Pitching Rich History: Los Angeles Part 1 1959-1990

                                             On May 3rd, 1957, Walter O’Malley announced his intention to move the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. His announcement was met with anger in Brooklyn, and excitement in Los Angeles. O’Malley had been unsuccessful in securing the location for a new ballpark in Brooklyn. The man blocking him was Robert Moses, who was the director of city planning for the City of New York. Walter wanted to build a state-of-the-art stadium in the borough of Brooklyn itself. He had a spot picked out where the old trolley station was. Moses blocked that and said they could build in Queens where the Mets eventually built Shea. O’Malley then decided to move the team and made his deal with the city fathers of LA. Moses and O’Malley did not like each other. 

                                           O’Malley purchased the territorial rights to LA from the Cubs. After O’Malley made the announcement, it was two weeks before it was approved by the league. But had he tried to move there without another team relocating to the west coast too, he most likely would not have gotten approval. So, he convinced Giants owner, Horace Stoneham, to move the Giants to San Francisco.  Because of his dislike of O’Malley, Moses cost the city of New York, two iconic franchises. Yes, they would get the Mets in 62, but although they have had some success, they have never reached the status of the Dodgers or Giants.

                                        O’Malley had two choices of where his team could play until his new ballpark was built. Wrigley Field, which was located close to the coliseum and Exposition Park. The other was the coliseum. Built for the 32 Olympics and the primary home of USC football. Wrigley seated 22,000. The coliseum, 100,000. O’Malley opted for the bigger venue. The team that came to LA in 1958 was aging. They had also lost their star catcher to a tragic accident in January. Roy Campanella would never get a chance at trying to hit balls over the screen in left field at the coliseum. 

                                     The 58 team was awful and fell to 7th in their first season. The upside was that all of the starting pitchers were 25 or younger. Newcombe was traded to the Reds after starting the season at 0-6. Erskine was having elbow problems which sidelined him. The Dodgers were infusing a lot of youth into the pitching staff. They used 19 pitchers that year, and Newcombe was the oldest at 32. 

                                      Reese retired after the 58 season. Erskine at 32 was basically finished, he went 0-3 with a plus 7 ERA and was released. LA had 9 different pitchers start games. Drysdale was the Ace with a 17-13 mark. The pitchers had to learn how to pitch with that short fence in left field and the screen. Koufax, McDevitt, Craig, and Podres were the other regular starters. Stan Williams, Larry Sherry and Gene Snyder all got starts. Labine was the closer in the pen. 

                                    The team would tie for the pennant and beat the Braves in a two-game playoff. They would face the White Sox in the series. Craig got hammered in game one with the team losing 11-0. Podres got another World Series win in game 2, 4-3. Back at the coliseum for game three, they set a World Series record for attendance with 92,324. Big D got the win, 3-1. Game four was close, 5-4 with Sherry getting the win in relief. He had also gotten saves in games 2&3. Koufax made his first World Series start in game five. He ended up losing 1-0. LA went back to Chicago with a 3-2 lead in the series. Podres started but went just 3.1 innings before he was relieved by Sherry. LA’s offense took over and LA won, 9-3, winning a World Series in their second year in LA, it had taken the team 65 years to win one in Brooklyn.

                                  They played in the coliseum through the 61 season. They finished 4th in 1960, and 2nd in 1961. Drysdale was the Ace of the staff. Podres, Stan Williams and Koufax were the other three starters who made the most starts. Koufax still wasn’t the Koufax we would come to remember, but he had shown flashes. In August of 1959, he had struck out 18 Giants in a game at the coliseum, that set a new NL record for Ks in a game. He was 6-13 in 1960. 

                                  In 1961, he would begin a six-year stretch of excellence that would eventually propel him into the Hall of Fame. Most of us know the story about the spring training game that changed the course of his career. Myself, I have always given credit to some of Sandy’s success to Norm Sherry. The catcher who told him to quit trying to throw the ball by every hitter. What some do not know is that Koufax was almost traded to the Yankees for Elston Howard, but the Dodgers decided to turn down the offer. 

                                Koufax won 18 games in 61. He pitched in 42 games and started 35 of those. Drysdale, 13, Williams, 15, and Podres, 18, all were in double figures the last year at the coliseum. They moved to Dodger Stadium for the 1962 season with a very solid pitching staff.  Drysdale would win his first, and only Cy Young award. He won 25 games. Koufax had the lowest ERA in the league at just 2.54, but a problem with his circulation in his finger. He had jammed it while batting. Still, he threw the first no-hitter at Dodger Stadium against the Mets, he matched his 18 strikeouts in a game against the Cubs. But he pitched in just 28 games and even though he came back in September, he was obviously not the same pitcher. He lost his only playoff start.

