A Dodger history of shortened seasons
by Mark Langill
During Steve Yeager’s adventurous tenure as a Dodger catcher from 1972 to 1985, he became an expert at the traditions of the game and the daily grind of a routine that stretched across 1,269 regular-season and 38 postseason games. He also learned to adapt to the unexpected.
The abbreviated 60-game regular season schedule in 2020 conjures Yeager’s memories of unique circumstances — both at the beginning and later at the pinnacle of his Dodger career — when a pair of work stoppages in 1972 and 1981 left players scrambling to stay in shape.
“I thought I made the team as the third catcher in 1972, but at the end of Spring Training, the Major League players went on strike,” Yeager said. “We needed the pitchers to stay in shape. Duke Sims, another catcher, was my roommate. He took care of the guys who lived in the San Fernando Valley and I had to drive to Orange County to catch the other pitchers. I didn’t even know where Orange County was. I grew up in Ohio.”
The Dodger players tried staging workouts to keep their edge from Spring Training in Vero Beach, Florida. Their first workout was at the Mar Vista Playground in Palms, located 10 miles from Dodger Stadium. The neighborhood regulars were surprised when Cadillacs and imported sports cars suddenly converged on the city playground. Sims arrived on his motorcycle wearing his full Dodgers uniform, with boots, goggles and helmet added. Maury Wills also drove up on a motorcycle.
Kids gathered to watch while residents brought sandwiches and lemonade to the players. A local restaurant owner invited the players for a free meal because they were “unemployed.”
During the 13-day strike, the workouts moved to Mar Vista High School and Quigley Field in the city of Commerce. There was an intrasquad game between the “Los Angeles” team coached by second baseman Jim Lefebvre and the “Orange County” team organized by pitcher Claude Osteen. General manager Al Campanis stopped by the game to see Sims playing shortstop, Manny Mota at third base and pitchers Jim Brewer and Mike Strahler in the outfield. Several pitchers were at their regular positions for their work: Tommy John, Don Sutton, Pete Mikkelsen, Osteen, Bill Singer and Pete Richert.
Many players were staying at the Biltmore Hotel, but when the strike occurred, they were responsible for their $12 daily room tab. Mota and coach Danny Ozark moved into apartments they had rented with the expectation of bringing their families to Southern California.
When the strike was settled, Yeager took the team’s charter flight to Cincinnati, but he wasn’t going to play against the Reds on Opening Day. During the work stoppage, the Dodgers had acquired catcher Dick Dietz off waivers from San Francisco. Yeager hopped on the plane to pick up his car in Dayton before driving to Triple-A Albuquerque.
Yeager finally made his MLB debut on Aug. 2 when the Dodgers were in third place, 8 1/2 games behind Cincinnati. The standings remained unchanged at the end of the season as the Reds (95–59) won the division by 10 1/2 games over the Astros (84–69) and Dodgers (85–70). The three teams played a different number of games because those contests cancelled by the strike were not made up. That was the difference in the AL East when the Tigers (86–70) beat the Red Sox (85–70) by a half game.
By 1974, Yeager was the team’s top catcher on LA’s pennant-winning team. The Dodgers had a 24–0 record in the first 24 games he started. Hall of Famer Lou Brock called Yeager the best throwing catcher in the game. He hit a career-high 16 homers in 1977, but was best known for his toughness, whether getting steamrolled by Pittsburgh’s Dave Parker in home plate collisions or surviving a freak accident in which a piece of a broken bat struck Yeager in the throat while he stood in the on-deck circle and pierced his esophagus. Trainer Bill Buhler soon designed a guard to hang from the catcher’s mask to protect the throat.
Yeager played in four World Series during his career, but the 1981 Fall Classic appeared nothing but a pipe dream in the summer as Dodger players tried to stay busy during a 50-day strike that began on June 12.
A week into the strike, the Dodgers assembled for a workout at the University of Southern California. Trojans coach Rod Dedeaux, who played two games for the 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers and was a longtime friend of Tommy Lasorda, made the arrangements. Weeks passed and players tried their own training routines, whether Dusty Baker working out with former Dodger Lee Lacy or Jay Johnstone hitting tennis balls off a batting tee into his father’s garage. Mike Scioscia worked out with his former youth league team in Pennsylvania.
Some players supplemented their income with jobs. Pitcher Steve Howe became a car salesman; pitcher Jerry Reuss endorsed a line of women’s jeans. Johnstone worked for his father-in-law’s auto parts store and made deliveries. Third baseman Ron Cey began filming a movie in which he played an LA-based detective. Rookie pitcher Dave Stewart took a $75-per-day job at a hardware manufacturer, packaging nuts and bolts.
Fernando Valenzuela, the rookie sensation who won his first eight Major League starts including a 2–0 shutout on Opening Day, returned to his native Mexico. He later played in an exhibition game with teammates Pedro Guerrero and Pepe Frias. That arrangement was quickly stopped by Campanis, who already had warned his players of potential injuries performing household tasks such as cutting the lawn.
“He was afraid we’d slip and fall,” Yeager said. “He didn’t want us using power tools or lawn mowers.”
When the strike was settled in early August, the Dodgers suddenly found themselves preparing for the playoffs. It turned out the 1981 Dodgers needed only 57 games to qualify for the playoffs under a split-season format. By virtue of a half-game lead over the Reds, the Dodgers (36–21) retroactively were declared the “first half” winner along with the three other division-leading teams — the Phillies, Yankees and Astros. The Reds would post the best overall record among 1981 NL West teams, but their 31–21 mark in the second half was 1 1/2 games behind Houston. In an era before the wild card, Cincinnati watched the postseason on television.
The Dodgers enjoyed a roller coaster playoff in 1981, falling behind 2–0 in the best-of-five format Division Series against Houston before three consecutive victories. A similar script followed against Montreal, losing two of three games before an eventual 2–1 victory in the decisive Game 5 at Olympic Stadium on Rick Monday’s ninth-inning home run. In the World Series, LA fell behind 2–0 before four consecutive wins for its first championship since 1965.
“Once we got going with the playoffs, we didn’t think about the strike or the layoff before we were caught in the moment,” said Yeager, the 1981 World Series tri-MVP along with Cey and Guerrero.
“I’m sure it was tough on the current players to suddenly stop their routine in Spring Training. The Dodgers have such a good team and so much talent. You can be sure no matter how many games are played, it’s going to feel like a real season once they get going on the field. They’ve missed that competition, and as long as someone is keeping score, you’re going to see baseball. It may seem strange without fans in the stands, but if you’re a player, you’re concentrating on the pitcher or what’s in front of you.”
