodgers season

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 6th 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

vteNational 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 recordvte 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
## 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

| 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

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. 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 :