|
|
791
"Putting attach an all-time team is hard."
I wrote that over 2 years antecedent, when I pieced together the finest players of the Dodgers' Brooklyn epoch, and promised to be behind presently with an story act the same for the Los Angeles epoch.
Well, I was half rightI'm back, I finally constructed the team but it wasn't quite as soon as I thought it would be. Either path, after innumerable evenings of argue with companion Dodgers fans and hours on end of research, it's done, and the results are under. For the sake of controversy, consistency and sanity, I'm going to mallet to the same criteria I used to select the Brooklyn squad:
"Five years or 2,000 ABs in a Dodger uniform in array to be considered for rank actors, at fewest 150 starts for a starting pitcher, and at fewest 300 exteriors from a reliever. Each team gets a standard beginning lineup, a righty starter, a lefty starter and a reliever. Yes, I ought probably have a full circulation; no, there's insufficient space in the col or time in my daytime for that."
And, just consist in ... the last article, we must start with the captain for the ballclub, and in LA there's only two choices: Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda.
At first peek, these two men have little in prevalent. Alston makes me think of managers favor Joe Torre: understated, private, efficient and quite baseball-smart; famous particularly for his studious reach to the game, Alston even taught educate in the offseason for a time. Lasorda was a assorted class of individual altogethera fiery, quotable motivator who referred to God as "the Big Dodger in the Sky," and was as much the face of the team as any of his players.
But these males are similar where it counts: in the dugout. Alston and Lasorda were the first two managers the Dodgers had after their migrate to LA and, between them, took the helm for 39 years (Alston 18, Lasorda 21). They rank first and second among Dodgers skippers in most categories by which managers are measured: games, wins, years and World Series (Alston four, Lasorda two)the only two managers in Dodgers history to accomplish the latter, and two of five Dodgers Hall of Fame managers.
However, there's all more than equitable the mathematics to consider. Lasorda has said often that he "bleeds Dodger Blue," and had already been a part of the Dodgers union for more than 25 years while he was named manager by the end of 1976, a career during which he'd pitched, administered in the minor alliances and been Alston's third-base coach. He retired in midseason 1996 behind a inferior heart onset, and has since taken aboard the role of still-extremely quotable crew chancellor for the Dodgers.
Sixty-plus years of allegiance to the organization, whole books' worth of quotes and a circumstance of Slim-Fast all point to Tommy catching the helm for the LA squad, but certainly with no knock on Walter Alston. We still adore you, Walt!
And immediately, the players on this glorified squad...
Vincent Laforet/Getty Images
Catcher: Mike Piazza
[726 G, 2,707 AB, 443 R, .331 AB/.394 OBP/.572 SLG, 115 2B, 3 3B, 177 HR, 563 RBI, 10 SB]
You can't look at the Dodgers catchers of the last 50 years and try and pick one without some debate. In this case, five catchers qualified, and four were considered: John Roseboro, Steve Yeager, Mike Scoscia and Mike Piazza (I smiled Paul Lo Duca off the list).
The only thing that can't be debated here is that Piazza carried by far the biggest bat, though possibly the weakest defense. Piazza outhit his closest Dodgers peers behind the plate by more than 80 points (his .331 average is tangible fourth on the club all time), and leads all L.A. Dodgers catchers in runs scored, home runs and RBI; although, runners would steal with careless cede anytime he was behind the plate, as he only threw out about a 15 min of all runners.
What makes this call particularly difficult is that, meantime there's no arguing that in the mid-'90s he was the face of the team, Piazza played over 500 games less than Yeager (1,219) and Roseboro (1,289) in Blue, and about half what Scoscia played (1,441), and in that time put up better numbers than any of them. Yes, he was a Dodger for less time, but man, look what he did.
Roseboro was probably the best overall hitter behind Piazza for the Dodgers, and certainly had an arm to mate. Runners seldom went with Roseboro behind the plate: only about 60 runners a year went on Roseboro and his pitchers, and Johnny nailed an astonishing 42 percent of those who challenged try during his career. Now, that number needs to be adjusted a little morsel for the era, as Maury Wills base-swiping prowess was the brand of the Dodgers, not the league at the time.
