Dodgers rewind: Mike Sharperson

With the All-Star Game upon us, today’s episode of the Leading Off with True Blue LA podcast looks back at Mike Sharperson, who was the Dodgers’ lone All-Star selection in 1992.

Sharperson played parts of seven major league seasons for the Dodgers, and had a very productive three-year run as a utility man.

That included splitting time at third base with Dave Hansen in 1992, and though Sharperson only started 48 of 88 games before the break, he found his way into 78 of them somehow. He was incredibly productive at the plate, earning a spot in the midsummer classic.

He was active for the Dodgers in the 1988 NLCS, and pinch-hit twice, including a go-ahead bases-loaded walk in Game 3 in New York. Sharperson was left off the World Series roster that year, but was seen on television as the first player to cross a jubilant Tommy Lasorda’s path as they made their way out of the dugout to celebrate Kirk Gibson’s game-winning home run.

Related reading

• Sharperson’s SABR bio, written by Sam Gazdziak
• Sharperson’s 39 pinch-hits are the seventh most by a Los Angeles Dodger
• Bill Plaschke’s LA Times story from when Sharperson made the All-Star team in 1992

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Episode link (time: 25:14)