| Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Established: | 1883 |
| Misc: | Based in Los Angeles since 1958 |
| Uniformlogo: | LA Dodgers.svg |
| Current League: | National League |
| Y1: | 1890 |
| Division: | West Division |
| Y2: | 1969 |
| Past League: | American Association |
| Y7: | 1884 |
| Y8: | 1889 |
| Uniform: | MLB-NLW-LAD-Uniforms.png |
| Colors: | Dodger blue, white, red[1] [2] |
| Y3: | 1958 |
| Pastnames: |
|
| Ballpark: | Dodger Stadium |
| Y4: | 1962 |
| Pastparks: |
|
| Ws: | (7) |
| League: | NL |
| P: | (24) |
| Misc1: | AA Pennants (1) |
| Other Pennants: | 1889 |
| Div: | West |
| Dv: | (21) |
| Wc: | (3) |
| Misc7: | Pre-modern World Series (1) |
| Owner: | Guggenheim Baseball Management Mark Walter (chairman)[3] [4] |
| President: | Stan Kasten |
| Presbo: | Andrew Friedman |
| Manager: | Dave Roberts |
| Gm: | Brandon Gomes |
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Established in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and assumed several other monikers before finally settling on the name Dodgers in 1932.[5] [6] [7] From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers developed a fierce crosstown rivalry with the New York Yankees as the two clubs faced each other in the World Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before defeating them to win the franchise's first title in 1955. It was also during this period that the Dodgers made history by breaking the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884.[8] Another major milestone was reached in 1956 when Don Newcombe became the first player ever to win both the Cy Young Award and the NL MVP in the same season.[9]
After 68 seasons in Brooklyn, Dodgers owner and president Walter O'Malley moved the franchise to Los Angeles before the 1958 season.[10] The team played their first four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to their current home of Dodger Stadium in 1962.[11] The Dodgers found immediate success in Los Angeles, winning the 1959 World Series. Success continued into the 1960s; their ace pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were the cornerstones of titles in 1963 and 1965. In 1981, rookie Mexican phenom pitcher Fernando Valenzuela became a sensation and led the team to a championship; he is the only player to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season.[12] The Dodgers were once again victorious in 1988, upsetting their heavily favored opponent in each series and becoming the only franchise to win multiple titles in the 1980s.[13] Next came a 32-year championship drought, despite 12 postseason appearances in a 17-year span and eight consecutive division titles from 2013 to 2020. It was broken when the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series.[14]
One of the most successful and storied franchises in MLB, the Dodgers have won seven World Series championships and a record 24 National League pennants. Eleven NL MVP award winners have played for the Dodgers, winning a total of 14. Eight Cy Young Award winners have pitched for the club, winning a total of 12—by far the most of any Major League franchise. The Dodgers boast 18 Rookie of the Year Award winners, twice as many as the next club. This includes four consecutive Rookies of the Year from 1979 to 1982 and five consecutive from 1992 to 1996. From 1884 through 2023, the Dodgers' all-time record is . Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers have a win–loss record of 5,710–4,724–6 through the end of 2023.[15]
Today, the Dodgers are among the most popular MLB teams, enjoying large fan support both at home and on the road;[16] [17] [18] they are widely seen as one of National League's most dominant teams.[19] [20] They maintain a fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants dating the two clubs' start in New York City, as well as a more recent rivalry with the American League's Houston Astros due to the controversy over the Astros' sign stealing scandal in the 2017 World Series. As of 2022, Forbes ranked the Dodgers second in MLB franchise valuation at $4.075 billion.[21]
Although the team had no official nickname until 1932, they were informally nicknamed the Bridegrooms in the team's earliest years, then the Superbas around the turn of the century and then the Robins (named after manager Wilbert Robinson). In the early 1900s, sportswriter Charles Dryden nicknamed the team the Trolley Dodgers after the Brooklyn pedestrians who dodged streetcars in the city, and the Dodgers nickname was used contemporaneously with Superbas and Robins. In 1932, the team allowed the Brooklyn baseball writers to select a permanent name, and the writers chose Dodgers on January 22, 1932. The only other nickname seriously considered by the writers was Kings.[22] [23]
In 1941, the Dodgers captured their third National League pennant, only to lose to the New York Yankees. This marked the onset of the Dodgers–Yankees rivalry, as the Dodgers would face them in their next six World Series appearances. Led by Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era; and three-time National League Most Valuable Player Roy Campanella, also signed out of the Negro leagues, the Dodgers captured their first World Series title in 1955 by defeating the Yankees for the first time, a story notably described in the 1972 book The Boys of Summer.
Following the 1957 season the team left Brooklyn. In just their second season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers won their second World Series title, beating the Chicago White Sox in six games in 1959. Spearheaded by the dominant pitching style of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, the Dodgers captured three pennants in the 1960s and won two more World Series titles, sweeping the Yankees in four games in 1963, and edging the Minnesota Twins in seven in 1965. The 1963 sweep was their second victory against the Yankees, and their first against them as a Los Angeles team. The Dodgers won four more pennants in 1966, 1974, 1977 and 1978, but lost in each World Series appearance. They went on to win the World Series again in 1981, thanks in part to pitching sensation Fernando Valenzuela.