                                The Dodgers tied the Giants for the pennant and lost the 3-game playoff, 2-1. Stan Williams, who won 14 games, imploded in game 3 and got the loss. He would be traded to the Yankees after the season for first baseman, Moose Skowron. One of the last stars from the Brooklyn years, Duke Snider, was sold to the Mets in the following spring. Hodges had gone in the expansion draft to the Mets. Furillo had been released during the 1960 season. 

                                 LA went into the 63 season with 3 front line starters, Podres, Big D and Sandy. Koufax was now recovered from his circulatory problems. They also brought up Pete Richert, a 23-year-old they had signed as an amateur free agent and Bob Miller, who was 24 and who they got in a trade with the Mets in the offseason for Tim Harkness and Larry Burright. Miller and Richert were spot starters. Drysdale led the team with 42 starts, Koufax 40 and Podres, 34.

                                This time, Koufax was the Ace. He won pitching’s triple crown, Wins, ERA and strikeouts. He also won the Cy Young Award and became the second Dodger pitcher to win the Cy Young and the MVP in the same season. He was 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA, 306 Ks and 11 shutouts, which also led the league. Big D contributed 19 wins and Podres 14. LA won the NL pennant and would face the Yankees in the series. Another standout pitcher that season was closer, Ron Perranoski. Obtained in a trade with the Cubs in April of 1960, the Don Zimmer trade, he won 16 games, lost 3 and saved 21.

                               The series was swept by the Dodgers. Koufax set a World Series record for most strikeouts in a game with 15 in game one, passing Carl Erskine’s 14. Podres won game two, 4-1. Oddly, it would be the only game in the series where the Dodgers used a relief pitcher. Perranoski pitched 2/3rds of an inning. His only appearance in the series. Drysdale threw a complete game 1-0 shutout in game three, and Koufax beat Ford for the second time in game four, 2-1. 

                                 In this era, most players were signed as amateur free agents. There was no draft. But that would soon change. LA slipped down to 6th place in 64. One of the reasons was Koufax was injured again, this time, his elbow became inflamed. It was the start of his arthritis. He still won 19 and lost 5 and he threw his third no-hitter. He won another ERA title with 1.74 mark. Big D won 18. The rest of the starting staff had numbers under .500. So that winter, LA made a big trade with the Washington Senators sending slugger Frank Howard, Phil Ortega, Ken McMullen and Pete Richert to them for Claude Osteen and John Kennedy, the SS, not the president. 

                                  They would win the pennant in 1965 and go up against the Twins in the World Series. Koufax won the Cy Young again, the ERA title, and he won 26 games. He set a major league record for strikeout with 382, and he had 27 complete games. If that isn’t enough, on September 9th, he pitched a perfect game against the Cubs, striking out the last six batters. Drysdale won 23 and Osteen 15. Perranoski was 6-6 with 18 saves. 

                                 Koufax did not start game one of the series as it fell on Yom Kippur. Big D started and lost game 1, 8-2. He was beaten by future Dodger, Mudcat Grant. Koufax lost game two to Jim Kaat, 5-1. They headed back to LA down 2-0. Osteen tossed a shutout in game four, beating Camilo Pasqual, 4-0. Drysdale beat Grant 7-2 in game four. Sandy shut out the Twins, 9-0 in game five, and LA went back to Minneapolis needing just one win. Osteen started game six, Grant and the Twins beat him, 5-1. It was Drysdales turn to pitch, but Alston decided to go with Koufax on just 2 days rest with Big D in the pen if needed. 

                                 Koufax threw a 3-hit-shutout to beat the Twins, 2-0 and win the series. Wes Parker and Lou Johnson drove in the runs.  LA had its third title in 6 years. It would be 16 years before they won another. Not that there were not some sterling performances by the pitchers along the way. Koufax in his last season in 66, won 27 games, the ERA and Cy Young again. He finished second in the MVP voting. Then with the pain in his elbow, and the doctor’s advice that he quit pitching, he retired after the 66 season.

                                  With an anemic offense and not much pitching, they dropped to 8th place in 67. Drysdale won 17 but he also lost 17 with an ERA of 3.22. Osteen was 13-16 yet his ERA was just 2.74. Don Sutton, who had debuted in 66, won 11.  Bill Singer had his first full season and won 12 games with the best ERA among the starters at 2.62. The draft had started in 1965, and the Dodgers second round pick from that year debuted in 67, Alan Foster, he was 0-1. I remember him from watching Willie Stargell hit a ball over the right field pavilion off of him.

