Record: 73-89, T-5th, NL West
Postseason: --
Ballpark: Dodger Stadium (97 hits, 89 HR)
Runs scored: 664 (9th)
Runs allowed: 682 (4th)
Pythag record: 79-83 (-6)
Recap: The Dodgers went first-to-worst last year, going from a World Series victory in 1968, albeit with a 93-69 regular season record, to a tie for dead last in the West with the expansion San Diego Padres. They struggled out of the gate, at least in Dodgers' terms, but were still a game over .500 as of July 1 (37-36). Then the bottom dropped out, as they went 10-19 in July and, following a .500 August, went 12-20 to end the year.
History: The Dodgers are the Dodgers of this save. They won 5 pennants in Brooklyn and then kept it running when they moved across the country to LA, including a pennant in their first year out west in 1958. Following another pennant in 1962 - their 3rd in 5 years - they went through a bit of a drought, bottoming out at 75-87, before they made their 1968 run. And then last year happened...
Outlook: I look up and down this team and frankly my question is not so much how they fell apart as it is how this team was ever the best team in the NL. They did way overachieve in 1968 (Pythag has them at 87-75, as big a discrepancy as this year, but the other way). A couple of key players got hurt, I guess. More than anything else, the definining aspect of the current Dodgers team is that they have a middling offense and a decent starting rotation that's beset by a very, very volatile bullpen. The West seems wide open for 1970 but I would not count on the Dodgers being in that mix.
One thing that could help turn the tide the other way for LA is that they've got a crap-ton of leadership on this roster. Six different players have the "Captain" personality. I guess we'll see how big of a factor this is!
Rotation
Code:
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Andres | Castillo | 14 | 16 | 0.467 | 0 | 3.53 | 35 | 34 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 260.1 | 1081 | 250 | 114 | 102 | 31 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 81 | 12 | 197 | 10 | 0 | 8.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 6.8 |
| Andy | Ring | 12 | 13 | 0.480 | 0 | 3.81 | 35 | 35 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 255.0 | 1098 | 257 | 125 | 108 | 29 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 113 | 3 | 147 | 12 | 2 | 9.1 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.2 |
| Rogelio | Salinas | 15 | 11 | 0.577 | 0 | 2.77 | 35 | 33 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 250.0 | 1022 | 219 | 90 | 77 | 31 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 95 | 3 | 190 | 3 | 0 | 7.9 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 6.8 |
| Fernando | Apolonio | 10 | 8 | 0.556 | 1 | 3.77 | 27 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 155.0 | 644 | 158 | 74 | 65 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 41 | 1 | 82 | 6 | 0 | 9.2 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 4.8 |
| Alec | Cosby | 3 | 9 | 0.250 | 0 | 2.58 | 24 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 111.2 | 476 | 105 | 49 | 32 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 1 | 73 | 5 | 0 | 8.5 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 5.9 |
| Jeff | Borden | 2 | 4 | 0.333 | 1 | 3.00 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 42.0 | 180 | 41 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 8.8 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 1.7 |
| Carlos | Figueroa | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 0 | 5.40 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 88 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 9.5 | 0.5 | 4.5 | 6.8 |
| Raul | Andrade | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 4.76 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.2 | 29 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17.5 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 4.8 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
The Dodgers' rotation was the 3rd best in the NL last year by ERA, although at least some of that was due to playing in the pitchers' haven they play in. For 1970 they will frontload 3 lefties in their rotation. They're led by Rogelio Salinas, who set a career high last year with 15 victories as his team blew up around him. He doesn't seem like a true #1 but on the other hand he's posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of his 4 seasons in the league, including his 1966 ROY. Fernando Apolonio fits in as their #2. He was hurt for a chunk of last year but when healthy he cut his walk rate down by a full BB per 9 innings. Andres Castillo is the vet of the staff now that the great Jeff Borden has retired. Castillo, 33, has won 153 games in his career, all for the Dodgers, and wins and losses aside shows little sign of slowing down.