The early 1980s were affectionately dubbed "Fernandomania". In 1988, another pitching hero, Orel Hershiser, again led them to a World Series victory, aided by one of the most memorable home runs of all time by their star outfielder Kirk Gibson coming off the bench, despite having injuries to both knees, to pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 1, in his only appearance of the series. The Dodgers won the pennant in 2017 for the first time since their world series victory in 1988, aided by a Justin Turner walk-off home run on the same night of Gibson's iconic walk-off home run 29 years earlier. They went on to face the Houston Astros and lose in 7 games; however, the series became embroiled in controversy due to the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal. The Dodgers won the pennant in 2018 for a second year in a row, moving on to lose to the Boston Red Sox in 5 games. They went on to win the World Series again in 2020 by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in 6 games, after playing a season shortened to 60 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dodgers share a fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants, dating back to when the two franchises played in New York City. Both teams moved west for the 1958 season.[24] The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have appeared in the World Series 21 times, while the New York/San Francisco Giants have appeared in the World Series 20 times. The Giants have won one more World Series (8); when the two teams were based in New York, the Giants won five World Series championships, and the Dodgers one. After the move to California, the Dodgers have won six World Series while the Giants have won three.
In Brooklyn, the Dodgers won the NL pennant twelve times (1890, 1899, 1900, 1916, 1920, 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956) and the World Series in 1955. After moving to Los Angeles, the team won National League pennants in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1988, 2017, 2018 and 2020, with World Series championships in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988 and 2020. In all, the Dodgers have appeared in 21 World Series: nine in Brooklyn and twelve in Los Angeles.
See main article: Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers were founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Atlantics, borrowing the name of a defunct team that had played in Brooklyn before them. The team joined the American Association in 1884 and won the AA championship in 1889 before joining the National League in 1890. They promptly won the NL Championship their first year in the League. The team was known alternatively as the Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Robins and Trolley Dodgers, before officially becoming the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1930s.
See main article: Jackie Robinson. For most of the first half of the 20th century, no Major League Baseball team employed an African American player. Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play for a Major League Baseball team when he played his first major league game on April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.[25] This was mainly due to general manager Branch Rickey's efforts. The deeply religious Rickey's motivation appears to have been primarily moral, although business considerations were also a factor. Rickey was a member of The Methodist Church, the antecedent denomination to The United Methodist Church of today, which was a strong advocate for social justice and active later in the American Civil Rights Movement.[26]
This event was the harbinger of the integration of professional sports in the United States, the concomitant demise of the Negro leagues, and is regarded as a key moment in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. Robinson was an exceptional player, a speedy runner who sparked the team with his intensity. He was the inaugural recipient of the Rookie of the Year award, which is now named the Jackie Robinson Award in his honor. The Dodgers' willingness to integrate, when most other teams refused to, was a key factor in their 1947–1956 success. They won six pennants in those 10 years with the help of Robinson, three-time MVP Roy Campanella, Cy Young Award winner Don Newcombe, Jim Gilliam and Joe Black. Robinson would eventually go on to become the first African-American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Real estate investor Walter O'Malley acquired majority ownership of the Dodgers in 1950, when he bought the 25 percent share of co-owner Branch Rickey and became allied with the widow of another equal partner, Mrs. John L. Smith. Shortly afterwards, he was working to buy new land in Brooklyn to build a more accessible and profitable ballpark than the aging Ebbets Field. Beloved as it was, Ebbets Field was no longer well-served by its aging infrastructure and the Dodgers could no longer sell out the park even in the heat of a pennant race, despite largely dominating the National League from 1946 to 1957.
O'Malley wanted to build a new, state-of-the-art stadium in Brooklyn. But City Planner Robert Moses and New York politicians refused to grant him the eminent domain authority required to build pursuant to O'Malley's plans. To put pressure on the city, during the 1955 season, O'Malley announced that the team would play seven regular-season games and one exhibition game at Jersey City's Roosevelt Stadium in 1956.[27] Moses and the City considered this an empty threat, and did not believe O'Malley would go through with moving the team from New York City.
After teams began to travel to and from games by air instead of train, it became possible to include locations in the far west. Los Angeles officials attended the 1956 World Series looking to the Washington Senators to move to the West Coast. When O'Malley heard that LA was looking for a club, he sent word to the Los Angeles officials that he was interested in talking. LA offered him what New York would not: a chance to buy land suitable for building a ballpark, and own that ballpark, giving him complete control over all revenue streams. When the news came out, NYC Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. and Moses made an offer to build a ballpark on the World's Fair Grounds in Queens that would be shared by the Giants and Dodgers. However, O'Malley was interested in his park under only his conditions, and the plans for a new stadium in Brooklyn seemed like a pipe dream. O'Malley decided to move the Dodgers to California, convincing Giants owner Horace Stoneham to move to San Francisco instead of Minneapolis to keep the Giants-Dodgers rivalry alive on the West Coast. They were the first MLB teams both west and south of St. Louis.