Getty Images/Getty Images
Roseboros cannon helped him win two Gold Gloves and aided his selection to two All-Star games, and helped lead the Dodgers to three World Series titles during his career. However, Piazzas bat is just too huge to ignore.
Honorable Mention: Roseboro/Scoscia (tie).
First Base: Steve Garvey
[1,727 G, 6,543 AB, 852 R, .301/.337/.459, 333 2B, 35 3B, 211 HR, 992 RBI, 77 SB]
Garvey was a fairly effortless alternative at first base, with his only real competition coming from Eric Karros. Karros carried more popup in his bat and is the all-time LA leader in home runs, but Garvey has many to his credit that Karros, as solid a ballplayer as any the Dodgers have seen, simply can't match.
Garvey, amid other things, was maybe the most consistent sight on the field in the 1970s and '80s for L.A., seeming in 1,207 continuous games from 1975 to 1983; the streak is still an NL record, although it obviously pales in comparison to the streaks of Cal Ripken Jr. or Lou Gehrig. As such, he was part of the maximum enduring infield in baseball history; for over 8 seasons, Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey involved the infield for L.A.
Nor did Garvey exactly absence for hardware; he went to four World Series with the Dodgers, eventually electing up a ring in his fourth tumble in 1981. He also won the NL MVP reward in 1974, and was picked to represent the Dodgers in eight All-Star games.
Yeah, that'd be him in a Phils uniform. With 3 other guys mentioned in this article. FOR SHAME, DAVEY.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Honorable Mention: Karros.
Second Base: Davey Lopes
[1,207 G, 4,590 AB, 759 R, .262/.349/.380, 165 2B, 39 3B, 99 HR, 384 RBI, 418 SB]
Lopes is the contemporary governor in games played at second pedestal for the Dodgers, and creature part of the sturdy infield mentioned earlier would do that to you. Lopes was a four-time All-Star in his playing days, and a versed pedestal bandit close the altitude of the lineup.
Lopes' only real emulation here comes from 1982 Rookie of the Year Steve Sax. But Lopes never had the home fans ducking when he'd discard to first as Sax did at the beginning of the '83 season, and Lopes, while he did leave L.A. in free agency, sure didn't sign with the Yankees. Lopes wins.
Honorable Mention: Sax.
Third Base: Ron Cey
[1,481 G, 5,216 AB, 715 R, .264/.359/.445, 223 2B, 18 3B, 228 HR, 842 RBI, 20 SB]
Cey held the L.A. record because homers until Karros broke it during the 2000 season. The Penguin was one of a handful of annual All-Stars as the Dodgers in the 1970s, and was elected to 6 straight Midsummer Classics from 1974 to 1979. He was too a key postseason actor, often stepping up with key kicks during the Dodgers' extra successful playoff runs.
As if the evidence werent already overwhelming, Cey was an above-average fielder, though not a Gold Glover; he had the casualty of manning the same position as Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt during his prime.
This was an absolute refugee. For years before and after Cey, third base was a revolving gate for the Dodgers, with no one holding down the starting job at the hot edge for more than almost three years at the peak of. When you compare the batting and fielding statistics from along the years, you detect that the runner-up in most categories to Cey, defying all logic, is...Adrian Beltre?
Shows you just how far in front Cey is.
Honorable Mention: Jim Gilliam, the versatile infielder for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Ranking third in franchise history in games at second base and fourth in games at third, Gilliam is the one player who was a vital cog in the Dodgers machine for extensive periods in either Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He gets this slot because:
He deserves to be mentioned on ONE of these lists I nay to sully the good names of ANY of these players by including Beltre in their midst.
Shortstop: Maury Wills
[1,593 G, 6,156 AB, 876 R, .281/.331/.332, 150 2B, 56 3B, 17 HR, 374 RBI, 490 SB]
Two shortstops patrolled the Dodgers infield for a combined 26 years between 1960 and 1986: Maury Wills and Bill Russell. Whereas Russell actually wore the uniform longer and played more games than anybody else in Dodgers history, he did so in a solid but not amazing vogue. Maury Wills, however, helped reintroduce baseball to a strategy it had know next to nothing of forgotten in the shadow of the long ball: the stolen base.