Andy Ring, the 1967 Cy Young Award winner, might feel a bit hard done by in being the #4 starter going into 1970, but he did have a losing record and a lower-than-average ERA (ERA+ shows it was a 94). His K rates have also fallen in each of the last 4 years from 7.8 in 1966 to 5.2 last year, which is not a great trend. Raul Andrade has the nod as the #5 for now; he missed almost all of the 1969 season with an elbow injury but posted a 2.70 ERA over 196.1 IP with the White Sox the season before.
I just wanted to touch on Borden really quick. Last season was suuuuuper frustrating, as it seemed like every single time he started a game he got hurt. You can see those numbers above... he averaged less than 5 IP a start and it wasn't because of stamina issues. He's just a guy who was chugging along whose career was completely derailed at the age of 38. He still retires as the Dodgers' all-time leader in wins (239-149) and strikeouts (3102) and will for sure be a first-time Hall of Famer in 5 years. Also, the man won 4 Cys and 2 league MVPs. Just a monster player and I wish he'd have lasted just a little bit longer.
Bullpen
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+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| first_name | last_name | w | l | Pct | Sv | era | g | gs | cg | sho | gf | ip | bfp | h | r | er | hr | sh | sf | hp | bb | ibb | so | wp | bk | Hper9 | HRper9 | BBer9 | Kper9 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
| Keith | Pacheco | 3 | 8 | 0.273 | 18 | 4.43 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 83.1 | 353 | 74 | 42 | 41 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 4 | 79 | 2 | 0 | 8.0 | 1.2 | 4.8 | 8.5 |
| Jason | Parsley | 4 | 5 | 0.444 | 0 | 4.91 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 69.2 | 318 | 79 | 45 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 10.2 | 1.4 | 4.4 | 5.7 |
| Mike | O'Leary | 4 | 6 | 0.400 | 4 | 3.11 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 63.2 | 270 | 55 | 25 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 0 | 57 | 3 | 0 | 7.8 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 8.1 |
| Jesse | Marshall | 4 | 3 | 0.571 | 5 | 4.79 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 47.0 | 205 | 58 | 28 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 11.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| Rich | Wilson | 2 | 2 | 0.500 | 0 | 2.31 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 35.0 | 133 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 6.2 |
| Nick | Gibson | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 5.66 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 20.2 | 93 | 22 | 14 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9.6 | 0.9 | 5.2 | 3.9 |
| Chad | Tenezaca | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 7.36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 38 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16.0 | 1.2 | 3.7 | 4.9 |
| Dylan | Mincher | 0 | 0 | | 1 | 11.81 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5.1 | 29 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 18.6 | 5.1 | 6.8 | 6.8 |
| Dave | Garcia | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 10.80 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5.0 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.2 | 7.2 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| Romain | Schmidt | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 4.50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.0 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 13.5 | 6.8 |
| Joey | Barragan | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 9.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.0 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Mario | Juarez | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
+ --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------ + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ---------- + ----------- + ---------- + ---------- +
Oh boy, where to start? Keith Pacheco's fall from grace is probably most emblematic of the Dodgers' topple in general. Pacheco went 13-8 with 19 saves and a 2.16 ERA in 137 IP for LA in 1968. Last year he just blew up... a lot. In spite of throwing more than 50 fewer innings he allowed more homeruns (11 to 10). 4 of those came in April, when he posted a 9.24 ERA that he never really recovered from. When he wasn't giving up dingers he was walking way too many people - his BB/9 almost doubled from 2.9 to 4.8 in one season. Mike O'Leary turned into their closer and he was only okay, quite frankly. Well, he seemed decent for most of the year but lost 3 games in relief in September alone - the 3.94 ERA doesn't really even begin to tell the tale there, as LA was left with splitting stopper duties between him and Pacheco by season's end. Rich Wilson, a career minor leaguer, had a quietly solid season after being released by the Baltimore Orioles in May. He may take on a larger role. Jesse Marshall, a former Rolaids Relief Award winner and 3 time All-Star, was acquired by the Dodgers from the Padres in May but proved to be so bad that he was released in August. He's elected to try to continue his career down in the Mexican League with the Nuevo Laredo Teciotes.