The Dodgers played their final game at Ebbets Field on September 24, 1957, which the Dodgers won 2–0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
New York remained a one-team town with the New York Yankees until 1962, when Joan Payson founded the New York Mets and brought National League baseball back to the city. The blue background used by the Dodgers was adopted by the Mets, honoring their New York NL forebears with a blend of Dodgers blue and Giants orange.[28]
See main article: History of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers were the first Major League Baseball team to ever play in Los Angeles. On April 18, 1958, the Dodgers played their first LA game, defeating the former New York and now new San Francisco Giants, 6–5, before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Catcher Roy Campanella, left partially paralyzed in an off-season accident, was never able to play in Los Angeles.
Construction on Dodger Stadium was completed in time for Opening Day 1962. With its clean, simple lines and its picturesque setting amid hills and palm trees, the ballpark quickly became an icon of the Dodgers and their new California lifestyle. O'Malley was determined that there would not be a bad seat in the house, achieving this by cantilevered grandstands that have since been widely imitated. More importantly for the team, the stadium's spacious dimensions, along with other factors, gave defense an advantage over offense and the Dodgers moved to take advantage of this by assembling a team that would excel with its pitching.
Since moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have won twelve more National League Championships and six more World Series rings.[29]
The Dodgers' official history reports that the term "Trolley Dodgers" was attached to the Brooklyn ballclub due to the complex maze of trolley cars that weaved its way through the borough of Brooklyn.[30]
In 1892, the city of Brooklyn (Brooklyn was an independent city until annexed by New York City in 1898) began replacing its slow-moving, horse-drawn trolley lines with the faster, more powerful electric trolley lines.[31] Within less than three years, by the end of 1895, electric trolley accidents in Brooklyn had resulted in more than 130 deaths and maimed well over 500 people.[32] Brooklyn's high profile, the significant number of widely reported accidents, and a trolley strike in early 1895, combined to create a strong association in the public's mind between Brooklyn and trolley dodging.[31]
Sportswriters started using the name "Trolley Dodgers" to refer to the Brooklyn team early in the 1895 season.[33] The name was shortened to, on occasion, the "Brooklyn Dodgers" as early as 1898.[34]
Sportswriters in the early 20th century began referring to the Dodgers as the "Bums", in reference to the team's fans and possibly because of the "street character" nature of Jack Dawkins, the "Artful Dodger" in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. Newspaper cartoonist Willard Mullin used a drawing of famous clown Emmett Kelly to depict "Dem Bums": the team would later use "Weary Willie" in promotional images, and Kelly himself was a club mascot during the 1950s.
Other team names used by the franchise were the Atlantics, Grays, Grooms, Bridegrooms, Superbas and Robins. All of these nicknames were used by fans and sportswriters to describe the team, but not in any official capacity. The team's legal name was the Brooklyn Base Ball Club.[35] However, the Trolley Dodger nickname was used throughout this period, simultaneously with these other nicknames, by fans and sportswriters of the day. The team did not use the name in any formal sense until 1932, when the word "Dodgers" appeared on team jerseys. The "conclusive shift" came in 1933, when both home and road jerseys for the team bore the name "Dodgers".
Examples of how the many popularized names of the team were used are available from newspaper articles before 1932. A New York Times article describing a game in 1916 starts out: "Jimmy Callahan, pilot of the Pirates, did his best to wreck the hopes the Dodgers have of gaining the National League pennant", but then goes on to comment: "the only thing that saved the Superbas from being toppled from first place was that the Phillies lost one of the two games played".[36] What is interesting about the use of these two nicknames is that most baseball statistics sites and baseball historians generally now refer to the pennant-winning 1916 Brooklyn team as the Robins. A 1918 New York Times article uses the nickname in its title: "Buccaneers Take Last From Robins", but the subtitle of the article reads: "Subdue The Superbas By 11 To 4, Making Series An Even Break".[37]
Another example of the use of the many nicknames is found on the program issued at Ebbets Field for the 1920 World Series, which identifies the matchup in the series as "Dodgers vs. Indians" despite the fact that the Robins nickname had been in consistent use for around six years.[38] The "Robins" nickname was derived from the name of their Hall of Fame manager, Wilbert Robinson, who led the team from 1914 to 1931.[39]
The Dodgers' uniform has remained relatively unchanged since the 1930s. The home jersey is white with "Dodgers" written in script across the chest in royal. The road jersey is gray with "Los Angeles" written in script across the chest in royal. The word "Dodgers" was first used on the front of the team's home jersey in 1933; the uniform was then white with red pinstripes and a stylized "B" on the left shoulder.[40] The Dodgers also wore green outlined uniforms and green caps throughout the 1937 season but reverted to blue the following year.