                                     Drysdales scoreless inning streak was the highlight of a bad season in 68. It would stand until broken by Hershiser. Big D had to retire because of a bad rotator cuff in 69. Osteen and Singer won 20 in 69 as they moved up to 4th place. Sutton had 17 wins but he lost 18. Jim Brewer was the new closer and he had 20 saves. The team finished 2nd in 70. Singer, despite being injured part of the season, threw a no-hitter against the Phillies in July. He allowed no walks but hit a batter and there were 2 errors. 

                                     Al Downing won 20 in 1971, but Sutton was still the team’s ace. They finished second in an exciting race. In 72, Osteen won 20 and Sutton 19. They finished 2nd again. That winter they had added Tommy John in a trade with the White Sox; he won 11 his first year in LA. In 1973, they finished 2nd again, that winter they had made a trade for another starting pitcher, Andy Messersmith from the Angels. Sutton, Osteen, Messersmith and John all won in double figures and Jim Brewer saved 20 games.

Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers Mike Marshall

                                    In 1974, they would return to the World Series for the first time since 1966. They had traded Willie Davis to the Expos for reliever Mike Marshall in the offseason. They also added slugger, Jimmy Wynn in a trade that sent Claude Osteen to the Astros. Marshall would set an MLB record for games pitched in a season that still has not been surpassed, 106. He had 21 saves and went 15-2 out of the pen, winning the Cy Young Award. Steve Garvey was the league MVP. 

                                    Messersmith won 20 and Sutton 19. Young Doug Rau won 13 as did John. Sutton won 2 more games in the playoff win over the Pirates, with the other win going to Messersmith. They played the A’s in the World Series, but lost, 4 games to 1. The anomaly of that series was that four games were decided by scores of 3-2, including the deciding game five, which the A’s won on a homer by Joe Rudi off of Marshall.

                                     They finished 2nd again in 75. They had added Burt Hooton in a trade; he won 18 games. Messersmith was the Ace with 19 wins, Sutton, 16, and Rau, 15, rounded out the rotation. They finished 20 games behind the first place Reds. Marshall pitched in 53 games with 9 wins, 14 losses and 13 saves. Young Rick Rhoden pitched in 26 games and had a 3-3 record. They won 92 games but still finished 10 games back of the Reds in 1976. But an era came to an end. With 4 games left in the season, Walter Alston retired and third base coach Tommy Lasorda was named the manager. Dodgerland would never be the same. 

                                     The big change for the major leagues was the beginning of free agency. Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally challenged the reserve clause tying a player to a team indefinitely and won. Messersmith then signed with the Braves. Rhoden joined Sutton, John, Rau, and Hooton in the starting rotation and won 12 while losing just 3. Knuckleballer, Charlie Hough became the closer. He saved 18 games and won 12.

                                      1977 was Lasorda’s first year at the helm of the Dodgers. Practically over night, he changed the entire culture of the team. Alston was laid back and calm. Lasorda was an explosion waiting to happen. LA’s five-man rotation consisted of Sutton, John, Rhoden, Rau and Hooton. John won 20 and Rhoden 16. Sutton and Rau won 14 each and Hooton won 12. Rhoden was the only one with double figure losses, 10. Closer Charlie Hough was 6-12 with 22 saves.  They easily won the West with a 10-game lead over the Reds. They beat the Phillies 3 games to 1 in the LCS. They faced the Yankees in the World Series and came out on the wrong end of a 4-2 series. They won game 2 and game 5 with Sutton and Hooton getting the wins.

                                     In 1978 they would win back-to-back pennants for the first time since 55-56. The starting rotation was the same except for the addition of Bob Welch. Hooton led with 19 wins, John had 17, Sutton and Rau, 14 each. Rhoden won 10 and Welch won 7. He also finished with 4 complete games. They had 49 as a staff. Terry Forster was the new closer and he saved 22 games. They beat the Phillies in the LCS again. Longtime coach and player, Jim Gilliam died just before the World Series on October 8th, and the team dedicated the series to him. After winning game 1 and game 2, they went to New York and were swept there before losing game 6 at home. Exciting moment came in game 2 in the 9th inning of a 1-run game. Bob Welch had an epic battle with Reggie Jackson and ended up striking him out and getting the save.