Catcher
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| C | Eddie | Dimmock | 115 | 381 | 32 | 99 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 42 | 45 | 5 | 94 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.260 | 0.339 | 0.341 |
| C | Luis | Garcia | 43 | 109 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.174 | 0.272 | 0.284 |
| C | Robert | Keith | 21 | 63 | 2 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.238 | 0.294 | 0.333 |
| C | Mauricio | Alvarez | 9 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.167 | 0.318 | 0.333 |
| C | Jeff | Scott | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.111 | 0.273 | 0.444 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Eddie Dimmmock started the season in a catching platoon but took the job over as the season progressed. In his first full season as a regular, the 27 year old hit well enough and the pitching staff likes him. The team brought in Luis Garcia from Montreal via a June trade to spell Dimmock but it didn't really work out and he was cut in September after putting up replacement-level play for 3 months. Robert Keith was last year's starter, and the 1968 Gold Glove award winner to boot, but even he found himself clearing waivers late in the season as the team tested youth (to the extent that Mauricio Alvarez, who is 26, is really all that young).
Infield
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+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| 1B | Rafael | Disla | 153 | 610 | 93 | 217 | 31 | 1 | 21 | 103 | 52 | 5 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0.356 | 0.405 | 0.513 |
| 1B | Rich | Holstine | 114 | 182 | 15 | 47 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 18 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.258 | 0.319 | 0.357 |
| 1B | Jason | Workman | 28 | 107 | 14 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.318 | 0.353 | 0.533 |
| 2B | Billy | Tristan | 82 | 303 | 46 | 94 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 40 | 3 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 0.310 | 0.390 | 0.360 |
| 2B | David | Parsons | 69 | 240 | 16 | 70 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.292 | 0.323 | 0.363 |
| 2B | Francisco | Pena | 27 | 108 | 21 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 0 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.269 | 0.368 | 0.380 |
| 2B | Frandszk | Rawski | 7 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.217 | 0.250 | 0.522 |
| 3B | Brian | Maccioli | 128 | 478 | 50 | 115 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 60 | 52 | 2 | 51 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0.241 | 0.312 | 0.358 |
| 3B | Jeremy | Schwartz | 89 | 178 | 21 | 49 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 16 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.275 | 0.335 | 0.365 |
| 3B | Kevin | Landry | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.200 |
| SS | Jason | Staiti | 67 | 243 | 21 | 49 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 31 | 9 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.202 | 0.227 | 0.366 |
| SS | Nick | Sego | 33 | 103 | 18 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.262 | 0.365 | 0.563 |
| SS | Brian | Mueller | 38 | 97 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 4 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.113 | 0.271 | 0.165 |
| SS | Brian | Lander | 49 | 101 | 6 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.188 | 0.274 | 0.287 |
| SS | Matthew | Curtis | 15 | 31 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.226 | 0.324 | 0.258 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
25 year old Rafael Disla followed up his 1968 World Series MVP with another very strong year. He won the batting crown with a .358 average, cleared the century mark in RBIs, and certainly would have been in the running for MVP had the team around him not fallen apart.
Billy Tristan missed half the season last year. We'd call this a big blow but to be honest it's kind of expected at this point. He did play in 143 games in 1968, which we're sure was a big part of why the Dodgers contended, but Tristan, who, at 40 has been a member of the Dodgers organization since 1959, just plain can't be counted on anymore. Which is really too bad because he's still very, very good when he does play. The guys who stepped in for him when he was out were David Parsons, whose English cousin Alan fancies himself a musician, and Francisco Pena, who has a kid brother named Tony who likes to sit down behind the plate.
