# 1987 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1987 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 98th of the franchise in Major League Baseball and their 30th season in Los Angeles, California. They finished in fourth place in the National League West, with an identical record to the previous season, 73–89.

## Offseason

* December 10, 1986: Acquired Matt Young from the Seattle Mariners for Dennis Powell and Mike Watters
* December 10, 1986: Acquired Tim Leary and Tim Crews from the Milwaukee Brewers for Greg Brock
* December 11, 1986: Acquired Alex Treviño from the San Francisco Giants for Candy Maldonado
* December 11, 1986: Acquired Ed Vande Berg from the Seattle Mariners for Steve Yeager

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 42‍–‍39 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Houston Astros | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 47‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍52 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 92 | .429 | 20½ | 42‍–‍39 | 27‍–‍53 |
| San Diego Padres | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 37‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1987 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 5–6 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 4–8 | 5–13 | — | 12–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 |
| Montreal | 9–3 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–10 | 5–13 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Opening Day starters

| Name | Position |
| Steve Sax | Second baseman |
| Mariano Duncan | Shortstop |
| Bill Madlock | Third baseman |
| Mike Marshall | Right fielder |
| Franklin Stubbs | First baseman |
| Ken Landreaux | Left fielder |
| Mike Scioscia | Catcher |
| Mike Ramsey | Center fielder |
| Orel Hershiser | Starting pitcher |

### Notable transactions

* May 6, 1987: Acquired Orlando Mercado from the Detroit Tigers for Balvino Gálvez
* May 22, 1987: Acquired John Shelby and Brad Havens from the Baltimore Orioles for Tom Niedenfuer
* May 29, 1987: Bill Madlock was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
* June 19, 1987: Acquired Phil Garner from the Houston Astros for Jeff Edwards
* June 23, 1987: Acquired Bill Krueger from the Oakland Athletics for Tim Meeks
* August 17, 1987: Acquired Glenn Hoffman from the Boston Red Sox for Billy Bartels
* August 29, 1987: Acquired Tim Belcher from the Oakland Athletics for Rick Honeycutt
* September 21, 1987: Acquired Mike Sharperson from the Toronto Blue Jays for Juan Guzmán

### 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 | Mike Scioscia | 142 | 461 | 122 | .265 | 6 | 38 |
| 1B | Franklin Stubbs | 129 | 386 | 90 | .233 | 16 | 52 |
| 2B | Steve Sax | 157 | 610 | 171 | .280 | 6 | 46 |
| 3B | Mickey Hatcher | 101 | 287 | 81 | .282 | 7 | 42 |
| SS | Mariano Duncan | 76 | 261 | 56 | .215 | 6 | 18 |
| LF | Pedro Guerrero | 152 | 545 | 184 | .338 | 27 | 89 |
| CF | John Shelby | 120 | 476 | 132 | .277 | 21 | 69 |
| RF | Mike Marshall | 104 | 402 | 118 | .294 | 16 | 72 |

#### 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 |
| Dave Anderson | 108 | 265 | 62 | .234 | 1 | 13 |
| Ken Landreaux | 115 | 182 | 37 | .203 | 6 | 23 |
| Alex Treviño | 72 | 144 | 32 | .222 | 3 | 16 |
| Tracy Woodson | 53 | 136 | 31 | .228 | 1 | 11 |
| Glenn Hoffman | 40 | 132 | 29 | .220 | 0 | 10 |
| Phil Garner | 70 | 126 | 24 | .190 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike Ramsey | 48 | 125 | 29 | .232 | 0 | 12 |
| Danny Heep | 60 | 98 | 16 | .163 | 0 | 9 |
| Jeff Hamilton | 35 | 83 | 18 | .217 | 0 | 1 |
| Ralph Bryant | 46 | 69 | 17 | .246 | 2 | 10 |
| Tito Landrum | 51 | 67 | 16 | .239 | 1 | 4 |
| Bill Madlock | 21 | 61 | 11 | .180 | 3 | 7 |
| Mike Devereaux | 19 | 54 | 12 | .222 | 0 | 4 |
| Reggie Williams | 39 | 36 | 4 | .111 | 0 | 4 |
| Craig Shipley | 26 | 35 | 9 | .257 | 0 | 2 |
| Mike Sharperson | 10 | 33 | 9 | .273 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Gwynn | 17 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 2 |
| José González | 19 | 16 | 3 | .188 | 0 | 1 |
| Len Matuszek | 16 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Orlando Mercado | 7 | 5 | 3 | .600 | 0 | 1 |
| Brad Wellman | 3 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Gilberto Reyes | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Orel Hershiser | 37 | 264.2 | 16 | 16 | 3.06 | 190 |
| Bob Welch | 35 | 251.2 | 15 | 9 | 3.22 | 196 |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 34 | 251.0 | 14 | 14 | 3.98 | 190 |
| Shawn Hillegas | 12 | 58.0 | 4 | 3 | 3.57 | 51 |
| Tim Belcher | 6 | 34.0 | 4 | 2 | 2.38 | 23 |