The current design was created in 1939, and has remained the same ever since with only cosmetic changes. Originally intended for the 1951 World Series for which the ballclub failed to qualify, red numbers under the "Dodgers" script were added to the home uniform in 1952.[41] The road jersey also has a red uniform number under the script. When the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, the city name on the road jersey changed, and the stylized "B" was replaced with the interlocking "LA" on the caps in 1958. In 1970, the Dodgers removed the city name from the road jerseys and had "Dodgers" on both the home and away uniforms. The city script returned to the road jerseys in 1999, and the tradition-rich Dodgers flirted with an alternate uniform for the first time since 1944 (when all-blue satin uniforms were introduced). These 1999 alternate jerseys had a royal top with the "Dodgers" script in white across the chest, and the red number on the front. These were worn with white pants and a new cap with silver brim, top button and Dodger logo. These alternates proved unpopular and the team abandoned them after only one season. In 2014, the Dodgers introduced an alternate road jersey: a gray version with the "Dodgers" script instead of the city name.[42] Since its introduction, however, the road jersey with the "Dodgers" script was used more often than the road jersey with the "Los Angeles" script, so much that the team now considers it as a primary road uniform. In 2018, the Dodgers wore their 60th anniversary patch to honor the 60 years of being in Los Angeles.[43] [44]
In 2021, the Dodgers again unveiled a blue alternate uniform, this time as part of the "City Connect" series in collaboration with Nike. This uniform was similar to the blue alternates they wore in 1999, but with the script "Los Dodgers" in homage to Los Angeles' Latino community. The uniform is also worn with blue pants, and black stripes are added to the sleeves. Initially, the Dodgers wore a special blue cap with the "Los Dodgers" script, but switched in 2022 to a blue interlocking "LA" cap with black brim. The "Los Dodgers" script was then relocated to the right side. In 2023, white pants with blue piping replaced the blue pants previously worn with the "City Connect" uniform.[45]
Midway through the 2024 season, the Dodgers unveiled their second "City Connect" uniform. The cream-based uniform paid homage to the city of Los Angeles and various chapters of the city's history that is connected to the team. The "Los Angeles" wordmark was inspired by the signage of the Dodgers' original home of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and was slanted upward. The number font was inspired by the mid-century typefaces that were popular during the team's early years in Los Angeles. The uniform also featured two different shades of blue: cobalt and electric, while "chili red" was based on the chest number colors the team wore since the 1950s. The cobalt blue cap featured the "interlocking LA" and script "D" from the "Dodgers" logo merged together to form the LAD team code; the said logo also appears as a sleeve patch. Above the manufacturer's tag is the hashtag #ITFDB, a reference to broadcaster Vin Scully's catchphrase "It's time for Dodger baseball!".[46]
The Dodgers have been groundbreaking in their signing of players from Asia; mainly Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Former owner Peter O'Malley began reaching out in 1980 by starting clinics in China and South Korea, building baseball fields in two Chinese cities, and in 1998 becoming the first major league team to open an office in Asia. The Dodgers were the second team to start a Japanese player (first in nearly 30 years), pitcher Hideo Nomo, the first team to start a South Korean player, pitcher Chan Ho Park and the first Taiwanese player, Chin-Feng Chen. In addition, they were the first team to send out three Asian pitchers, from different Asian countries, in one game: Park, Hong-Chih Kuo of Taiwan, and Takashi Saito of Japan. In the 2008 season, the Dodgers had the most Asian players on its roster of any major league team with five. They included Japanese pitchers Takashi Saito and Hiroki Kuroda; South Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park; and Taiwanese pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo and infielder Chin-Lung Hu. In 2005, the Dodgers' Hee Seop Choi became the first Asian player to compete in the Home Run Derby.[47] For the 2013 season, the Dodgers signed starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu with a six-year, $36 million contract, after posting a bid of nearly $27 million to acquire him from the KBO's Hanhwa Eagles. For the 2016 season, the Dodgers signed starting pitcher Kenta Maeda with an eight-year, $25 million contract, after posting a bid of $20 million to acquire him from the NPB's Hiroshima Toyo Carp. For the 2024 season, the Dodgers signed free agent two-way player Shohei Ohtani with a 10-year, $700 million contract, the largest ever in professional sports history.[48]
The Dodgers' rivalry with the San Francisco Giants dates back to the 19th century, when the two teams were based in New York; the rivalry with the New York Yankees took place when the Dodgers were based in New York, but was revived with their East Coast/West Coast World Series battles in 1963, 1977, 1978, and 1981. The Dodgers' rivalries with the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals also dates back to their days in New York, but were most fierce during the 1970s, 1980s and 2000s. The Dodgers also shared a heated rivalry with the Cincinnati Reds during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The Dodgers' had even shared a rather volatile rivalry with divisional foes; the Arizona Diamondbacks during most of the 2010s. Their intra-city rivalry with the Los Angeles Angels dates back to the Angels' inaugural season in 1961. The Dodgers have recently revived an old Southern California based rivalry with the San Diego Padres dating back to the Padres' inaugural season in 1969. Most recently; the Dodgers have also regrown a heated rivalry against the former divisional foe Houston Astros after their relocation to the American League, due in no small part to the controversy of the 2017 World Series.