Wills was a gifted, switch-hitting leadoff maul for the Dodgers of the 1960s, and a constant menace to steal second. He helped a lineup light on family run hitters score enough runs to support its stellar pitching on a nightly root. Wills is perhaps best remembered for his MVP season of 1962, in which he batted .299 in a important league-record 165 games, swiped 104 bases to chance the first man to triple digits and was caught just 13 times in the process.
Honorable Mention: Bill Russell.
Outfield
This might be the classification thats occasioned this two-plus-year lag in the writing of this article. The LA incarnation of the Dodgers havent really had long-term, no-doubt excellent outfielders the way Brooklyn did, largely deserving to the onset of free agency. A lot of names were disqualified just on the statistical minimums I set; among the truly controversial guys who fell short of 2000 AB were Gary Sheffield (1866 AB, 160 OPS+ in Blue), Reggie Smith (despite six years in LA, only 1,740 AB) and Kirk Gibson (1,110 AB, so really, not near, but I wanted to at least mention him).
Complicating matters, a pair current Dodgers, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, are trending towards some of the best numbers the Dodgers have ever gotten from their outfield. Should current Dodgers be considered? For the sake of making this a little easier, not this time approximately; if they keep it up, their time in this conversation will come.
Then there were flare favorites and team mainstays whose numbers just didnt quite merit inclusion and who broke my heart to defect in ... (Ron Fairly, Willie Davis, Brett Butler). The men departed standing are:
Pedro Guerrero
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
[1,036 G, 3,602 AB, 561 R, .309/.381/.512, 169 2B, 24 3B, 171 HR, 585 RBI, 86 SB]
Guerrero played six different positions in his 11 seasons with the Dodgers, so it was laborious to nail him down first and foremost; however, two-thirds of his Dodgers career was spent in the expansive grass of the outfield, so this was the plausible place to include him. No matter where you put him, though, its the erroneous position; Guerreros real position is "hitter."
Throughout the '80s, Pedro Guerrero was not just an All-Star, he was a perennial MVP candidatewhen he was on the field. Early in his career the future star, a national corner infielder, was mired back Garvey and Cey, and played only occasionally. It wasnt until 1980 that he found a regular smudge in the Dodgers lineup, normally in right or hub field, and once he began playing full-time, tiny but injury could stop him (he played only 31 games in 86, and 59 in 88 before he was traded to the Cardinals). Three 30-homer seasons and three top-10 MVP finishes concrete him as one of the better bats the Dodgers have ever planted in the outfield.
Raul Mondesi
[916 G, 3,487 AB, 543 R, .288/.334/.504, 190 2B, 37 3B, 163 HR, 518 RBI, 140 SB]
In the mid-1990s, the Dodgers plough system produced a gem a year, leading to five straight NL Rookies of the Year, (four of whom went on to earn mentions in this article). The third in the run, debuting in the ill-fated 1994 campaign, was one Raul Mondesi, who holds the difference of being the only Dodger to ever put together a 30-30 seasonnot once, but twice. Raul was a coerce to be evaluated witha power bat with tremendous speed, who helped Piazza and Karros fasten the heart of the Dodgers lineup from late 1993 to 1998.
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Perhaps even more monumental than Rauls flair and free swing at the panel was his play in right field. Mondesi skulked the Chavez Ravine grass, using his tremendous speed to pursue down a pair of Gold Gloves and daring runners to test El Canonhis sobriquet for the gun welded to his right shoulder. And attempt they did, often with ruinous results. Mondesi acquired at least 10 outfield assists each year from 1994 to 1998, and is still remembered as one of the best outfield arms of the final 25 years.