                                 79 was a down year again. The team fell to 3rd place and was 4 games under .500. The Ace of the staff that year was Rick Sutcliffe, he won 17 games and was named the Rookie of the Year. He and Hooton were the only starters with a winning record. Jerry Reuss had come over in a trade with the Pirates for Rhoden straight up. Andy Messersmith returned and pitched in 11 games as did Rau who was battling injury. Bobby Castillo shared the closer duties with Hough, Dave Patterson, Ken Brett and Lerin LeGrow. Welch made 12 spot starts but mostly pitched out of the pen.  

                               The team rebounded in 1980. The rotation had Reuss, 18-6, Welch, 14-9, Sutton, 13-5, Hooton, 14-8, and free agent signee, Dave Goltz, 7-11. 22-year-old Steve Howe became the closer, saving 17 games with a 7-9 record. He became LA’s 2nd ROY in a row. They tied Houston for the division lead forcing a one game playoff. Goltz started and got hammered 7-1. Of note would be the debut of a 19-year-old kid from Mexico. He pitched in 10 games and did not allow a run. Kids name was Fernando Valenzuela. Jerry Reuss pitched the first Dodger no-hitter in 10 years in June against the Giants.

                              Trouble was brewing in 1981. There were rumblings that the players were going to strike. The season started on time and for a while the strike rumblings went on the back burner because of the kid from Mexico. Because Reuss was banged up and could not make the opening day start, Valenzuela replaced him. He shut out the Astros on 5 hits, 2-0. He then beat the Giants 7-1 in his second start, both complete games. He beat the Padres 2-0 in his third start. 

                              He won his first 8 games, five of them by shutout scores, two of them 1-0 games. He finally was on the wrong end of a 4-0 score in Philadelphia. He was 1-3 in his next four decisions then the players walked out on June 12th. The strike would last until August 10th. MLB had declared there would be first and second half winners, much like they do in the minor leagues these days. The Dodgers with aa 36-21 record were the West’s first half winner. They led by half a game. 

                            Valenzuela, who was 9-3 at the half, went 4-4 the rest of the way. Reuss and Hooton also won in double figures. Fernando would win the ROY and the Cy Young award. He was and is so far the only pitcher to ever achieve that. In the LDS, LA was immediately on the ropes. They lost game one, 3-1 and game two, 1-0 with Dave Stewart getting both losses in relief. Hooton won game three, 6-1 and Valenzuela game four, 2-1 over Vern Ruhle. Reuss then shut out Houston in game five and they went home to face Montreal.

                            Hooton beat Gullickson 5-1 in game one. Valenzuela lost game two, 3-0 to Ray Burris. I was at that game. The rest of the series shifted to Montreal. Reuss lost game four to Steve Rogers, 4-1. Hooton got his 3rd playoff win and the second of this series, 7-1 over Gullickson. Game five was a pitcher’s duel, after giving up a run in the first, Fernando shut the Expos down on just 3 hits, but he also walked 3. LA scored a run in the 5th tying the game. Then in the top of the 9th, Monday hit a 2-out solo homer to center off of Rogers that ended up being the winning run. Fernando got into trouble in the bottom of the inning, and Bob Welch came in to get the last out.

                        LA now faced the Yankees for the ninth time in the World Series. Reuss and Hooton lost game one and two in New York. Fernando started game three in LA. Cey put LA up 3-0 with a 3-run shot off of Righetti in the first. Fernando gave up a 2-run shot to Watson in the second, and another to Cerrone in the third. This game he was not his typical self He would walk 7 and give up 9 hits, but Lasorda stuck with him. Cey and Guererro drove in runs in the bottom of the fifth and that is how the game ended, a 5-4 win and complete game for Fernando. LA won the next two games in LA and went back to New York for game six. The game was close through 4 innings, tied at 1. But for some reason, the Yankees manager, Bob Lemon, pulled starter Tommy John. George Frazier then gave up 3 runs and Ron Davis 3 more, and LA won going away, 9-2. They had their 4th title in LA. Guererro, Yeager and Cey were named World Series co-MVPs and Lasorda tasted the fruits of victory for the first time.

                     From 82-87, the team won a couple of division titles and had some very good pitchers and performances. Valenzuela, Hooton, Reuss and Welch were the heart of the rotation, but along the way several good young arms joined the team. Dave Stewart was a solid reliever and sometimes starter. He would leave the Dodgers in 1983 in a mid-season trade for Rick Honeycutt who would have a long career as a Dodger pitching coach. Stewart would later have four consecutive 20-win seasons with the A’s.