See main article: Dodgers–Giants rivalry. The Dodgers–Giants rivalry is one of the oldest, and fiercest rivalries in North American sports.[49] [50]
The feud between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City, with the Dodgers playing in Brooklyn and the Giants playing at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. After the 1957 season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley moved the team to Los Angeles for financial and other reasons.[51] Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham—who was considering moving his team to Minnesota—to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California as well. New York baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move.[52] Given that the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have been bitter rivals in economic, cultural, and political arenas for over a century and a half, the new venue in California became fertile ground for its transplantation.
Each team's ability to endure for over a century while moving across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's leap from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in American sports history.[53] [54] [55]
Unlike many other historic baseball match-ups in which one team remains dominant for most of their history, the Dodgers–Giants rivalry has exhibited a persistent balance in the respective successes of the two teams. While the Giants have more wins in franchise history, the Dodgers have the most National League pennants at 24, with the Giants following close behind at 23. The Giants have won eight World Series titles, while the Dodgers have won seven. The 2010 World Series was the Giants' first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers had won six World Series titles since their move, their last title coming in the 2020 World Series.[56] [57]
In 2021, the Dodgers and Giants both finished the regular season with over 100 wins, with the latter clinching the division with a record of 107–55. The Dodgers were one game behind with a record of 106–56, relegating them to the NL Wild Card Game, in which they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. This resulted in the first postseason matchup between Dodgers and Giants in the NLDS. With a combined 213 regular season wins, this is the most number of regular season wins between competing teams in any MLB postseason series.[58] The Dodgers ultimately won in the decisive Game 5, but would lose in the NLCS to the eventual World Series champions: Atlanta Braves.[59]
See main article: Padres-Dodgers rivalry. The Padres' rivalry with the Dodgers has often been lopsided in favor of Los Angeles; however, recent growth between the two teams in competition has added intensity on top of proximity between Los Angeles and San Diego.[60] [61] San Diego fans have often harbored animosity towards Los Angeles due in small part to San Diego being an unstable home for their sports teams as both the Chargers and the Clippers both relocated to Los Angeles after being unable to find a secure future in San Diego.
The Dodgers currently lead the series 518—419, with the two teams meeting in the playoffs twice.[62] The Dodgers swept the Padres in the 2020 NLDS, and the Padres won in four games in the 2022 NLDS.[63]
See main article: Diamondbacks-Dodgers rivalry. The rivalry between the Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks was one of the fiercest divisional matchups for multiple years, particularly during the 2010s as both teams were in regular contention for control of the division.[64] In addition to the elevated competition, animosity rose immensely between both sides resulting in multiple incidents involving either team throwing pitches at one another, occasionally escalating into several bench-clearing brawls. Famously; after eliminating the Diamondbacks and clinching the division on September 19, 2013; multiple Dodgers' players celebrated the win by jumping into the pool at Chase Field.[65] rather ironically on December 8, 2015; Zack Greinke would sign a six-year, $206.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks in free agency. Both teams met during the 2017 National League Division Series as the Diamondbacks were no match for LA as they were swept 3—0 by the Dodgers en route to their appearance in the World Series. The teams rematched in the 2023 National League Division Series, with the Diamondbacks returning the favor with a 3—0 sweep of their own as they eventually reached the World Series. The Dodgers lead the series 259—193, with the teams tied 3—3 in the postseason.[66]
See main article: Cardinals–Dodgers rivalry. Primarily a playoff rivalry; since 1892, The Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals have met 6 times in the postseason with 2 meetings in the NLCS won by the Cardinals. Both teams have recently grown a history of animosity towards one another since the late 2000s as both teams often met frequently in the postseason. The Dodgers have not fared as well against the Cardinals in the postseason. In five prior postseason series matchups, the Cardinals have won four with the Dodgers winning only the 2009 NLDS and the 2021 National League Wild Card Game.[67] [68]
The Dodgers' former rivalry with the Cincinnati Reds was one of the most intense during the 1970s through the early 1990s.[69] They often competed for the NL West division title. From 1970 to 1990, they had eleven 1–2 finishes in the standings, with seven of them being within 5½ games or fewer. Both teams also played in numerous championships during this span, combining to win 10 NL Pennants and 5 World Series titles from –, most notably as the Big Red Machine teams clashed frequently with the Tommy Lasorda-era Dodgers teams. Reds manager Sparky Anderson once said, "I don't think there's a rivalry like ours in either league. The Giants are supposed to be the Dodgers' natural rivals, but I don't think the feeling is there anymore. It's not there the way it is with us and the Dodgers."[70] The rivalry ended when division realignment moved the Reds to the NL Central. However, they did face one another in the 1995 NLDS.
See main article: Freeway Series. This rivalry refers to a series of games played with the Los Angeles Angels.[71] The Freeway Series takes its name from the massive freeway system in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, the home of both teams; one could travel from one team's stadium to the other simply by traveling along Interstate 5. The term is akin to Subway Series which refers to meetings between New York City baseball teams.[72] The term "Freeway Series" also inspired the official name of the region's NHL rivalry: the Freeway Face-Off.
