A Top Ten List

The Los Angeles Times covers the Los Angeles Dodgers during the entire year, not just baseball season.  Dodgers Dugout written by Houston Mitchell is a regular feature covering the team.  The most recent column he wrote contained the following:

"I want you to send me your list of the 10 greatest Dodgers of all time. They can be L.A. Dodgers or Brooklyn Dodgers. Managers count, as do general managers, owners and announcers. In short, anyone who has been connected with the Dodgers in some way is eligible. You and the rest of the readers of this newsletter will decide who is the greatest."

There are 16 players/managers/coaches who were Los Angeles Dodgers at some point.  But only five of them have the Dodgers cap on their plaque at Cooperstown.  

Walter Alston

Don Drysdale

Sandy Koufax

Tommy Lasorda

Don Sutton

There are 36 players/managers/coaches who were Brooklyn Dodgers (the team had other names like Bridegrooms, Grooms, Trolley Dodgers, Atlantics, Robins and Superbas before the Dodgers name became permanent in the 1930s).  The men listed below are enshrined in the Hall of Fame as Dodgers:

Roy Campanella

Leo Durocher

Burleigh Grimes

"Wee" Willie Keeler

Pee Wee Reese

Jackie Robinson

Wilbert "Uncle Robbie" Robinson

Duke Snider

Dazzy Vance

Zack Wheat

Picking just ten names from among those would be tough enough.  But then there are the other Dodgers greats who are still active, no longer active but not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame, and those who have been overlooked by the Baseball Writers Association for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

A bias of recency will certainly influence the ballots sent in by most of those who respond to the question.  Some voters will be obsessed with stats.  But will they know that Wee Willie Keeler, who retired from baseball in 1910.  They don't know that he remains the all-time record holder for At-Bat to Strikeout ratio, meaning he was the toughest player ever for a pitcher to strike out.  He was so proficient at bunting that they changed the rules to make a bunted foul ball with two strikes was recorded as a strikeout.  Will they know that Zack Wheat, who played 18 seasons for the Dodgers in Brooklyn remains the team's all-time hits leader with 2,804?

I'm going to try to compile a list that doesn't have a recency bias.  That acknowledges the value of the player as a member of the team as well as their numbers.  

1.  Sandy Koufax.  In spite of the fact his career was shortened by injuries, he was the best pitcher in the history of the team in terms of dominance and value.  His numbers are incredible.  His winning percentage of .655 is the highest of any pitcher with at least 2,000 innings pitched who debuted in the National League after World War I.  He had three no-hitters including a perfect game.  In 1965 he struck out a then-record 382 batters in 335.2 innings.  He is the only pitcher to have won three Cy Young awards when there was one award given each year in all of Major League Baseball (now they give one in each league).

2.  Clayton Kershaw.  The only reason that Sandy Koufax holds that NL pitcher winning percentage is that he hasn't hit 2,000 innings pitched yet.  His winning percentage is an amazing .692.  The all-time leader in the Hall of Fame is Lefty Grove at .680.  Kershaw has three Cy Young Awards and a Most Valuable Player awards as well.  Some knock him for his perceived failure to produce in the postseason but I'm not one of those people.

3.  Roy Campanella.  After playing 80 games for the Dodgers in 1948, he played nine full seasons for the Dodgers, winning the MVP award three times.  Baseball Reference dot com ranks him as the all-time leader in the percentage of runners he threw out trying to steal at 57.4%.  He was 36 when his career was cut short by the automobile accident that left him paralyzed, so he lost a few years on that end.  He also spent 11 seasons toiling in the Negro and Mexican leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

4.  Jackie Robinson.  Probably the most courageous player to ever wear a Dodgers uniform.  Rookie of the year, MVP once, in the top ten of the MVP vote three other times.  He was a leader and perhaps the games most important agent of change.  

5.  Don Drysdale.  An eight time All-Star and Cy Young Award winner in 1962, he was a fierce competitor who was not afraid to pitch inside at anyone who crowded the plate against him.  Played for only the Dodgers in his MLB career, which stretched from 1956 to 1969.  His 209 wins put him at #2 on the all-time Dodgers victory list.  In 1968 he threw six straight shutouts and set a MLB record of 58 2/3rd consecutive scoreless innings.  He broke the record of 55 2/3 set by Walter Johnson in 1913  

6.  Duke Snider.  With 389 home runs he remains the Dodgers all-time leader in that category.  That number would have been higher except that the right field fence at the Los Angeles Coliseum was 440 feet from home plate.  He finished in the top ten in the MVP vote six times.  He was an integral member of the Dodgers teams that won the World Series in 1955 and again in 1959.

7.  Bill Russell.  He played 2,181 games over 18 seasons for the Dodgers.  He was the "quarterback" of the famed Garvey/Lopes/Russell/Cey infield.  He was a clutch player, hitting .337 in five National League Championship Series.

8.  Zack Wheat.  2,804 hits, all-time Dodgers leader.  His .317 batting average is #5 on the all-time Dodgers list.  He is also the team's all-time leader in career doubles and triples.  Played 18 of his 19 seasons for the Dodgers.

9.  Don Sutton.  Of his 324 career wins, 223 of them came in a Dodgers uniform.  With over 300 wins and over 3,000 strikeouts, he belongs among the elite pitchers in baseball history.

10.  Dazzy Vance.  Played for the Dodgers from 1922 through 1932 and for a few more games in 1935.  His 190 wins as a Dodgers pitcher is #3 on the all-time list behind Don Sutton and Don Drysdale.  In 192 he went 28 and 6 and won pitching's Triple Crown (wins, ERA and strikeouts) in the National League.  He was also voted the MVP.  His 262 strikeouts that year were more than any two other pitchers combined.

Rating the best of all time is totally subjective and my list is no better and no worse than anyone else's.  But it is mine.