20 Greatest Los Angeles Dodgers

20

Carl Furillo

For my money, one of the best nicknames in baseball history is that which was assigned to Mr. Furillo: “The Reading Rifle.” It’s everything that’s great about a nickname: it calls back to the player’s origins and it describes one of his great assets. Furillo had the best throwing arm in the game, one of the best ever. He was perfect for Ebbets Field because it was a short field in right. About four or five times each season, Carl would field (what would be) a single in right and fire it to first to record an out. He played in seven World Series and it was always interesting to see the American League runners, who had only heard of his arm strength, challenge him. The Dodgers faced the Yankees in six of those series and Furillo threw out three New York runners before they stopped running on him.

19

Dixie Walker

Walker won the batting title when he hit .357 in 1944, and he led the league in RBI the next season. He received MVP votes every year from the age of 32 to 37. After the age of 30 he hit .312 and had 1,341 hits. But with all those injuries, Walker only managed 723 hits before his 30th birthday. Given a normal career progression and a healthy shoulder, Dixie may have approached the 3,000-hit mark.

18

Roy Campanella

If you conservatively estimate that Campanella could have played in the majors when he was 21, that gives him five more years and probably 100 more home runs. Probably another MVP award, who knows? He was the most talented catcher in the National League the minute he stepped on the field for the first time in 1948.

17

Steve Garvey

Set a National League record for consecutive games played, was named NL Most Valuable Player in 1974. And set a record for homers and RBI in the playoffs. A Dodger legend, worthy of Cooperstown.

16

Fernando Valenzuela

“You had to be there, back in that magical summer of 1981, to see the long snaking lines of cars already waiting to get into the ballpark gate at 4:30 in the afternoon. You had to click on your radio and hear the happy, mariachi sound, the Ballad of Fernando, emanating from every station in town. You had to read the glut of newspaper ads hustling membership into the rapidly growing Fernando Fan Club.” ⁠— Steve Bisheff, Orange County Register

15

Junior Gilliam

“He’s like seven men to me. He’s an excellent leadoff man. He’s an accomplished second-place hitter. He’s a left-handed and a right-handed hitter. He can play second or third.” — Dodger general manager Buzzie Bavasi

14

Gil Hodges

Maybe the greatest Dodger first baseman. It’s either him, Steve Garvey, or Freddie Freeman.

13

Orel Hershiser

After entering the LA rotation in 1984, Hershier fired four shutouts in his next seven starts. His control was impeccable: 36 K’s and only three walks in those shutouts. He finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He went 19-3 the next season, allowing only eight home runs in 239 ⅔ innings. Hershiser won a game in the playoffs that October. He finished third in Cy Young Award voting. Two years later he was fourth in voting for the same award. He made more than 150 consecutive starts. Then, in 1988 he started the season by winning his first six starts. It was the first of three six-game winning streaks on his way to 23 wins. In his final seven regular season starts, Hershiser pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking the MLB record held by former Dodger Don Drysdale. Hershiser got all of the first place votes for the ‘88 Cy Young. He was scribbling his name into Dodger lore. In October, he became a legend.

12

Nap Rucker

11

Ron Cey

Ron Cey was one of the best players in baseball from his first year as a regular through the early 1980s, but three factors worked against him. First, his greatest value was misunderstood at the time because it stemmed from (1) his defensive acumen and (2) ability to get on base via the walk. In that pre-sabermetric era, few observers realized how great a player he was. Secondly, he was overshadowed by two of the greatest third basemen of all-time: Mike Schmidt and George Brett. Lastly, Cey simply didn’t look like a good ballplayer. One scout called him a “dumpy runt with no range.” Even after he became an All-Star, many people recognized him more for the funny way he ran (hence the nickname “Penguin”) than for his talent.

10

Don Sutton

“When it’s on the line, I want you to have the ball.” — Walter Alston, inscribing a copy of his autobiography to Don Sutton

9

Sandy Koufax

Sandy was crucial in several pennant races. He threw four no-hitters, he made batters look silly with his fastball and his legendary curveball, and he struck out tons of hitters. But this list ranks pitchers by their value. And value isn’t simply how great you were at your best, it’s how good you were the other years, how much accumulated value you gave your teams. Koufax spent more than half his career as an untamed hurler who was maturing, tinkering, trying to become a major league pitcher. He spent those six or seven years trying to harness his stuff.

8

Willie Davis

7

Dazzy Vance

Vance pitched with pain for more than a decade, bounced around professional baseball, never stuck anywhere very long. One night he was playing poker when he banged his right elbow on the top of the table. The pain felt different and he went to a doctor. The physician performed an operation on Vance’s elbow, most likely to remove bone chips. The random incident turned his career around. That was 1920, Dazzy was 29 years old. The following year he pitched without pain for the first time and had a good season for New Orleans. The Dodgers bought his contract and in 1922 the 31-year old won 18 games and led the National League in strikeouts. He led the league in strikeouts the next year too, and the year after that. He led the NL in K’s for seven straight seasons, and in 1924 when he was 34, Dazzy won the MVP Award when he won 28 games and captured the triple crown. He used an over-the-top fastball that appeared, some batters said, as if it came “from out of the sky.” He used a similar motion for his breaking pitch. Several years he nearly single-handedly kept the Dodgers in the pennant race. Vance pitched until he was 44 years old and won all of his 197 games after his 30th birthday. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955. His is one of the most peculiar careers in baseball history.

6

Zack Wheat

Unlike most of his teammates, Wheat did not drink much, refrained from gambling, and never cursed. His vices were chewing tobacco and cigars. He ranked among National League leaders in extra-base hits, total bases, and home runs during the low-scoring deadball era of the 1910s. He had a rivalry with the cantankerous Edd Roush, the two of them jostling for the batting title a few times. In 1918 Wheat edged Roush by two points when the season ended before Labor Day due to World War I.

5

Jackie Robinson

Robinson ran pigeon-toed with his chest out and his arms pumping away from his body. It was an unusual gait, but eyewitnesses insist that watching Robinson go from first to third was one of the joys of being a baseball fan. In Brooklyn, black fans would congregate in one section at Ebbets Field, and when Robinson got on base, they would chant “Go Jackie Go!”, and if he successfully stole a base, they would taunt the opposing team with “Yes Jackie did!”

4

Duke Snider

“It’s just plain silly, comparing us. I think the real fans know who’s the better ballplayer. I make more money, don’t I?” — Snider in 1955, discussing the comparisons between himself and Willie Mays

3

Don Drysdale

2

Pee Wee Reese

1

Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw’s slider became as famous in Dodger history as the Koufax curveball, Fernando’s screwball, and the cut fastball Orel Hershiser perfected. His mastery of the pitch led to his first Cy Young Award at the age of 23, and three of them by the time he was 26. “The Claw” also won an MVP, one of only 25 pitchers to do that.