                     Tom Neidenfuer would become the closer, but most Dodger fans only remember the two playoff homers he gave up in 85. In 1983, young Orel Hershiser made his debut. Also, a kid named Sid Fernandez. He would make his mark as a major leaguer in New York with the Mets, but he was a Dodger prospect first. He went to the Mets in the winter of 83 for Bob Bailor and LHP Carlos Diaz, who would pitch for LA for 3 years.

Honeycutt

                    The Dodger rotation in 84 consisted of Valenzuela, Honeycutt, Alejandro Pena and Welch with Neidenfuer as the closer. Hershiser made 10 starts out of the pen. Honeycutt was the oldest at 30. Ken Howell was another young bullpen arm. Reuss, and Hooton were relegated to the bullpen duty and spot starts. Reuss because of injury, and Hooton was in the last year of his contract. He went to the Rangers as a free agent after the season. 

                 They won the division again in 85. Valenzuela and Hershiser led the rotation; Fernando had 17 wins and Orel 19. Reuss and Welch won 14 apiece and Honeycutt was 8-12. Neidenfuer saved 19 and Howell 12. After beating the Cardinals behind Valenzuela and Hershiser the first two games, The Cardinals won the next four. The last two on homers by Smith in game five and Jack Clark in game 6. 

               In 1986, the Dodgers fell to a 73-85 record. They would have exactly the same record in 87. Bright spot in 86 was Fernando winning 21 games. He also had 20 complete games. Hershiser was 14-14 and Honeycutt went 11-9. The rest of the staff, including the bullpen, was not very good. Hershiser won 16 games in 87, but he also lost 16. Valenzuela was 14-14, Welch 15-9, Honeycutt was 2-12. Welch led the league with 4 shutouts.

                They rebounded in 1988, but it was not easy. They first signed Kirk Gibson to bolster the offense. Then they traded for Jay Howell to be the closer. He came in a trade that also brought Alfredo Griffin to play SS. Mike Davis was signed to play the outfield. Tim Leary and Darren Dreifort, both moved into the rotation. Dreifort was in his second year and a first-round draft pick. Leary had come over in 87 in a deal with the Brewers that also landed reliever, Tim Crews. LA sent Greg Brock to the Brewers in the trade. They also added LH reliever Jesse Orosco, whose prank on Gibson during spring training would spark a huge shift in clubhouse culture. Gibson was there to win, and he would not put up with that kind of hijinks. Highlight of the year was Hershiser breaking Drysdales scoreless inning streak starting August 30th. He broke the record with 10 scoreless innings in the final game of the season. 

              They also brought over center fielder John Shelby from the Orioles and catcher Rick Dempsey from the same team. Hershiser, Leary and Belcher were the backbone of the starting corps. Fernando and Don Sutton, who had come back in free agency were not as effective. Hershiser had the best season of his career. After Lasorda dubbed him Bulldog, he became one on the mound going 23-8 with 15 complete games and 8 shutouts. Leary was 17-11. Belcher was 12-6. Sutton, 3-6, Fernando, 5-8. Howell was 5-3 with 21 saves, Pena 6-7 with 12 saves, Orosco 3-2 with 9 saves. 

              They won the West and met the Mets in the LCS. The Mets OWNED the Dodgers during the regular season posting a 10-1 record against them. The series opened in LA with Mets Ace, Dwight Gooden facing Hershiser. Gooden went 7 innings allowing just 2 runs. Hershiser went 8.1 innings allowing 2 runs. Howell came in to relieve him in the 9th and gave up the go-ahead run. Randy Myers, who pitched the last 2 innings for the Mets got 6 outs on just 13 pitches for the win.

             In game 2, with Leary as the starter, the Dodgers jumped on 20-game winner, David Cone for 5 runs in the first 2 innings and never looked back. Leary went 8.1 innings allowing just 3 runs, and Pena got the save in a 6-3 win. The series moved to New York with Hershiser facing Ron Darling. Orel was effective going 7 innings and allowing 3 runs, but his 1 earned. Gibson and Jeff Hamilton errors had allowed 2 runs to score. But in the 8th, Pena and Orosco each gave up 2 runs for the 8-4 final. Myers won his second game.

              Game 4 would be the pivotable game in the series. Trailing Gooden, 4-2 in the 9th inning, Mike Scioscia hit a2-run homer to tie the game. Pena held the Mets scoreless over the next 3 innings allowing just 3 walks. Gibson homered in the top of the 12th putting LA up, 5-4. Leary got one out but gave up 2 hits. Orosco got an out but walked a batter to load the bases. Hershiser came in to relieve and recorded the final out earning the save. John Tudor, who had been acquired at the deadline for Pedro Guererro, made the start allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. Had they lost, they would have been down 3-1 instead of tying the series. 

