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Dodgers starting lineup of the all-time greats
The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the better histories in Major League Baseball. Whether they were in Brooklyn or Southern California, it has been a franchise that rarely takes time off from competing. They weren’t always successful early on, but they have regularly produced some of the game’s best players.
With more than 100 years of rosters available, what would an all-time Dodgers starting lineup look like?
It’s hard. Several important players, even Hall of Famers, had to be left off. Many would make it onto the bench. It’s these starting nine who get their names on the lineup card.
Dodgers leadoff hitter is left fielder Zack Wheat
Leading off for the Dodgers in this all-time lineup is left fielder Zack Wheat. Depending on your age, he may be your grandfather’s grandmother’s favorite player. The Hall of Fame outfielder spent 18 seasons with the Dodgers from 1909-1926 and put together an amazing career.
Highlights include a .317/.267/.452 slash line with the Dodgers. His .335 batting average in 1918 was enough to win him the batting title. He’d actually have a few seasons later on in his career topping it. In 1923 and 1924, he hit .375 in consecutive seasons.
Some of Wheat’s numbers don’t quite measure up to other eras. He did see a slight uptick in home runs in the 1920s, but never got beyond the 16 long balls and 112 RBI he amassed in 1922.
Unfortunately, Wheat never did play for a championship Dodgers club. He was with them in 1916 and 1920 when they lost. In this lineup, he gets first ups in large part because of how well he hit. His 2,804 hits is more than any other player in a Dodgers uniform, and so are his 2,322 games. Who else should get to swing the stick first?
Unfortunately, this does mean Maury Wills didn’t make the club. He’d be the best leadoff hitter the Dodgers could have, but our infield couldn’t find room for him.
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Batting second for the Dodgers is second baseman Jackie Robinson
Behind Wheat is one of the most important men in MLB history, Jackie Robinson. He’ll be the second baseman for the all-time Dodgers lineup. Another member of Cooperstown, his career was short, yet impactful in immeasurable ways.
Robinson’s Dodgers numbers include a .311/.409/.474 slash line. He brings a bit more stolen base prowess to the lineup than Wheat. One could argue putting him atop this lineup; however, he does seem like a perfect fit for the number two spot in the order.
The right-handed hitting Robinson can even lay down the occasional sacrifice bunt. It’s something he led the league in twice during the early stages of his career.
Despite having such a short stint with the franchise, his 61.8 WAR ranks third among position players and just ahead of Wheat at 59.9.
A fine defender as well, Robinson ranks tenth all-time in Dodgers Defensive WAR. His ability to play second base and a few other positions, including first base and left field, adds more value to the team. Robinson was a well-rounded ball player who could do a little bit of everything well. He won’t have to carry this Dodgers lineup on his back. Right behind him, we have one of the greatest sluggers in franchise history.
Batting third for the Dodgers is center fielder Duke Snider
Duke Snider gets to grab his bat next. Possessing the second-highest WAR for a position player in team history at 65.3, he’s also the franchise leader in home runs.
Snider plays the ever-important center field for this team. The 1955 RBI leader and 1956 NL home run champion, Snider batted .300/.384/.553 with 389 home runs during his 16 seasons with the Dodgers. He was one of the preeminent power hitters of the 1950s. From 1953-1957, he hit 40+ long balls in each season.
His job on this team is to drive in Wheat and/or Robinson. It shouldn’t be too hard. His 1,271 career RBI with the Dodgers tops everyone to ever suit up for this team.
The left-handed swinging outfielder is a little bit of a strikeout magnet. He led the league in this category three times in his career, with 104 in 1957 as his highest number. He did begin to decline when the Dodgers moved away from Brooklyn. Out in Los Angeles, he topped 20 home runs only once. Was it the climate, ballpark, or just getting into his 30s? It’s probably the latter.
It’s a no-brainer who starts in center field for this Dodgers team. It’s also fairly obvious who gets to bat cleanup behind him. Yet another Hall of Fame player finds his way into this Dodgers lineup batting fourth.
Batting fourth for the Dodgers is catcher Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella is credited as being one of the best catchers in baseball history, and yet he gets overlooked in a lot of ways. He won three MVP Awards. Staggering them in 1951, 1953, and 1955, Campanella is one of the Dodgers greats and an absolute legend of the game.
All of his games were played in Brooklyn, with his final season coming in 1957. Campanella was only there for parts of 10 seasons, where he would go on to hit .276/.360/.500 with 242 home runs. His monster 1953 season was the peak of his career. While leading the league with 142 RBI, he slugged a personal best 41 home runs as well, all while slashing .312/.395/.611.
Because his career with the Dodgers was short, Campanella doesn’t own any statistical records for the organization. He is among some of the leaders, but falls short of several number one spots. This doesn’t negate him from being the best catcher in franchise history.
The only player close is maybe Mike Piazza. Another Hall of Fame player who was a threat at the plate, he suffers from spending some of his best years with the New York Mets. Not Campanella. He is Dodgers through and through -- and we can only imagine what he'd have contributed at the MLB level if he hadn't spent so many years dominating the Negro Leagues. It also doesn’t hurt that he won three MVPs.
Batting fifth for the Dodgers is first baseman Steve Garvey
Not everyone in this lineup can have residency in Cooperstown. Some guys, like Steve Garvey, should be there, but for some reason never got enough attention from the voters. He remains a constant candidate for enshrinement, and may one day get there.