#### 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 Honeycutt | 27 | 115.2 | 2 | 12 | 4.59 | 92 |
| Tim Leary | 39 | 107.2 | 3 | 11 | 4.76 | 61 |
| Alejandro Peña | 37 | 87.1 | 2 | 7 | 3.50 | 76 |

#### 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 |
| Matt Young | 47 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 4.47 | 42 |
| Brian Holton | 53 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3.89 | 58 |
| Ken Howell | 40 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.91 | 60 |
| Brad Havens | 31 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.33 | 23 |
| Tim Crews | 20 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2.48 | 20 |
| Tom Niedenfuer | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.76 | 10 |
| Ron Davis | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 |
| Jack Savage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 | 0 |
| Bill Krueger | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
| Jerry Reuss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |

## 1987 awards

* 1987 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Pedro Guerrero reserve
** Orel Hershiser reserve
* Comeback Player of the Year Award
** Pedro Guerrero
* NL Pitcher of the Month
** Orel Hershiser (June 1987)
* NL Player of the Week
** Orel Hershiser (June 8–14)
** Alejandro Peña (Sep. 28-Oct.4)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Albuquerque Dukes | Pacific Coast League | Terry Collins |
| AA | San Antonio Dodgers | Texas League | Gary LaRocque |
| High A | Bakersfield Dodgers | California League | Kevin Kennedy |
| High A | Vero Beach Dodgers | Florida State League | John Shoemaker |
| Rookie | Great Falls Dodgers | Pioneer League | Tim Johnson |
| Rookie | Gulf Coast Dodgers | Gulf Coast League | Joe Alvarez |
Teams in BOLD won League Championships

