Los Angeles Dodgers championship history and World Series appearances

Once the Dodgers took a commanding lead over the Mets, we began thinking about the team advancing to the World Series. Compared to the NLDS, the LCS has been an absolute breeze; LA has shutout New York twice, and their third win was a double-digits rout that had Mets fans absolutely going through it at Citi Field (credit has to go to the ones who stayed until the very end, though).

The Dodgers will face either the Yankees or Guardians, who are currently engaged in a much more competitive ALCS in Cleveland, in the World Series, and the Dodgers will pick up the 25th National League pennant in their franchise history.

The first was won by the Brooklyn Bridegrooms (great name) all the way back in 1890, and the Bridegrooms/Superbas (another great name)/Robins/Brooklyn Dodgers/Los Angeles Dodgers have taken at least one NL pennant in almost every decade since.

When's the last time the LA Dodgers won the World Series?

The Dodgers are looking for their eighth World Series title, their second of the decade after their 2020 win over the Rays during the COVID-shortened season. This year could mean even more to the Dodgers, given all of the detractors who will never stop attacking that 2020 title. No one's going to be able to call this one a Mickey Mouse World Series win!

LA Dodgers' championship history and World Series appearances

Since the Dodgers' move to LA, they've appeared in 12 World Series and have won half of them. The first came in 1959, led by Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges, and Sandy Koufax, just a year after their move from Brooklyn. If the Dodgers match up against the Yankees this year, it'll be the first time since 1981, but the 12th time in both franchise's histories. The Yankees have the better all-time postseason record against the Dodgers; they're 37–29 since the teams' first meeting in the 1941 World Series.

If the Guardians advance, it'll be the first time an iteration of the Dodgers face Cleveland in the World Series in over a century. The Brooklyn Dodgers met the then-Cleveland Indians in the 1920 World Series, a series Brooklyn lost 5-2 back in the short-lived days of the best-of-nine format.

With a potential eighth World Series title, the Dodgers would tie the Giants for the fifth-most championships in baseball, and inch within one of the Red Sox and Athletics with nine. The Yankees still (and may always) stand alone at the top with 27 titles, but if it comes to it, the Dodgers will do their damnedest to keep it from becoming 28.

What is the longest World Series drought in LA Dodgers history?

Before 2020, the last time the Dodgers won the World Series was 1988, when Tommy Lasorda's Dodgers, led by Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson, led LA to the championship 4-1 over the Athletics (who then came back to win the whole thing over the Giants the next year). The Dodgers also spent 28 years without an NL pennant, losing out in the LDS or LCS 10 times between 1988 and 2017, with a long postseason-less drought from 1997 through 2003.

History of LA Dodgers World Series MVPs

The World Series MVP award was inaugurated in 1955, incidentally the same year the Dodgers won their first ever franchise title. It went to lefty pitcher Johnny Podres, who pitched a complete game against the Yankees in Game 3 (and on his birthday!).

Larry Sherry won in 1959 and Sandy Koufax won two in 1963 and 1965. Three Dodgers — Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager — shared the award in 1981, Orel Hershiser took it in 1988, and Corey Seager is the most recent Dodgers winner after putting up eight hits with two homers and five RBI against the Rays in 2020.