shakedown 1979

i've written many times that the 1977 world series is my first real baseball memory. i watched the dodgers lose to the yankees, and i recall the feeling of disappointment after game 6 with reggie jackson's home run exploits pretty well.  the 1978 season was the first one i really followed, and i was again disappointed by the dodgers' fall classic loss to the yankees, especially after they took a 2 games to none lead on bob welch's famous strikeout of mr. october.  

collecting cutch wanted to know about a year when my favorite team didn't win the world series.  well, after two straight world series losses, i figured that 1979 would be the year that the dodgers finally won the world series on my watch. i was wrong.

my hopes were based on the fact that the team was pretty similar to the two that came before it:

tom lasorda was back at the helm

he was in his third full season as a big league manager.

dusty baker was back in left.

bobby castillo was back in the bullpen

ron cey was back at the hot corner

vic davalillo was back on the bench

joe ferguson was back behind the plate and in the outfield

terry forster was back in the bullpen

steve garvey was back at first, every day

burt hooton was back in the starting rotation

charlie hough was back in the bullpen

davey lopes was back at second

ted martinez was back in a utility role

rick monday was back in center

manny mota was back on the bench

johnny oates was back behind the plate (sometimes)

doug rau was back in the rotation

lance rautzhan was back in the bullpen 

bill russell was back at short

reggie smith was back in right

don sutton was back in the rotation

bob welch was back on the big league pitching staff

and steve yeager was back behind the plate

pedro guerrero was back as a top prospect 

gone were jerry grote

tommy john (to the yankees of all teams)

lee lacy

bill north

and rick rhoden

along with glenn burke and mike garman.

added to the team were pete broberg

double dipper andy messersmith

derrel thomas

and gary thomasson

along with jerry reuss, ken brett, lerrin lagrow, and double-dipper von joshua.

rick sutcliffe was up, seemingly for good, and won the rookie of the year award.  unfortunately, that was one of the lone bright spots for this club.  injuries claimed forster, monday, rau, and smith for most of the season, and hooton for the last month.  by the time school let out for the summer, the dodgers had already peaked and were rapidly heading towards a double-digit deficit in the standings.  i was facing a new kind of disappointment.

in the end, this team that had won two straight pennants finished below .500 at 79-83, in third place in the nl west behind cincinnati and houston.  i wound up still watching the world series because i was an avid baseball fan, but i was pretty ticked that earl weaver made so many pitching changes in the 9th inning of game 7 because i thought 'eight is enough' was supposed to be on and i wanted the game to end on time! in retrospect, i think the show was pre-empted by the world series that week.  at the time, however, it was just another way that the 1979 baseball season disappointed me.