Brian Maccioli spent the whole season in the majors and at age 24 that was probably good enough. He didn't push the needle forward for LA last year but the former 1st round pick projects as, at the very least, an above average starter for years to come. That's what they're going to want, as the 1968 incumbent Kevin Landry was shipped off to the Padres as part of that disastrous Jesse Marshall deal.
Jason Staiti came over from Montreal in June, then missed a bunch of time last year. He doesn't really profile as a long-term starter for this team but the Dodgers don't have a lot of other options. They did give prospect Nick Sego an extended try in September and although he hit pretty well, he was abysmal at the position, committing 17 errors in 31 games there. At best, he might be a long-term replacement for Billy Tristan at 2nd, but he may not be able to stick there with his glove either. Brian Lander and Brian Mueller were also present in '69, although both players failed to hit the %PLAYER% line, with Mueller playing so poorly that he was shipped off to Montreal in the Staiti trade.
Outfield
Code:
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| pos | first_name | last_name | g | ab | r | h | 2B | 3B | hr | rbi | bb | ibb | k | hpb | sh | sf | sb | cs | gdp | ba | obp | slg |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
| LF | Ernie | Griffin | 85 | 317 | 51 | 95 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 44 | 27 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0.300 | 0.354 | 0.445 |
| LF | Dusty | Winchell | 69 | 218 | 27 | 61 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 16 | 2 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.280 | 0.329 | 0.408 |
| LF | Jamal | Rhone | 78 | 149 | 9 | 35 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 2 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.235 | 0.314 | 0.315 |
| CF | Danny | Hohman | 120 | 505 | 71 | 164 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 39 | 7 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 0.325 | 0.372 | 0.402 |
| CF | Nick | Harper | 16 | 31 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.226 | 0.265 | 0.226 |
| CF | J.D. | Heil | 11 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.161 | 0.188 | 0.226 |
| CF | Butch | Magana | 9 | 24 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.333 | 0.417 |
| RF | Chris | Granneman | 131 | 483 | 82 | 119 | 29 | 4 | 15 | 59 | 60 | 5 | 100 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0.246 | 0.333 | 0.416 |
| RF | Sam | Headen | 24 | 62 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.177 | 0.282 | 0.177 |
+ -------- + --------------- + -------------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + ------ + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + -------- + -------- +
Ernie Griffin's loss for half the season was probably the biggest blow to the team last season. Griffin, still only 32, is a 7 time All-Star and a former MVP (1963) who has had real issues staying healthy since coming over from the Phillies during the 1966 season. He's getting close to a crossroads in his career - if he can't stay healthy, can a perennial contender like the Dodgers trust slotting him into their lineup? Dusty Winchell and Jamal Rhone were platoon mates during much of the time that Griffin was out. Winchell was OK but the Dodgers simply do not trust him against left-handed pitching; he got just 3 at-bats vs. south-siders in '69. Rhone is one of the few Brooklyn Dodgers (maybe the only one?) left on the team. The 37 year old saw his production dip precipitously last year and will have to fight just to stay on the roster in 1970.
Danny Hohman made his 3rd All-Star Game in 3 years, although he couldn't escape the injury bug either. He proved that the dip in average in '68, when it fell from .320 down to .287, was just a mirage last year, as he finished 7th in the NL in that metric. He also ranked in the top 10 in steals (7th) and on-base percentage (8th).
Chris Granneman is a 5-time All Star and a fan favorite who churned out another Chris Granneman type season. Fans who are disappointed by his lack of power over the past few years - he slugged 26 HRs in 1966 and has only matched that total over the past 3 years combined - should look towards the positives instead. His numbers are a bit hampered by the stadium and the era but trust us: those are above average numbers. And he's a plus defender who has one of the best arms in baseball. He even killed 23 baserunners last season, which would be remarkable except for that guy who killed 30.