## Major League Baseball Draft

The draft was altered this year and the January drafts and the secondary phase of the June draft were eliminated, leaving just the one June draft, which was expanded to more rounds to allow the Junior College players to be included. The Dodgers drafted 51 players in this draft, the largest collection of players they had ever drafted in one draft. Of those, ten of them would eventually play Major League baseball.
The top pick in this years draft was right-handed pitcher Dan Opperman from Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, Opperman injured his arm pitching in the state high school playoffs his Senior season and would not be able to pitch professionally until 1989. He would eventually play in parts of four seasons with the Dodgers farm teams in Vero Beach, San Antonio and the last two with the AAA Albuquerque Dukes. In 63 games (all but one as a starter) he had a record of 19-22 and an ERA of 3.95.
None of the players from this years draft would leave much of an impression on the Majors. Pitchers Dennis Springer and Mike James had the longest careers, but were just average players at best.
1987 Draft Picks :
| Round | Name | Position | School | Signed | Career span | Highest level |
| 1 | Dan Opperman | RHP | Valley High School | Yes | 1989–1992 | AAA |
| 2 | Donald Carroll | OF | Granite Hills High School | Yes | 1988–1999 | A+ |
| 3 | Chris Nichting | RHP | Northwestern University | Yes | 1988–2002 | MLB |
| 4 | Thomas Demerit | OF | Dartmouth College | Yes | 1987–1988 | A |
| 5 | Luis Martinez | SS | Old Dominion University | Yes | 1987–1993 | AAA |
| 6 | Darrin Fletcher | C | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | Yes | 1987–2002 | MLB |
| 7 | Tony Barron | 3B | Willamette University | Yes | 1987–2002 | MLB |
| 8 | Howie Freiling | 1B | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Yes | 1987–1990 | AAA |
| 9 | Lem Luckham | RHP | Los Amigos High School | Yes | 1987–1992 | AA |
| 10 | Douglas Noch | RHP | Central Michigan University | Yes | 1987–1989 | A |
| 11 | Lawrence Gonzalez | RHP | Don Antonio Lugo High School | Yes | 1987–1989 | A- |
| 12 | Barry Blackwell | C | Florida State University | No Indians-1988 | 1988–1990 | AA |
| 13 | Sherman Collins | RHP | University of Oklahoma | Yes | 1987 | A |
| 14 | D. J. Floyd | C | Chino High School | Yes | 1987–1990 | A |
| 15 | Alan Lewis | SS | Davidson College | Yes | 1987–1993 | AA |
| 16 | John Wanish | RHP | Florida State University | Yes | 1987–1991 | A+ |
| 17 | Bruce Dostal | OF | William Paterson University | Yes | 1987–1995 | AAA |
| 18 | Steve Green | OF | Georgia Institute of Technology | Yes | 1987–1993 | A+ |
| 19 | Rafael Bournigal | IF | Florida State University | Yes | 1987–2000 | MLB |
| 20 | Jose Munoz | SS | Florida College | Yes | 1987–2001 | MLB |
| 21 | Dennis Springer | RHP | California State University, Fresno | Yes | 1987–2002 | MLB |
| 22 | Mike Parks | RHP | University of Miami | No | | |
| 23 | Daniel Kreuder | RHP | Pace University | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 24 | Randal Wadsworth | C | California University of Pennsylvania | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 25 | Frank Mustari | 3B | Illinois State University | Yes | 1987–1988 | A |
| 26 | Brian Emmert | 1B | Pace University | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 27 | Dan Piscetta | RHP | College of Wooster | No | | |
| 28 | David Martin | RHP | Phillips University | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 29 | Zak Shinall | RHP | El Camino College | Yes | 1987–1995 | MLB |
| 30 | Todd Melisauskas | C | Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania | Yes | 1987–1988 | A |
| 31 | Eric Johnson | OF | California State University, Sacramento | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 32 | William Argo | OF | Iowa State University | Yes | 1987–1989 | A |
| 33 | Chris Harding | OF | Clover High School | No | | |
| 34 | Jim Poole | LHP | Georgia Institute of Technology | No Dodgers-1988 | 1988–2000 | MLB |
| 35 | Brian Currie | LHP | University of South Carolina | Yes | 1987–1990 | A- |
| 36 | Garrett Carter | 3B | University of South Carolina | No Braves-1988 | 1988 | Rookie |
| 37 | Jeff Herman | OF | De Anza College | No | | |
| 38 | Larry Rezny | LHP | Grand Haven High School | No | | |
| 39 | Brett Magnusson | OF | Santa Rosa Junior College | Yes | 1988–1994 | AAA |
| 40 | Jerry Lutterman | RHP | Lafayette High School | No | | |
| 41 | James Robinson | RHP | Sullivan High School | No White Sox-1989 | 1989 | Rookie |
| 42 | Joseph Fernandez | OF | Galileo High School | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 43 | Mike James | RHP | Lurleen B. Wallace Community College | Yes | 1988–2002 | MLB |
| 44 | Christopher Gettler | RHP | Jacksonville University | Yes | 1987–1988 | A |
| 45 | Doug Simons | LHP | Pepperdine University | No Twins-1988 | 1988–1996 | MLB |
| 46 | Sam Bland | C | Kishwaukee College | Yes | 1987 | Rookie |
| 47 | Albert Bustillos | RHP | Gavilan College | Yes | 1988–1996 | AAA |
| 48 | Ken Woods | SS | Palisades High School | No | | |
| 49 | Troy Arrington | RHP | Jordan High School | No | | |
| 50 | Vince Muldrew | OF | Centennial High School | No | | |
| 51 | Andrew Perkens | C | Blair High School | No | | |