            Game 5 was less dramatic. They scored 3 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th off of former Dodger, Sid Fernandez. Belcher gave 3 back on a 2 out 3-run homer by Dykstra in the bottom of the 5th. Mets scored their 4th run off of him in the 8th. Horton and then Holton kept them off of the board. LA added an insurance run in the 9th and won 7-4. They headed back to LA needing 1 win to advance. Game 6 was all Mets. Cone made up for his bad performance in game 2 and cruised to a 5-1 win over Leary. Game 7 pitted Hershiser against Darling. Hershiser threw a gem. A 6-0  five hitter. LA scored 1 in the first and 5 in the second. The bad part was they lost Gibson to a leg injury. 

            On to the World Series against the Bash Brothers A’s. The A’s had a powerful lineup featuring Canseco and McGwire. But in this series, LA would hold that offense to a .177 BA. They allowed just 2 homers, Canseco grand slam in game one and a solo shot by McGwire in game 3, Oakland’s only win. We all remember game one. It was a World Series classic. A’s erasing LA’s early 2-0 lead on a granny by Canseco in the second off of Belcher. Mickey Hatcher, who had replaced Gibson in the starting lineup hit a 2-run homer in the first. Stewart gave up another run in the 6tth making it 4-3. Scioscia drove in Marshall with a single. Then came the 9th. LaRussa brought in his closer, Eckersley. He got the first two outs and then Lasorda sent Mike Davis up to hit. Davis was a bust in his first year in LA. He hit just .196 with 2 homers. But he drew a walk. Hobbled, both legs aching, Kirk Gibson came up to pinch hit. During the at bat, Davis would steal second, which was crucial since all Gibson needed to do was single. But Gibby rose to the occasion and hit a back door slider on a 3-2 pitch into the right field pavilion for the most famous up to that point walk off home in Dodger history.

       The stadium went nuts. What happened the rest of the series was pretty uneventful after that finish.  Hershiser shut them out 6-0 in game 2, beating Storm Davis. They lost game 3 in Oakland 2-1 on McGwire’s homer. Game 4 was a close contest with LA coming out on top with a 4-3 win. They beat Stewart in that game. Hershiser started game 5 and bolstered by 2-run homers from Hatcher and Davis, won a complete game 5-2 victory. LA was the Champion for the first time in 7 years. It would be their last for a long while. Hatcher had an excellent series leading the team with a .368 BA, 2 homers and 5 driven in. Hershiser was the series MVP. Orel got the pitching trifecta that year, earning the Cy Young, World Series and LCS MVP awards. 

        In 1989 they dropped back below .500 and into 4th place. Young Ramon Martinez joined the rotation. Valenzuela, his arm feeling better won 10 games Hershiser was still top dog with 15 wins along with Leary. Howell saved 28 games. The big-name additions came on the offense with future Hall of Famer, Eddie Murray, and former Yankees second baseman, Willie Randolph joining the team. Steve Sax went to the Yankees as a free agent.

          The rebounded to finish second in 1990. They traded Tim Leary to the Reds in a deal that brought Kal Daniels and Lenny Harris. Hershiser went down with a torn labrum and was lost for the year. The starting rotation was Martinez, Mike Morgan, Fernando, Belcher and for a while, Jim Neidlinger. Don’t remember him? It was his only year in the majors, and he was 5-3. Howell had 16 saves, but Aase, Crews, Hartley and Gott also recorded saves. Highlight of the year was Valenzuela’s no-hitter against the Cardinals on June 29th at Dodger Stadium getting good friend Pedro Guererro to ground out for the final out of the game. ” If you have a sombrero, toss it to the sky!” Vin Scully. For their first 33 seasons in LA, they had Drysdale, Koufax (3), Marshall, Valenzuela and Hershiser winning the Cy Young. Koufax adding an MVP award.

      LA had seen 7 no-hitters, 4 of them by Koufax. They had seen 18 strikeout games, and record setting performances in both the regular and post season. Drysdales 58.2 scoreless innings and Hershiser setting the new record at 59. Koufax 382 Ks. Still the most by a lefty, Ryan did him 1 better for the record. They had spent 67 years as the Brooklyn Dodgers. The next 34 would bring many stellar pitching performances. Koufax was the face of excellence. Who would come to carry that mantle?