The only knock on the five-tool powerhouse was his opinion and proclivity to lean on his artist and ventures to hog the spotlight. After the 1999 season, the Dodgers had had enough, and shipped his tremendous aptitude to the Toronto Blue Jays…
Shawn Green
[798 G, 3,012 AB, 505 R, .280/.366/.510, 183 2B, 12 3B, 162 HR, 509 RBI, 63 SB]
…for Shawn Green. Green was everything in attitude that Mondy was nothe was a hardworking, unassuming community man and clubhouse leadera regional boy whose star had gone supernova in Toronto. As the Dodgers current Jewish superstar (well get to the first one soon enough), Green had some big cleats to filland he did so admirably. He stepped very ably into Rauls right field alleys, and wandered the outfield with calm elegance and efficiency in place of Rauls brilliant flair, though again with a tremendous rifle of an arm.
Yet despite the league alteration and Dodger Stadiums glory as a hitters park, Greens bat had an nearly instant shock, slugging 40 homers in back-to-back years in 2001 and 2002. Early in the 02 season, he put on one of the greatest displays of individual hitting the majors have ever discerned. From May 21-23 at Miller Park, Green went ballistic, starting the series 3-for-8 with two HR and a treble ahead crowning it with a 6-for-6 trampling that included four homers (13th time in MLB history), a unattached and a double.
Honorable Mentions: Rick Monday, Dusty Baker, Tommy Davis.
Right-Handed Starter: Kevin Brown
Wait, what? Thats not him…Hang on, let me dig via the years here…Hideo Nomo? No. Orel Hershiser? Not wrong, but no. Fernando Valenzuela! No, thats no him either.
Ah, here he is: Don Drysdale
[518 G, 465 GS, 3,432 IP, 209-166, 2.95 ERA, 1.148 WHIP, 167 CG, 49 SHO, 34 SV, 2,486 K, 855 BB]
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Lets be honest: despite the names listed aboveall great arms, in their timesthis is a two-horse race between the Dons, Drysdale and Sutton. And to compare them side by side, youd think they were the same pitcher. Sutton won 24 more games, threw three more shutouts and 400 more innings, struck out 200 more guys and had a lower WHIP (by 0.03) and a higher ERA (by 0.14) as a Dodger in two more seasons and 32 more games. Both have even had their numbers retired by the clubSuttons No. 20 and Drysdales No. 53 both hang at Dodger Stadium, and both are Hall of Famers. You could almost be forgiven for calling this one a tie. Why, then, is Drysdale our winner?
Well, for one, Drysdale was more intimidating. He hit 154 batters in his career as a Dodger, while Sutton hit 64, and let me caution you, thats with two surplus years and 400 more innings for Sutton. Drysdale was a famed headhunter, a panicked antagonist with a filthy fastball, and his hometown roots (he grew up in Van Nuys) that made him darling by Dodgers faithful from his debut in 1956 to his final, painful pitch in 1969. Drysdale was even a famous hitter; he hit .228 career, respectable for a pitcher, and slugged a surprising 29 homers. On his off days, Walter Alston even used to use him as a pinch hitter.
Drysdales got something else Sutton doesnt: hardware, and in spades. Sutton was a four-time All-Star with the Dodgers, while Drysdale was selected to the Midsummer Classic eight times. Sutton had three top-five Cy Young finishes when each league had its own award; Drysdale won the award in 1962, when there was just one for everybody. And while each went to four World Series, Drysdale waded away with three rings, while Suttons fingers remained bare.
Overwhelming advantage: Drysdale.
But the real capper, the terminal hook in the coffin, was Drysdales 1968 summer, in which he threw six shutouts in a row en path to 58.2 scoreless innings, a major league record that would be broken by one Orel Hershiser 20 years after, and which broke a record held by no less of a pitcher than the Big Train himself, Walter Johnson. As nice as Sutton was, Drysdale was the Dodgers best. Well, the best right-hander, at least.