Animosity between the team's fanbases grew stronger in 2005, when the Angels' new team owner Arte Moreno changed the name of his ball club from the 'Anaheim Angels', to the 'Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim'.[73] Since the city of Anaheim is located roughly 30 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, the Angels franchise was ridiculed throughout the league for the contradictory nature surrounding the name, especially by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who filed a formal complaint to commissioner Bud Selig.[74] Once the complaint was denied, McCourt devised a t-shirt mocking the crosstown rivals reading 'The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles', which remains popular amongst the fanbase to this day.[75]
See main article: Dodgers–Yankees rivalry and Subway Series. The Dodgers' rivalry with the New York Yankees is one of the most well-known rivalries in Major League Baseball.[76] The two teams have met eleven times in the World Series, more times than any other two teams from the American and National Leagues. The initial significance was embodied in the two teams' proximity in New York City, when the Dodgers initially played in Brooklyn. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the rivalry retained its significance as the two teams represented the two most dominant cities on opposite sides of the United States since the 1980s.
Although the rivalry's significance arose from the two teams' numerous World Series meetings, the Yankees and Dodgers have not met in the World Series since . They would not play each other in a non-exhibition game until 2004, when they played a three-game interleague series. Their last meeting was in June 2023, when the Yankees won two out of three games in Los Angeles.[77]
The rivalry between the Dodgers and the Houston Astros had initially begun as a divisional matchup, but hostility waned following Houston's realignment to the American League. In 2017, the two teams played one another in the 2017 World Series in which the Astros won the championship in 7 games. The rivalry re-intensified after the Astros' widely publicized sign stealing scandal, in which it was revealed the team had utilized a complex system to steal pitch signs, including during the 2017 World Series. As a result of the scandal, hostility grew immensely between the two teams and their fans.[78] The Dodgers lead the all-time series 400–334; both teams are tied in postseason wins 6–6.
In 2012, a Bleacher Report article referred to Dodgers fans as the best sports fanbase in Los Angeles.[79] Following the team's relocation to California, attendance had gone from eleventh during their final season in Brooklyn to second in their first season in Los Angeles.[80] Initially during construction of Dodger Stadium, Walter O'Malley feared the size of the ballpark would prove to be too difficult to fill on a regular basis once completed in 1962. This proved not to be the case as the Dodgers led the league in attendance by a sizeable margin for the 1962 season, nearly doubling that of the New York Yankees.[81] [82]
In 1978 the Dodgers became the first MLB team to attract more than three million fans in a season, and repeated the feat six more times before any other franchise reached three million fans overall.[16] The Dodgers drew at least three million fans for 15 consecutive seasons from 1996 to 2010, the longest such streak among all MLB teams. The team's largest fan club, Pantone 294 (a reference to the Pantone code of Dodger blue), regularly travels to away games to cheer for the Dodgers.[83] The Dodgers have regularly placed in the top three in attendance, or have led the league numerous times since 2000, excluding the 2020 season; the Dodgers have recently led the league in attendance for nine straight seasons going back to 2013.[84] [85] [86]
On July 3, 2007, Dodgers management announced that total franchise attendance, dating back to 1901, had reached 175 million, a record for all professional sports.[87] In 2007, the Dodgers set a franchise record for single-season attendance, attracting over 3.8 million fans.[88] On March 28, 2008, the Dodgers set the world record for the largest attendance for a single baseball game during an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in honor of the Dodgers' 50th anniversary, with 115,300 fans in attendance.[89] In 2009, the Dodgers led MLB in total attendance.[17] The Dodger baseball cap is consistently in the top three in sales.[90]
Primarily, Dodgers fans originate from most of southern or central California and also parts of southern Nevada. The fanbase has also extended out to states across the southwest such as Arizona, New Mexico and even western Texas.[91] [92] In 2015, Vivid Seats reported that the Dodgers were the most popular MLB team in Utah based on ticket sales.[93] Dodgers' away games throughout the US will usually attract substantial numbers of expats and traveling fans.[94]
Given the team's proximity to Hollywood, numerous celebrities can often be seen attending home games at Dodger Stadium. Celebrities such as co-owner Magic Johnson, Flea, Mary Hart, DaBaby, Larry King, Tiger Woods, Alyssa Milano, Shia LaBeouf, Lana Del Rey, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher[95] are known to frequently attend Dodger games, with some sitting at field box seats behind home plate where they sign autographs for fellow Dodger fans. Actor Bryan Cranston is a lifelong Dodger fan.[96]
