1980 Los Angeles Dodgers season

The 1980 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season in second place in the National League West, one game behind the Houston Astros. After the 162-game regular season, the Dodgers and Astros were tied in first place in the Western Division. The two teams faced off in a 1-game playoff on October 6, 1980 at Dodger Stadium, which the Astros won 7–1 behind a complete-game victory by pitcher Joe Niekro. Don Sutton set a Dodger record with his 52nd career shutout this season and the Dodgers also hosted the All-Star game for the first time.

With the Dodgers joining the cable television trend, games began to be aired on regional cable channel ONTV in the greater Los Angeles area and as a result the TV broadcasting team was expanded. Vin Scully remained the FTA lead broadcaster, with the cable broadcasting team being composed by Geoff Witcher and former Dodger Al Downing.

Offseason

 * November 17, 1979: Don Stanhouse was signed as a free agent by the Dodgers.
 * December 3, 1979: Von Joshua was selected off waivers from the Dodgers by the San Diego Padres.
 * March 27, 1980: Johnny Oates was released by the Dodgers.

Notable transactions

 * July 11, 1980: Charlie Hough was purchased from the Dodgers by the Texas Rangers.
 * September 13, 1980: Dennis Lewallyn and cash were traded by the Dodgers to the Texas Rangers for Pepe Frías.

Starters by position
''Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Other batters
''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Game log

 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss       = Postponement Bold = Dodgers team member
 * Legend:      = Win       = Loss       = Postponement Bold = Dodgers team member

Awards and honors

 * 1980 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
 * Steve Garvey starter
 * Davey Lopes starter
 * Reggie Smith starter
 * Jerry Reuss reserve
 * Bob Welch reserve
 * National League Rookie of the Year
 * Steve Howe
 * Comeback Player of the Year Award
 * Jerry Reuss
 * Baseball Digest Rookie All-Stars
 * Steve Howe


 * Silver Slugger Award
 * Dusty Baker
 * TSN National League All-Star
 * Dusty Baker
 * NL Pitcher of the Month
 * Jerry Reuss (June 1980)
 * NL Player of the Month
 * Dusty Baker (June 1980)
 * NL Player of the Week
 * Don Sutton (Apr. 21–27)
 * Bob Welch (May 12–18)
 * Jerry Reuss (June 23–29)

Farm system
Teams in BOLD won League Championships

Major League Baseball Draft
The Dodgers drafted 36 players in the June draft and 16 in the January draft. Of those, six players would eventually play in the Major Leagues. The Dodgers did not have picks in rounds 2-4 this season as those picks were awarded to other teams as compensation for their signing of free agents.

The first round pick in the June draft was shortstop Ross Jones of the University of Miami. The Dodgers traded him to the New York Mets in 1983 and he would appear in 67 games in parts of three seasons with the Mets and two other teams, hitting only .221.

This was a fairly weak draft class for the Dodgers, with the most notable player being outfielder R. J. Reynolds, who was drafted in the 2nd round of the January draft and played 8 unremarkable seasons as a backup outfielder before finishing up his career in Japan with Nippon Professional Baseball.

{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" style="width:100%; background:inherit" ! 1980 Draft Picks

June secondary phase

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