1987 Los Angeles Dodgers season

Major League Baseball team season
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodger Stadium pictured beneath the Los Angeles skyline in 1987.
Dodger Stadium pictured beneath the Los Angeles skyline in 1987.
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkDodger Stadium
CityLos Angeles
OwnersPeter O'Malley
General managersAl Campanis, Fred Claire
ManagersTommy Lasorda
TelevisionKTTV (11)
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
Dodgervision
Eddie Doucette, Al Downing, Rick Monday
RadioKABC
Vin Scully, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter
KWKW
Jaime Jarrín, René Cárdenas
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

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

Regular season

Season standings

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NL West
W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Francisco Giants 90 72 0.556 46–35 44–37
Cincinnati Reds 84 78 0.519 6 42–39 42–39
Houston Astros 76 86 0.469 14 47–34 29–52
Los Angeles Dodgers 73 89 0.451 17 40–41 33–48
Atlanta Braves 69 92 0.429 20½ 42–39 27–53
San Diego Padres 65 97 0.401 25 37–44 28–53

Record vs. opponents

1987 National League record
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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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

Roster

1987 Los Angeles Dodgers

Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

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

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.[4] 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

[5]

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

References

  1. ^ "John Shelby Stats".
  2. ^ Bill Madlock Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  3. ^ Mike Sharperson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  4. ^ Juipe, Dean (December 28, 1999). "Opperman regains his footing". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  5. ^ 1987 Los Angeles Dodgers Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft

External links

  • 1987 Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
  • Los Angeles Dodgers official web site
  • Baseball-Reference season page
  • Baseball Almanac season page
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