# 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers rebounded from being eliminated from the playoffs on the final day of the previous season to win their second National League West title in three years, but lost in the NLCS to the Philadelphia Phillies 3 games to 1.

## Offseason

* December 28, 1982: Acquired Pat Zachry from the New York Mets for Jorge Orta.
* January 20, 1983: Acquired Vance Lovelace and Dan Cataline from the Chicago Cubs for Ron Cey.
* March 28, 1983: Acquired Ivan Mesa from the Minnesota Twins for Tack Wilson.
* March 29, 1983: Acquired Steve Walker, Jody Johnston and cash from the New York Mets for Mark Bradley.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 48‍–‍32 | 43‍–‍39 |
| Atlanta Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 3 | 46‍–‍34 | 42‍–‍40 |
| Houston Astros | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 46‍–‍36 | 39‍–‍41 |
| San Diego Padres | 81 | 81 | .500 | 10 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Francisco Giants | 79 | 83 | .488 | 12 | 43‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 36‍–‍45 | 38‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Cincinnati | 6–12 | 8–4 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 7–11 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 6–12–1 | 5–13 | 9–3 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| New York | 4–8 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 1–11 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 4–8 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 4–14 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — |

### Opening Day lineup

Opening Day Starters :
| Name | Position |
| Steve Sax | Second baseman |
| Ken Landreaux | Center fielder |
| Dusty Baker | Left fielder |
| Pedro Guerrero | Third baseman |
| Greg Brock | First baseman |
| Mike Marshall | Right fielder |
| Bill Russell | Shortstop |
| Steve Yeager | Catcher |
| Fernando Valenzuela | Starting pitcher |

### Notable transactions

* May 2, 1983: Tom Klawitter was released by the Dodgers.
* May 9, 1983: Acquired Rafael Landestoy from the Cincinnati Reds for Brett Wise and John Franco
* August 19, 1983: Dave Stewart, Ricky Wright and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the Texas Rangers for Rick Honeycutt.

## 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 | Steve Yeager | 113 | 335 | 68 | .203 | 15 | 41 |
| 1B | Greg Brock | 146 | 455 | 102 | .224 | 20 | 66 |
| 2B | Steve Sax | 155 | 623 | 175 | .281 | 5 | 41 |
| SS | Bill Russell | 131 | 451 | 111 | .246 | 1 | 30 |
| 3B | Pedro Guerrero | 160 | 584 | 174 | .298 | 32 | 103 |
| LF | Dusty Baker | 149 | 531 | 138 | .260 | 15 | 73 |
| CF | Ken Landreaux | 141 | 481 | 135 | .281 | 17 | 66 |
| RF | Mike Marshall | 140 | 465 | 132 | .284 | 17 | 65 |

#### 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 |
| Derrel Thomas | 118 | 192 | 48 | .250 | 2 | 8 |
| Rick Monday | 99 | 178 | 44 | .247 | 6 | 20 |
| Jack Fimple | 54 | 148 | 37 | .250 | 2 | 22 |
| Ron Roenicke | 81 | 145 | 32 | .221 | 2 | 12 |
| Dave Anderson | 61 | 115 | 19 | .165 | 1 | 2 |
| Rafael Landestoy | 64 | 64 | 11 | .172 | 1 | 1 |
| Candy Maldonado | 42 | 62 | 12 | .194 | 1 | 6 |
| R.J. Reynolds | 24 | 55 | 13 | .236 | 2 | 11 |
| José Morales | 47 | 53 | 15 | .283 | 3 | 8 |
| Mike Scioscia | 12 | 35 | 11 | .314 | 1 | 7 |
| Gilberto Reyes | 19 | 31 | 5 | .161 | 0 | 0 |
| Germán Rivera | 13 | 17 | 6 | .353 | 0 | 0 |
| Sid Bream | 15 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 2 |
| Cecil Espy | 20 | 11 | 3 | .273 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Sax | 7 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Alex Taveras | 10 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 35 | 257.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.75 | 189 |
| Jerry Reuss | 32 | 223.1 | 12 | 11 | 2.94 | 143 |
| Bob Welch | 31 | 204.0 | 15 | 12 | 2.65 | 156 |