Honorable Mention: Sutton
Left-Handed Pitcher: Sandy Koufax
[397 G, 314 GS, 2,324.1 IP, 165-87, 2.76 ERA, 1.106 WHIP, 137 CG, 44 SHO, 9 SV, 2396 K, 817 BB]
Like you didnt understand this was coming. Few lefties have been as dominant as Koufax was from 1961-66. If Koufax hadnt had his seasons mow short along injuries in 1962 and 64, the Dodgers might've hung five straight pennants, powered mainly by "Big D" Drysdale and Koufax's Left Hand of God.
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Theres little to say about Koufax that hasnt been repeated dozens of times before. In the 11 years the Cy Young was bestowed upon just one pitcher from each league, only Koufax won it multiple timesand he won it three times in four years, a record until Steve Carlton nabbed his fourth. Koufax also granted less than a runner per inning in his prime, notching a WHIP of 0.97 (and in 65, of 0.855!) from 61 to 66.
He also dropped four no-hitters, one a year, from 63 to 66. In that same duration, he conquered the pitching Triple Crown (wins, Ks and ERA) 3 times in 4 yearsand those numbers weren't just the best in the NL, but in entire of Major League Baseball. No other pitcher's done that more than double.
After his career was sadly cut short by arthritis in his unreal left arm, Sandy perished, preferring to live in seclusion than persist to dwell in the bright LA lights that had emulated him so closely at the end of his career. Yet to this day, Sandy can be base in Dodgers spring exercising, sharing his tremendous knowledge with the younger weapon (most notably, recent stud lefty Clayton Kershaw).
Honorable Mention: With all due respect to longtime Blue boys Johnny Podres and Claude Osteen, no other Dodgers lefty has been in the same solar system as Koufax, though whether Kershaw reserves improving...well, retard back in 10 years.
Relief Pitcher: Ron Perranoski
[457 G, 1 GS, 766.2 IP, 54-41, 2.56 ERA, 1.302 WHIP, 273 GF, 101 SV, 461 K, 290 BB]
Once, there was an era before the closer. Before Eric Gagne and Jonathan Broxton (well, pre-2010 All-Star damage Jonathan Broxton) made hitters shudder in the ninth, and before Mike Marchall redefined rubber arms by appearing in over 100 games as a pitcher (and topped 90 in two other seasons), there was the final '60s fireman. Perranoski was the guy Walter Alston called to get the Boys in Blue out of a jam when Drysdale or Koufax or Osteen just wasn't enough. From '61 to '67, Perranoski put out bombard after launch, assembling 101 saves when the statistic was unknown.
After his career on the mound ended in 1973, Perranoski added the Dodgers coaching staff, premier as minor league pitching coordinator, then as Tommy Lasorda's pitching coach from 1981 to 1994. Needless to mention, Perranoski oversaw the evolution of a digit of Dodger pitching romances, notably among them Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser and the Martinez brothers. His pitching staff in 1988 was the hallmark of the hitless prodigies who managed to somehow shut down the strong Oakland A's in just 5 games.
Honorable Mentions: Marshall, Jim Brewer, and Gagne.
I know this should finish the list, but there's something we just can't absent from...
Voice: Vin Scully
You can't ever speak about the Los Angeles Dodgers without bringing up broadcasting deity Vin Scully. Widely adopted as not just the best current spokesman, but often as the best period, Scully has more than defined the teamhe's defined an entire city. Scully joined the Dodgers announce compartment in 1950, hand-picked for the compartment by Red Barber, the legendary voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers fknow next to nothing of many years.
The catalogue of Scully's great calls would take one awfully long period to recount; particular names and moments comprise Kirk Gibson, Bill Buckner, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron and many more.
His list of awards is ridiculous. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 1982barely halfway into his career. He's been named California Sportscaster of the Year 29 times by his peers, won the National Award three times and has received many lifetime completion awardsamong them an Emmy and one from his alma mater, Fordham University, which has been named in his medal. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
But more importantly than these awards, Scully is the voice and sound of baseball and the coming of spring to millions of fans the globe over. He is, without doubt, the face and voice of Dodgers baseball, and has been for 62 seasons.
Whew! Thoughts, Dodgers faithful? Who've I missed?
|
Linear Mode
