1976 Los Angeles Dodgers: Walter Alston Passes The Torch
The Dodgers were still in Brooklyn when they hired Walter Alston to be their manager in 1954. One year later, a franchise that had become famous for its near-misses won one of the sport’s historic World Series titles. A managerial tenure that would span over two decades and cover both coasts was underway. Alston was on hand for the relocation to Los Angeles, won four World Series titles and captured seven National League pennants, including as recently as 1974. The 1976 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the finale to a Hall of Fame career.
OFFENSIVE CHALLENGES
Alston’s last run was marked by two key challenges. He was in an era where only the first-place finishers could go to the postseason, advancing directly to the League Championship Series. And in this era, with no Central Division, the Cincinnati Reds were in the NL West. The “Big Red Machine” were the defending World Series champs, and the team Los Angeles had to beat.
The Dodgers made a big offseason move. They dealt four players to the Atlanta Braves, highlighted by Lee Lacy and Jimmy Wynn, and including Jerry Royster and a young Tom Paciorek. The return was two players, keyed by Dusty Baker. It didn’t pay immediate fruit, as Baker finished with a meager with .298 on-base percentage/.307 slugging percentage in 1976. But it eventually would.
Offensive struggles marked the Dodgers in ’76. As a team, they were below average in the 12-team National League for every notable offensive category except stolen bases—and that was primarily on the strength of second baseman Davey Lopes who swiped 63 bags.
Los Angeles got good years from the corner infield combo of Steve Garvey at first base and Ron Cey at third. Garvey batted .317 and played all 162 games. Cey finished with a .386 OBP/.462 slugging and hit 23 homers. Bill Buckner, age 26, played left field, batting .301 and stealing 28 bases. But there wasn’t a lot behind this trio. The Dodgers finished ninth in the National League for runs scored.
PITCHING DEPTH & A MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH
Fortunately, L.A. could pitch and all five starters were solid. Don Suton was the ace, winning 21 games, posting a 3.06 ERA, and finishing third in the NL Cy Young voting. Doug Rau was a 16-game winner with a 2.57 ERA. Burt Hooten was plagued by lack of run support, but still finished with a 3.26 ERA in his 33 starts. Rick Rhoden made 26 starts and went 12-3 with a 2.98 ERA.
The rotation also had a story that would prove historic. Lefthander Tommy John had undergone an innovative elbow surgery late in 1974 to replace a tear that was usually career-ending. John returned in 1976, made 31 starts and posted a 3.09 ERA. He was the first successful case of the surgical procedure that now bears his name.
In the bullpen, Alston got a lot of use out of knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who worked 134 innings, won 12 games and saved 18 more. Mike Marshall, two years removed from winning the Cy Young Award, oversaw what passed for a closer’s role in this more fluid, undefined era of bullpen use. The Dodgers would finish second in the National League for composite ERA.
BEATING UP ON THE PIRATES
The season didn’t start well, with nine losses in twelve games. Los Angeles started to find their sea legs when they won a series with the Chicago Cubs. Then the Dodgers hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had won the NL East five of the previous six years, in late April.
Cey got L.A. off to a good start in this early season test, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning of Monday night’s opener. Buckner delivered three hits and stole a base. John pitched seven strong innings for his first win on the comeback trail. The final was 7-1.
The Dodgers spotted the Pirates a 2-0 lead on Tuesday night before scoring three in the third, with Buckner’s RBI triple being the key blow. Second baseman Ted Sizemore had three hits on the evening, Rau worked into the ninth inning and L.A. closed on a 5-3 win.
Hooton took the ball in the Wednesday night finale and got into a pitcher’s duel with Jerry Reuss, who would eventually be a Dodger hero in 1981. Tonight, his future team beat him. In a 1-1 tie, Cey hit a walkoff blast in the ninth to complete the sweep.
The Dodgers were rolling, and they won six straight coming out of this series. By the time they made the return trip to Pittsburgh in mid-May, the record was up to 18-11.
On a Friday night in the Steel City, Los Angeles trailed 2-1 in the eighth inning. Catcher Steve Yeager hit a two-run blast, Marshall pitched two scoreless frames, and the Dodgers had again beaten the Pirates.
After dropping a 4-2 decision on Saturday afternoon, Hooton and Reuss again went head-to-head in the Sunday rubber match. Hooton was brilliant again, with a four-hitter. And the offense made his job a little easier, with Lopes, Buckner and Garvey all getting two hits apiece and cruising to a 6-0 win.
The dominance of Pittsburgh was the highlight of the early part of the season. But L.A. did not enjoy the same success against Cincinnati. They split two with the Reds at home and lost three of four in Cincy on Memorial Day weekend. Even so, the Dodgers were still 28-18 at the end of the holiday weekend and were in a virtual tie for first with the Reds.
THE JUNE PIVOT
The front office made some moves in June. Marshall, with a 4.45 ERA, was dealt to Atlanta. The Dodgers got Lacy back, and they also got a good reliever in Elias Sosa. And in a major coup, L.A. boosted their offense by trading three non-descript players to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Reggie Smith. Over the remainder of the season, Smith would slug .484, and he became a productive threat for the next several years in Southern California.
But would it help in 1976? Los Angeles dropped two more games in Cincinnati and lost three of four to a rising NL East force in the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers went 14-15 in the month of June and lost ground in the division race. They recovered to sweep the Phils in early July and their record was 47-39 at the All-Star break. L.A. was in the race, but at six games behind Cincinnati, they were fighting to hang on.
MILESTONES & MISSED CHANCES
In the first series out of the break, the Dodgers swept the Cubs, the last one being Alston’s 2,000th career win. It was a historic moment, but in the short term, Los Angeles responded by playing middling baseball for a couple weeks and slipping nine games off the pace.
On August 5, the Dodgers arrived in Cincinnati for a four-game series beginning on Thursday night. It was the chance to make a move. But the offensive woes came home to roost. Los Angeles scored just nine runs in the four games, and they lost all of them. They had essentially been blown off the map by the sizzling Reds.
THE FINAL WEEK: HANDING OFF TO LASORDA
Los Angeles continued to compete and only the high bar being set by Cincinnati, en route to a repeat World Series championship, obscured how well the Dodgers were otherwise playing. They won two more series against Pittsburgh. L.A. could handle the Pirates. They could battle with the Phils, who won the NL East. But the Dodgers lost 13 of 18 to the Reds.
On Monday, September 27, beginning the final week of the season, Sutton shut out the Houston Astros with a 2-0 win. That’s notable because it was the last time Walter Alston won a baseball game. After losing a 1-0 decision to young Astro flamethrower J.R. Richard on Tuesday night. Alston decided he was taking his retirement a few days early. He handed the team over to his successor, young Tommy Lasorda, for the final four games.
A BRIDGE BETWEEN ERAS
Los Angeles finished the season at 92-70. While ten games behind Cincinnati, the record was tied for third-best in the National League and tied for fourth-best in the majors. Under the more lenient rules of today, Alston would have ended his career managing in the postseason.
Even so, the great manager’s last team was still a good one. And the moves that were made before and during the season bore fruit soon after. When Cincinnati slipped a bit a year later, a Dodger lineup fortified by Baker and Smith won pennants in 1977 and 1978.