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Abroad; the Dodgers have a strongly devoted following in Mexico due to the impact of Mexican players such as Fernando Valenzuela, Ismael Valdéz, or more recently; Julio Urias. The impact of the Dodgers' extensive fanbase across Mexico, and among the Mexican-American community is ever present, as an estimated 54% of fans in home attendance are of Mexican descent.[98] [99] [100] Notably; Mel Almada, the first Mexican-born player in league history, was also a southern California native, he played for the Dodgers near the tail end of his career in 1939. The fanbase is also present throughout Asian countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan due to the impacts of Japanese players such as Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda, Kenta Maeda or Yu Darvish. The Dodgers grew fan attention in South Korea, as they became the first MLB team to sign the first South Korean-born player in league history: Chan Ho Park in 1994. The Dodgers had also strengthened their ties with their recruitment of South Korean players, following the signing of All-Star pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu in 2013. The team partnered with the Korean communities of Los Angeles and began hosting an annual Korean Heritage night since 2016.[101] The Dodgers made history for signing the first Taiwanese player in MLB, Chin-Feng Chen in 2002; other Taiwanese players such as Chin-Lung Hu and Chin-Hui Tsao would also eventually sign with the Dodgers, largely growing fan support from the country.[102] [103]
The Dodgers increased their focus on growing a Japanese fanbase in 2024 amid their signing of Shohei Ohtani, including theme nights in collaboration with Japanese companies such as Sanrio (which sponsored a Hello Kitty night, headlined by the national anthem being performed by Japanese musician and X Japan member Yoshiki),[104] and VTuber agency Hololive (which also coincided with Los Angeles' Anime Expo).[105]
See main article: List of Los Angeles Dodgers broadcasters. As of 2023, the primary play-by-play announcers on television and radio, respectively, are Joe Davis and Charley Steiner, with Orel Hershiser (TV) and Rick Monday (radio) working as the primary color commentators. On some games, Stephen Nelson would fill in for Davis during his national assignments with Fox Sports, with Davis typically working as the lead voice of the MLB on Fox and as one of the play-by-play voices of the NFL on Fox. Nomar Garciaparra, Eric Karros, Dontrelle Willis and Jessica Mendoza often fill in for Hershiser on select games. On the radio side, Tim Neverett works play-by-play on select games, and also fills in for Davis on television broadcasts.[106]
From 1950 to 2016, almost all Dodger games were called by Vin Scully.[107] His longtime partners were Jerry Doggett (1956–1987) and Ross Porter (1977–2004). In 1976, he was selected by Dodgers fans as the Most Memorable Personality (on the field or off) in the team's history. He is also a recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters (inducted in 1982). Unlike the modern style in which multiple sportscasters have an on-air conversation (usually with one functioning as play-by-play announcer and the other[s] as color commentator), Scully, Doggett and Porter generally called games solo, trading with each other inning-by-inning. In the 1980s and 1990s, Scully would call the entire radio broadcast except for the third and seventh inning, allowing the other Dodger commentators to broadcast an inning. Fans and critics alike frequently praised Scully due in large part for his longevity with the team, and his ability to provide peculiar details about multiple players appearing onfield. Despite his longevity and a strong relationship with the team and fanbase, Scully was also praised for his relatively unbiased view of any game he called, often referring to the listeners as 'friends' instead of 'fans'.[108]
When Doggett retired after the 1987 season, he was replaced by Hall-of-Fame Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, who previously broadcast games for the California Angels and Chicago White Sox. Drysdale died in his hotel room following a heart attack before a game in Montreal in 1993. This was a difficult broadcast for Scully and Porter who could not mention it on-air until Drysdale's family had been notified and the official announcement made.[109] He was replaced by former Dodgers outfielder Rick Monday. Porter's tenure ended after the 2004 season, after which the format of play-by-play announcers and color commentators was installed, led by Monday and newcomer Charley Steiner. Scully, however, continued to announce solo.
Scully called roughly 100 games per season (all home games and road games in California and Arizona)[110] for both flagship radio station KLAC and on television for Spectrum SportsNet LA. Scully was simulcast for the first three innings of each of his appearances, then announced only for the TV audience. If Scully was calling the game, Steiner took over play-by-play on radio beginning with the fourth inning, with Monday as color commentator. If Scully was not calling the game, Steiner and Orel Hershiser called the entire game on television while Monday and Kevin Kennedy did the same on radio. In the event the Dodgers were in post-season play, Scully called the first three and last three innings of the radio broadcast alone and Steiner and Monday handled the middle innings.[111] Vin Scully retired from calling games in 2016. His tenure with the Dodgers was the longest with any single sports team at 67 years. Youthful announcer Joe Davis was selected in 2017 by Dodgers management to handle play by play on television with Orel Hershiser as his colorman.
The Dodgers also broadcast on radio in two other languages, Spanish and Korean. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers became the first MLB team with a Spanish-language flagship station, KWKW , with a broadcast team that included René Cárdenas.[112] [113] From 1959 to 2022, the Spanish play-by-play is voiced by another Frick Award winner, Jaime Jarrín. The color analyst for some games is former Dodger pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, for whom Jarrin once translated post-game interviews. Since 2023, Valuenzuela is joined on the Spanish booth by Pepe Yñiguez and José Mota, son of Dodger legend Manny Mota.[106] The Spanish-language radio flagship station is KTNQ. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' Korean broadcast began in 2013 through KMPC.[114] [115]
See main article: List of Los Angeles Dodgers owners and executives.
See also: List of Major League Baseball retired numbers.