#### 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 |
| Alejandro Peña | 34 | 177.0 | 12 | 9 | 2.75 | 120 |
| Burt Hooton | 33 | 160.0 | 9 | 8 | 4.22 | 87 |
| Rick Honeycutt | 9 | 39.0 | 2 | 3 | 5.77 | 18 |
| Sid Fernandez | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Howe | 46 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 1.44 | 52 |
| Tom Niedenfuer | 66 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 1.90 | 66 |
| Dave Stewart | 46 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2.96 | 54 |
| Joe Beckwith | 42 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3.55 | 50 |
| Pat Zachry | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2.49 | 36 |
| Orel Hershiser | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.38 | 5 |
| Rich Rodas | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.93 | 5 |
| Ricky Wright | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.84 | 5 |
| Larry White | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.29 | 5 |

## 1983 National League Championship Series

The National League West champion Dodgers faced the National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies in the 1983 NLCS and lost the series 3 games to 1. Noteworthy was that the Dodgers had won 11 of 12 games against the Phillies during the regular season.

### Game 1

October 4, Dodger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Steve Carlton (1-0) L: Jerry Reuss (0-1) SV: Al Holland (1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: PHI – Mike Schmidt (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 2

October 5, Dodger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Philadelphia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Los Angeles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Fernando Valenzuela (1-0) L: John Denny (0-1) SV: Tom Niedenfuer (1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: PHI – Gary Matthews (1) |||||||||||||

### Game 3

October 7, Veterans Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Charles Hudson (1-0) L: Bob Welch (0-1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: LAD – Mike Marshall (1); PHI – Gary Matthews (2) |||||||||||||

### Game 4

October 8, Veterans Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Philadelphia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Steve Carlton (2-0) L: Jerry Reuss (0-2) |||||||||||||
| HRs: LAD – Dusty Baker (1); PHI – Gary Matthews (3), Sixto Lezcano (1) |||||||||||||

## Awards and honors

* 1983 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
** Steve Sax starter
** Pedro Guerrero reserve
** Fernando Valenzuela reserve
* Silver Slugger Award
** Fernando Valenzuela
* NL Pitcher of the Month
** Burt Hooton (June 1983)
* NL Player of the Month
** Dusty Baker (July 1983)
* NL Player of the Week
** Dusty Baker (July 11–17)
** Mike Marshall (Sep. 5–11)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Albuquerque Dukes | Pacific Coast League | Del Crandall Terry Collins |
| AA | San Antonio Dodgers | Texas League | Terry Collins Rick Ollar Dave Wallace |
| High A | Lodi Dodgers | California League | Don LeJohn |
| High A | Vero Beach Dodgers | Florida State League | Stan Wasiak |
| Rookie | Lethbridge Dodgers | Pioneer League | Gail Henley |
| Rookie | Gulf Coast Dodgers | Gulf Coast League | Gary LaRocque |
Teams in BOLD won League Championships

