Top 50 Los Angeles Dodgers
One of the most celebrated franchises in all sports, the Los Angeles Dodgers were initially the Brooklyn Grays in 1883, but it was a long time before they found an identity.
The organization changed its name multiple times since its origin, the Atlantics (1884), back to the Grays (1885-87), then the Bridegrooms (1888-90), the Grooms (1991-95), the Bridegrooms again (1895-98, the Superbas (1899-1910), the Trolley Dodgers (1911-12), then the Dodgers (1913), the Robins (1914-1931), before settling on the Dodgers again in 1932.
The Brooklyn Dodgers would sign Jackie Robinson to integrate baseball, and in 1955, on their eighth attempt, they finally won their first World Series.
The fans of Brooklyn were not rewarded for their loyalty and patience, and like the crosstown New York Giants, westward the Dodgers went in 1957, where they remain to this day.
In Los Angeles, the Dodgers won three World Series Titles in their first ten years in the new environment, capturing it all in 1959, 1963, and 1965. The 1970s saw them competitive at the decade's end, and they won two more Championships in the 1980s (1981 and 1988).
In recent years, the Dodgers have been a top team, winning the World Series in 2020, 2024 & 2025, and enter this year with the defending two-time MVP, Shohei Ohtani who leads the most loaded organization in baseball.
This list is up to the end of the 2025 regular season.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Freddie Freeman was a baseball superstar in Atlanta, where he won an MVP and a World Series ring. When he was a free agent in 2022, Freeman opted to return to the area where he was raised, and he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Freeman quickly proved his value after joining the talented Dodgers team. In his first two seasons (2022–2023), he reached new heights, posting over 200 hits each year and leading the National League in doubles twice. He demonstrated excellent strike zone control, using a focused "gap-to-gap" approach, and achieved a career-high 211 hits in 2023, the…
In December 1964, Claude Osteen became a Los Angeles Dodger as the centerpiece of a seven-player trade that sent power-hitter Frank Howard to the Washington Senators. While the Dodgers were trading away a mountain of home runs, they were acquiring a "marathon man" of a southpaw who would spend the next decade defining durability in a rotation that already featured legends. In his first season on the West Coast, Osteen reached a high point during the World Series against the Twins. When the Dodgers trailed 2-0, he started Game 3 with a five-hit shutout that shifted the series momentum. That…
Arriving in Brooklyn in 1892, William “Brickyard” Kennedy was a right-hander with a booming voice and a work ethic forged in the clay pits of his Ohio hometown. While he earned the nickname "Roaring Bill" for his vocal presence on the diamond, it was his off-season labor in a brickyard that gave him the moniker that would stick for over a century Kennedy hit his peak early, with back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1893 and 1894. He demonstrated exceptional endurance, pitching a career-high 382.2 innings in 1893. Although his career 3.98 ERA in Brooklyn seems modest today, he reached a high…
Burt Hooton cut his teeth with the Chicago Cubs, making their parent club in 1971, but struggles at Wrigley led to the hurler being traded to L.A. early in the 1975 Season. If you are to go by traditional statistics, this was the most fantastic year of Hooton's career, as he went 18 and 9, the best Winning Percentage in the National League. After a winless start in Chicago in 1975, Hooton reached new heights after being traded to the Dodgers. He posted an 18-7 record with a 2.82 ERA, winning his last 12 decisions to break a franchise record held…
Jimmy Sheckard played for Brooklyn on three different occasions; though this was in a tight vacuum, you could argue that his first MLB half was indeed with Brooklyn. Following his ‘loan' to the Baltimore Orioles in 1899, where he led the league with 77 stolen bases, Sheckard returned to Brooklyn in 1900 and achieved the pinnacle of his individual performance in 1901. He authored a remarkable season, batting a career-high .354 and leading the National League in triples (19) and slugging percentage (.534). He demonstrated comprehensive mastery of the game that summer, recording 104 RBIs and 11 home runs, a…
An All-Star with the Pirates in 1945, Elwin “Preacher” Roe made the most of his belated opportunity with the depleted World War II roster, but when the Majors were replenished, the next two years saw his ERA balloon over five, though likely this was the result of the after-effects of a fractured skull he suffered from a fight while refereeing a high school basketball game. Now over 30, it appeared that Roe’s run in the Majors would end shortly, but Dodgers GM, Branch Rickey, had other ideas. Roe achieved incredible success in Brooklyn, being selected as an All-Star four years in…
A first-round draft pick in 1976, Mike Scioscia was a catcher who would eventually define the position for an entire generation of Dodgers fans. Known for his legendary toughness and a specialized ability to block the plate, he operated as the undisputed field general for manager Tommy Lasorda. Across 13 seasons in Chavez Ravine, he would wear only one uniform as a player. Scioscia showed incredible dedication when he learned Spanish to connect better with the young star Fernando Valenzuela. This special bond was a key factor during the exciting "Fernandomania" of 1981, as the rookie catcher helped Valenzuela navigate…
Mike Griffin arrived in Brooklyn in 1891, a seasoned 26-year-old outfielder who had already established himself as a premier run-scorer and a defensive vacuum in center field. While his journey in the borough began after a stint in the short-lived Players' League In his inaugural season in Brooklyn, Griffin attained a remarkable level of situational hitting, leading the National League with 36 doubles and recording a career-high 65 stolen bases. He demonstrated comprehensive mastery of the outfield, earning recognition as one of the finest defensive center fielders of his era, while establishing a statistically significant pattern of consistent high-volume performance.…
Shohei Ohtani was a force of nature whose MLB career felt wasted in Los Angeles as the Angels could not build anything around him and Mike Trout. A free agent entering the 2024 season, Ohtani elected to stay in L.A.; the Dodgers, that is. Signing the biggest contract in baseball history, Ohtani had high hopes and quickly proved himself right. In his first year in Dodger blue, he made history with the first "50/50" season in Major League Baseball, a stunning blend of power and speed, hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. He displayed full mastery of the…
Kevin Brown's arrival in Los Angeles in 1999 marked a historic milestone as the first player in Major League Baseball to be awarded a contract exceeding $100 million. This extensive seven-year agreement, which transitioned him from San Diego to Chavez Ravine, was predicated on the expectation that he would be the pivotal element in securing a championship. Although the period known as the "Kevin Brown Era" is often viewed through the prism of the substantial financial investment and a series of injuries, the right-hander demonstrated a high level of efficiency that, when he was healthy, rendered him one of the…
In the late 1930s, Branch Rickey (then with the Cardinals) had built an intricate, sprawling farm system. To circumvent rules limiting how many players a team could control, Rickey "hid" prospects by moving them between various minor league clubs he secretly owned or controlled. Landis, who despised the farm system and saw it as a form of "chain-gang" baseball that suppressed player wages and mobility, launched a massive investigation. MLB Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis ruled that the Cardinals were illegally controlling dozens of players. He issued a "blanket emancipation," declaring 74 Cardinals prospects, including a young Pete Reiser, to be…
Max Muncy made his way to Los Angeles in 2018 as a minor league signing. His career looked like it might be over after he was released by the Oakland Athletics. But with a clever mechanical adjustment, he transformed into one of the most inspiring success stories in the history of the 213. Muncy had an incredible debut year, hitting 35 home runs even though he started in Triple-A. He really showed his mastery of the strike zone and finished the season with an impressive .973 OPS. His place in Dodger history was cemented during the 2018 World Series when…