In spite of the Los Angeles Dodgers falling below.500 with a record of 79-83, Rick Sutcliffe was chosen as the 1979 National League Rookie of the Year on this day in franchise history.

Sutcliffe easily won the prize after receiving 20 of the 24 first-place votes. After spending the 1977 season with the Dodgers, Jeffrey Leonard, an outfielder with the Houston Astros, finished second to Sutcliffe with three first-place votes.

Scot Thompson of the Chicago Cubs was one of the Rookie of the Year contenders; he received one vote for the top spot.

Sutcliffe played just one game as a starter for the Dodgers in 1976, when he made his MLB debut. The next year, he made two relief appearances before joining the club in 1979 and playing a major role.

At the end of April, Sutcliffe was added to the rotation after making eight appearances as a reliever. He finished the season 17–10 overall, with 30 starts with a 3.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 39 games.

The right-hander was 16-9 with a 3.54 ERA, five shutouts, and five complete games in his start record as a starter. He had three distinct runs of winning four of five starts, one of which came towards the end of the season.

In his final appearance of the 1979 season, Sutcliffe gave up three runs (two earned) to the Houston Astros in a complete game in a tough-luck loss.

Sutcliffe is mainly remembered for his stellar time with the Chicago Cubs, even though he earned Rookie of the Year while playing for the Dodgers. In addition, he pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians.

Sutcliffe was a three-time All-Star and the 1984 Cy Young Award winner.

The Dodgers’ Run of Rookie of the Year began with Rick Sutcliffe.The Dodgers won four straight Rookie of the Year awards from 1979 to 1982. Sutcliffe started the run, followed by Steve Howe, Fernando Valenzuela, and Steve Sax, before Darryl Strawberry of the New York Mets ended it.

Afterwards, the Dodgers had five Rookie of the Year winners in a row (1992–1996): Todd Hollandsworth, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Eric Karros, and Hideo Nomo.