## Major League Baseball Draft

The Dodgers drafted 35 players in the June draft and 17 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. They received two extra picks in the 2nd round as compensation for losing free agents Steve Garvey and Terry Forster.
The first round pick in the June draft was pitcher Erik Sonberg of Wichita State University. He played six seasons in the minors and was 19-38 with a 6.20 ERA in 107 games. None of this years signings amounted to much of anything in the Majors.
1983 Draft Picks :
January draft
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Derek Lee
RHP
Sacramento City College
Yes
1983–1984
A
2
Todd Cobbs
RHP
Vincennes University
Yes
1983–1985
A
3
Patrick Sullivan
C
Sacramento City College
No Blue Jays-1985
1985
Rookie
4
Mark Tindall
LHP
Sinclair Community College
No Expos-1983
1983–1984
A-
5
Victor Marin
RHP
Chaffey College
No
6
Randy Hamrick
LHP
Spartanburg Methodist College
Yes
1983–1985
A
7
John Partridge
RHP
Alvin Community College
No
8
Rob Leary
RHP
College of San Mateo
No Expos-1986
1986–1990
AAA
9
Kenneth Boone
RHP
Citrus College
No
10
Theodore Parker
OF
Spartanburg Methodist College
No Cardinals-1986
1986–1987
A
11
Scott Campbell
OF
Citrus College
No Royals-1983
1983
Rookie
12
Mark Reynolds
OF
Austin Community College
Yes
1983–1986
AA
13
Wayne Kirby
OF
Newport News Apprentice School
Yes
1983–2001
MLB
14
Karl Ciamaichelo
SS
Yes
1983
Rookie
15
Gerald Robinson
C
No
January Secondary phase
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Dennis Woods
OF
Spartanburg Methodist College
No
2
Rodney McCray
OF
West Los Angeles College
No Padres-1984
1984–1993
MLB
June draft
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Erik Sonberg
LHP
Wichita State University
Yes
1983–1989
AAA
2
Michael Cherry
RHP
The Citadel
Yes
1983–1986
AA
2
Robert Hamilton
RHP
Northeast High School
Yes
1983–1987
AA
2
Luis Lopez
C
Lafayette High School
Yes
1984–2004
MLB
3
Mitchell Moran
OF
University of Texas–Pan American
Yes
1983–1985
A
4
Bert Flores
OF
Mt. Whitney High School
Yes
1983–1986
A
5
Richard Thurman
RHP
Pepperdine University
Yes
1983
A
6
Scott May
RHP
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Yes
1983–1995
MLB
7
Timothy Zaploski
3B
Boulder City High School
Yes
1983–1985
A-
8
Dave Eichborn
RHP
University of Miami
No
9
Curtis Campbell
C
Gardena High School
Yes
1983–1984
Rookie
10
Chuck Bartlett
C
Mississippi State University
Yes
1983–1984
A
11
Joe Karmeris
3B
Reavis High School
Yes
1983–1985
A
12
Samuel Dotson
C
University of Memphis
Yes
1983
Rookie
13
Kenneth Harvey
2B
University of Richmond
Yes
1983–1987
AA
14
Barry Wohler
LHP
University of Minnesota
Yes
1984–1988
AA
15
Richard Ross
3B
North Park University
No
16
Steven Shields
RHP
California State University, Los Angeles
Yes
1983–1985
A
17
Michael Blair
C
Jacksonville State University
Yes
1983–1984
A
18
Fred LaGroue
RHP
Holy Cross High School
No
19
Christopher Chapman
OF
Southern University and A&M College
Yes
1983–1987
AA
20
Mark Stevens
OF
Citrus College
No
21
Shawn Gilbert
SS
Agua Fria High School
No Twins-1987
1987–2003
MLB
22
Mike Fetters
RHP
ʻIolani School
No Angels-1986
1986–2004
MLB
23
Robert Rowen
LHP
Lassen College
Yes
1983–1988
AA
24
Vincent Beringhele
OF
University of California, Los Angeles
Yes
1983–1985
A
25
John Rexrode
RHP
Dallas Baptist University
Yes
1983–1984
A
26
Scott Parrish
RHP
Clemson University
No Athletics-1984
1984–1985
A-
27
Dale Hamrick
3B
Spartanburg Methodist College
No Braves-1984
1984
Rookie
28
Fernando Fernández
3B
Lennox High School
No
29
Kevin Monk
1B
Fremont High School
No
30
Daniel Kapea
LHP
Waipahu High School
No Brewers-1988
1988
Rookie
June secondary phase
Round
Name
Position
School
Signed
Career span
Highest level
1
Jon Leake
3B
Sacramento City College
No Brewers-1985
1985–1989
A
2
Terence Guzman
LHP
Ferrum College
No
3
Tim Criswell
RHP
Georgia Perimeter College
Yes
1983–1987
AA :