Dusty Baker

1977 Home Run History Makers

During the 1960's and the 1970's, the Los Angeles Dodgers' offensive attack did not classify them as fencebusters. A typical Dodger rally for 1960's championship teams was a bunt single by Maury Wills. He would then steal second, take third on a ground ball by Jim Gilliam and score on a sacrifice fly. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, or Claude Osteen would pitch a shutout and the Dodgers would win, 1-0.

The teams in the 1970's hit well for average, finishing second in team batting average four times in six years.

That's why it was quite a surprise when the Dodgers came out of Spring Training, 1977, playing long ball and playing it longer than anyone else. They wound up with the only team in major league history to have four players hit 30 or more home runs for the same team in a single season - Reggie Smith, Ron Cey, Dusty Baker, and Steve Garvey.

• Rightfielder Smith, one of the finer all-round players in baseball with his hitting ability and tremendous throwing arm, hit .307 and belted 32 home runs. Reggie's best stretch came in May when he hit eight home runs in 13 games.
• Third baseman Cey shattered all RBI records for the month of April when he drove in 29 runs in the first month of the season. Cey hit four home runs and drove in 12 runs in three games in April and had a four-game series with four home runs and 10 RBIs.
• First baseman Garvey enjoyed his finest slugging year with 33 home runs with 115 RBIs. Garvey, a perennial 20-homer, 200-hit, 100-RBI man, had hit only 13 home runs in 1976, but encouraged by manager Tom Lasorda to swing for the fences, he set a Los Angeles Dodger record for home runs. Steve's biggest day came August 28, when after an 11-for-84 slump with one RBI, he hit two home runs and drove in five runs in a 11-0 win over St. Louis.
• For leftfielder Baker, the 1977 season was a chance to redeem his 1976 season when he hit four home runs and drove in 39 runs because he was limited by a serious knee injury. Dusty hit seven home runs in 11 games in August, and provided the dramatics when he homered off Houston's J. R. Richard on the final day of the season for his 30th home run to become the fourth player and set the record.

Union Oil Promo by James Zar

• About the Artist: James Zar is an artist whose love of realism in subject matter has determined the course of direction he has taken in his career. A graduate of the Art Institute of San Francisco, Zar centers his works around life's drama and its performers, whether they be athletes, body builders, actors, singers, or musicians. Zar doubles as a commercial artist and fine arts painter, and his work has been featured in such publications as PRO Magazine, Desert Magazine, and New Mexico Magazine. Zar also has a strong interest in western art and was awarded a Gold Medal in 1983 for his work by the American Indian and Cowboy Association.