Koufax, Campanella, and Robinson were the first Dodgers to have their numbers retired, in a ceremony at Dodger Stadium on June 4, 1972. This was the year in which Koufax was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; Robinson and Campanella were already Hall-of-Famers.
Alston's number was retired in the year following his retirement as the Dodgers manager, six years before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Gilliam died suddenly in 1978 after a 28-year career with the Dodgers organization. The Dodgers retired his number two days after his death, prior to Game 1 of the 1978 World Series. As of 2018, he is the only non-Hall-of-Famer to have his number retired by the Dodgers (Alston's number was retired before he was elected to the Hall of Fame).
Beginning in 1980, the Dodgers have retired the numbers of longtime Dodgers (Snider, Reese, Drysdale, Lasorda, Sutton, and Hodges) during the seasons in which each was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In 1997, 50 years after he broke the color barrier and 25 years after the Dodgers retired his number, Robinson's No. 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball. Robinson is the only major league baseball player to have this honor bestowed upon him. Starting in the 2007 season, Jackie Robinson Day (April 15, commemorating Opening Day of Robinson's rookie season of 1947) has featured many or all players and coaches wearing the number 42 as a tribute to Robinson.
In 2017, the Dodgers honored broadcaster Vin Scully with a microphone displayed alongside the team's retired numbers.[116]
In 2018, Spanish language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín was honored with a microphone displayed alongside the team's retired numbers.[117]
In 2019, the Dodgers established "Legends of Dodger Baseball", which is to meant honor Dodger greats. The program honors those who made an "impact on the franchise, both on and off the field." Recipients are recognized with plaques at Dodger Stadium.[118]
See main article: Los Angeles Dodgers award winners and league leaders.
See main article: Los Angeles Dodgers team records.
See main article: List of Los Angeles Dodgers owners and executives.
See main article: List of Los Angeles Dodgers managers. Since 1884, the Dodgers have used a total of 31 Managers, the most current being Dave Roberts, who was appointed following the 2015 postseason, after the departure of Don Mattingly.Over the nearly 43 years from 1954 to mid-1996, the Dodgers employed only two managers, Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda, both of whom are in the Hall of Fame. During this entire time period of extraordinary stability, the Dodgers were family-owned by Walter O'Malley and then his son Peter O'Malley. It was during this era that the Dodgers won 11 of their 24 pennants, and their first six World Series championships.
The managers of the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–present) are as follows:
From the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958, the Dodgers employed a handful of well-known public address announcers; the most famous of which was John Ramsey, who served as the PA voice of the Dodgers from 1958 until his retirement in 1982; he was also well known for announcing at other venerable Los Angeles venues, including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Sports Arena, and the Forum. Ramsey died in 1990.
From 1958 to 1982, Doug Moore, Philip Petty, and Dennis Packer served as back-up voices for John Ramsey for the Dodgers, California Angels, Los Angeles Chargers, USC football and Los Angeles Rams. Packer was Ramsey's primary backup for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings until Ramsey's retirement from the Forum in 1978. Thereafter, Packer became the public address announcer for the Lakers, Kings, indoor soccer and indoor tennis events at the Forum.
Nick Nickson, a radio broadcaster for the Los Angeles Kings, replaced John Ramsey as the Dodger Stadium public address announcer in 1983 and served in that capacity through the 1989 season to work with the Kings full-time.
Dennis Packer and Pete Arbogast were emulators of John Ramsey, using the same stentorian style of announcing Ramsey was famous for. Packer and Arbogast shared the stadium announcing chores for the 1994 FIFA World Cup matches at the Rose Bowl. Arbogast won the Dodgers job on the day that Ramsey died on January 25, 1990, by doing a verbatim imitation of Ramsey's opening and closing remarks that were standard at each game. His replacement, in 1994 was Mike Carlucci, who remained as the Dodgers' PA voice announcer until he resigned in 2002 to concentrate on his voiceover and acting career along with his Olympics announcing duties.
From 2003 to 2014, the Dodgers public address announcer was Eric Smith, who also announces for the Los Angeles Clippers and USC Trojans.[119]
On April 3, 2015, the Dodgers announced that former radio broadcaster Todd Leitz was hired to become their new public address announcer. Leitz was an anchor and news reporter in Los Angeles at KNX 1070 AM for 10 years, and a news reporter at KABC 790 for two years.[120]
From 1988 to 2015, Nancy Bea Hefley enjoyed popularity behind the Dodger Stadium keyboard similar to Gladys Goodding. Since retirement in 2015, Bea's replacement and current organist is Dieter Ruehle, who also plays at Staples Center for Los Angeles Kings games.
Vin Scully is permanently honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame's "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit as a result of winning the Ford C. Frick Award in 1982. Frick Award recipients are not official members of the Hall.
Allan Roth was the first person hired as the official statistician of a Major League team when he was hired by the Brooklyn Dodgers. He continued his tenure with Los Angeles until 1964.
Sue Falsone, was the first female physical therapist in Major League baseball, and from 2012 to 2013, was the first female head athletic trainer.
See main article: List of Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates.
The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system consists of seven minor league affiliates.[121]