Either way, he’s batting fifth and playing first base for the Dodgers. His stellar defense, offensive skills, and willingness to play every game possible should make him an automatic participant every time this dream Dodgers lineup takes the field.
Garvey won the 1974 MVP and was a regular contender for the honor throughout the 1970s thereafter (and even a little beyond). He batted .301/.337/.459 for the Dodgers. The only real complaint anyone can have about him is the low OBP. When you lead the league in hits, something he did twice, those qualities need to be pushed to the side.
Garvey surpassed 200 hits in a season six times with Los Angeles. He consistently hit over .300 and regularly reached triple digits in RBI. Put this guy behind Campanella in the Dodgers lineup, and there’s bound to be a crooked number on the scoreboard for them.
In the instances when he doesn’t knock in a run, expect him to save one with his glove in the top half of the next inning.
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Batting sixth for the Dodgers is third baseman Ron Cey
Across the diamond at third base is Ron Cey. Another core piece of the Dodgers clubs in the 1970s and early 1980s, he’s not quite up there with the other players in this lineup, yet remains an important one to include. Cey is the franchise’s best third baseman. In a career with the club that lasted parts of 12 seasons, Cey batted .264/.359/.445 with 228 home runs.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of all Cey gave the city of Los Angeles was his performance in the 1981 World Series. The team had already fallen with him on the roster in the 1974, 1977, and 1978 World Series: once to the Oakland Athletics and twice to the New York Yankees. Each time, Reggie Jackson was on the opposing side.
The Dodgers were tasked with taking on the Yankees again in 1981. Cey would help the Dodgers slay their old Big Apple rival by hitting .350/.458/.500 in the series. He was named World Series MVP. It ended a drought for the franchise and some misery of losing in the finals regularly.
Cey bats sixth in this lineup for the power he can add in the lower part of the lineup. The Dodgers are going to need it. As we enter the bottom third, which includes a pitcher, we find two position players who had a lot of talents. Sadly, home run pop wasn’t among them.
Batting seventh for the Dodgers is right fielder Dixie Walker
There are quite a few candidates for the right fielder role for the Dodgers. Dixie Walker seemed to stand out most. He was a bit of a late-bloomer who didn’t join the Dodgers until midway through the 1939 season in his age 28 season.
Walker would spend parts of nine seasons with the Brooklyn version of the ball club while batting .311/.386/.441. He hit 67 home runs in his 1,207 games, with the 13 he knocked in 1944 being his highest total. This was a year when he led the National League with a .357 batting average. The next season, he hit only .300, but drove in a league-high 124 runs.
Getting a .300+ season from Walker was a near guarantee. Only once in any of his full seasons with the Dodgers would he fail to reach that mark. He settled at .290 in 1942.
Walker did just miss out on winning a championship with the Dodgers. He was traded after the 1947 season to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Almost ineligible for this team because of how outspoken he originally was at the thought of integration in baseball, Walker did apologize later in life and admit he was wrong. Some claims of his include that he was afraid of losing his business in Alabama if he didn’t fight against it. Whatever the truth may be, his playing abilities earn him a spot here.
Batting eighth for the Dodgers is shortstop Pee Wee Reese
Pee Wee Reese embodied the exact opposite of how Walker reacted to the end of baseball’s color barrier. He’s our Dodgers shortstop and number eight hitter. Maybe the best defensive player in team history, he owns the highest overall WAR in club history at 68.4. He's also tops in Defensive WAR at 25.6.
Reese’s numbers aren’t quite there with some other important Dodgers players. However, he does have the second most hits in franchise history at 2,170.
Even without any on-field contribution, Reese would've reached this roster for how he helped accept Robinson onto the team and his honorable military service during WWII. A guy who played for no other organization other than the Dodgers, he was a lifetime .269/.366/.377 hitter.
Although the numbers don’t contend with modern times, Reese was regularly in the MVP conversation. Voters saw more than statistics back then, apparently. He had some very average years where he still received consideration for the award. The closest he came was in 1949, when he led the league with 132 runs scored.
Something Reese did do well in his career was excel in the postseason. Back when there was only a World Series, he appeared in seven. The Dodgers shortstop slashed .272/.346/.349 in those appearances that all came against the Yankees. The only year he’d experience a win was in 1955.
Batting ninth for the Dodgers and pitching is Clayton Kershaw
This is the absolute hardest position of all to choose for the Dodgers. They have had so many great pitchers. Every era of Dodgers baseball seems to have at least one all-time great.
Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, and Sandy Koufax received the most consideration. The start ends up going to Clayton Kershaw. The highest WAR at 73.4 and lowest ERA among these choices, Kershaw is a modern marvel. Plus, just to give the kids someone they could say they’ve seen, Kershaw toeing the rubber for this dream lineup helps give audiences of all ages someone they can cheer on.
Kershaw’s numbers will continue to change, so rather than go into specifics, why not look at what he's accomplished?
Three Cy Young Awards, a Triple Crown, five ERA titles, and an MVP all help to highlight what Kershaw has achieved. He is almost taken for granted in some ways. Years from now, more fans will appreciate what he was able to do.
Kershaw is one of baseball’s greatest pitchers, and his contributions are even clearer when we compare him to others of his generation.
Kershaw is guaranteed to finish his career with an incredible ERA, a win total topping 200 (which is almost unfathomable these days), and more strikeouts than any other Dodgers pitcher. It’s okay if you don’t think he belongs in this lineup. We’ll turn to someone else for the playoffs.