1978

March 1, 1978

Tom Lasorda introduces second baseman Davey Lopes to the Dodger team as their new team captain. 1   Previous Dodger captains have been Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Maury Wills, and Willie Davis.

March 6, 1978

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda saw minor league Wayne Simpson walk on the field in Dodgertown wearing red baseball spikes. Lasorda said, "Off, Simpson, get 'em off (the red shoes). I hate red. Don't you have that Cincinnati blood out of your system yet?" 2   Simpson had pitched for the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 through 1972 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1975.

March 9, 1978

TV personality David Hartman of "Good Morning America" is in Dodgertown and participates in calisthenics and pitchers' fielding practice that were shown on the national morning show. 3

March 15, 1978

Dodger minor league player John Shoemaker, a longtime manager, coach, and instructor for the organization, has been given permission to report late to Dodgertown for Spring Training. Shoemaker was a guard on the Miami (Ohio) basketball team that upset the defending national champion Marquette in the first round of the 1978 NCAA playoffs. Shoemaker scored 20 points in the upset but was knocked unconscious by an elbow from a Marquette player. The flagrant foul led to Miami (Ohio) scoring five decisive points that led to the upset. 4   Shoemaker has worked for the Dodger organization since 1980 and has won more 1,200 games as a minor league manager.

March 20, 1978

Silvano Ambriosiona, the national baseball coach of Italy, completes a two-week visit to Dodgertown to observe Spring Training activities following an invitation from the Dodgers. 5

March 24, 1978

The Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees, 5-0 in front of 7,405 fans at Holman Stadium, the largest crowd at that time in Holman Stadium history. 6

April 9, 1978

Former Dodger players are on the Dodgertown base as instructors for minor league players. Ron Perranoski remembers his first spring to Dodgertown in 1961 as being acquired from the Chicago Cubs as he works with minor league pitchers in the "strings" area, an area at Dodgertown established to warm up as many as six pitchers at one time. "I think about that every time I come back to Dodgertown," said Perranoski. "I think about pitching B (minor league) games on Diamond No. 2 that spring…….I have a lot of memories here. I've seen other (major league) camps. I can appreciate what we have." 7

April 13, 1978

Dodger minor league manager Jim Lefebvre relives his moments as the "Green Phantom," a practical joke artist that would keep the Spring Training camp at Dodgertown lively in the early 1970s. Their particular victim of jokes was Tom Lasorda. Lefebvre explained his secret, "Everyone became a part of the Green Phantom," and listed players as Don Sutton, Joe Moeller, Wes Parker, Bobby Valentine and Bill Buckner as part of his crew to upset Lasorda. Lefebvre told stories of painting everything in Lasorda's dressing stall green and of giving bad tips to Lasorda to the identification of the "Green Phantom." The players would empty Lasorda's room of his bed, cabinets, and wall paintings and leave a green baseball in the middle of the room.   Lefebvre went on to say that there was a "Green Phantom, Jr." in camp this spring and was ready to play another joke on Lasorda. 8

October 5, 1978

The Wall Street Journal  has a feature of the Los Angeles Dodgers on their front page and contains a legendary story of Walter O'Malley and his golf course at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida. O'Malley told someone his golf handicap had increased from 18 to 33 and said, "That's OK, I can win money at 33 (handicap)." The newspaper reported the story of one spring O'Malley taking careful note of the tee shots made by Dodger Board of Director member James Mulvey and the next spring the sand traps were installed at the location of the golf drive." 9

1 ^ Ross Newhan, Los Angeles Times, March 2, 1978

2 ^ Ross Newhan, Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1978

3 ^ Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 10, 1978

4 ^ Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1978

5 ^ Lyle Spencer, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 20, 1978

6 ^ Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 25, 1978

7 ^ Ross Newhan, Los Angeles Times, April 9, 1978

8 ^ Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1978

9 ^ Hal Lancaster, Wall Street Journal, October 5, 1978

For more on the history of the Dodgers Spring Training visit walteromalley.com