The Best Players in Los Angeles Dodgers History, Position by Position
An all-time Dodgers team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, built by position from club career leaders, awards, Hall of Fame seasons and October results, with the criteria and the close calls laid out.
Picking the best Dodgers of all time is an unusually crowded job. The franchise has 142 seasons in the historical record, 27 pennants and nine World Series titles, and its Hall of Fame list is long: 21 Hall of Famers spent four or more seasons with the club, according to the database. The team that results from a fair selection could be filled twice over and still leave out an MVP.
This article builds one lineup, one rotation, a closer and a manager, treating the Brooklyn years and the Los Angeles years as a single history, which is how the franchise record books treat them. The rules for deciding are stated first. The most interesting choices are at third base, right field, designated hitter and the fifth starter, where a case can be made in either direction and the evidence is mixed.
The criteria: how the team was chosen
Only statistics earned in a Dodgers uniform count, so an outstanding career that spent three years elsewhere is judged on the Dodgers years alone. Selections were made in four steps.
- Club production: where a player stands among the franchise career leaders in home runs, hits, runs batted in, runs, stolen bases, walks, wins, strikeouts and saves.
- Peak: the best two or three seasons, with extra weight for seasons that won an award.
- Awards and Hall of Fame status, as tiebreakers, not as proof.
- October: the World Series appearances and titles of the era in which a player starred.
The historical record does not include wins above replacement or any modern defensive metric, and its coverage of the earliest decades is thin. So the method favours players with long careers with one club, and it understates players whose value was in their gloves or on the bases. Because the Dodgers played in two cities, the lists also mix very different run environments: the dead-ball 1910s, the 1950s, the pitcher-friendly 1960s and the high-home-run years of recent seasons.
The nine-man lineup at a glance
| Position | Player | Years | Case in numbers (with the Dodgers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Roy Campanella | 1948-1957 | 242 HR, 856 RBI, three MVP awards |
| 1B | Gil Hodges | 1943-1961 | 361 HR, 1,254 RBI, 925 BB |
| 2B | Jackie Robinson | 1947-1956 | .311 average, 947 R, 740 BB, MVP 1949 |
| SS | Pee Wee Reese | 1940-1958 | 2,170 H, 1,338 R, 1,210 BB |
| 3B | Ron Cey | 1971-1982 | 228 HR, 765 BB, 1981 World Series MVP |
| LF | Zack Wheat | 1909-1926 | 2,804 H, 1,210 RBI, .317 average |
| CF | Duke Snider | 1947-1962 | 389 HR, 1,271 RBI, 1,995 H |
| RF | Carl Furillo | 1946-1960 | 1,910 H, 1,058 RBI |
| DH | Shohei Ohtani | 2024-2025 | 109 HR, two MVP awards |
Ohtani's total is the sum of his two Dodgers seasons (54 home runs in 2024 and 55 in 2025). Every other line is the franchise career-leader line or comes from the player's own historical record.
Catcher and first base: Campanella and Hodges
Roy Campanella won the National League's Most Valuable Player award three times in five years, in 1951, 1953 and 1955. He hit 242 home runs and drove in 856 runs in ten seasons with the club, he was an All-Star in every year from 1949 to 1956, and he was the catcher on the 1955 team that won the franchise's first World Series. His career ended after an automobile accident in January 1958, which makes his Dodgers statistics a nearly complete record of what he did. Mike Piazza, a Hall of Famer who won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1993, is the alternative from the modern era, and Piazza's bat was exceptional; but the three MVPs decide it.
Gil Hodges is the first baseman on the strength of the numbers: 361 home runs (second in franchise history), 1,254 runs batted in (second) and 925 walks, in sixteen seasons. He won Gold Gloves in 1957, 1958 and 1959, and he was an All-Star from 1949 to 1955 and again in 1957. A veterans committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in December 2021, and he was inducted in 2022, after decades of near misses on the writers' and veterans' ballots. Steve Garvey (1974 MVP, 1,968 hits and 211 home runs) and Freddie Freeman (727 hits in four seasons from 2022 to 2025, with averages of .325 and .331 in the first two) are the alternatives.
Second base and shortstop: Robinson and Reese
Jackie Robinson needs no argument about his place in the history of the sport, but the statistical case is also strong. Over ten seasons he batted .311 with a .410 on-base percentage for his career, scored 947 runs, drew 740 walks against only 291 career strikeouts, and was the Rookie of the Year in 1947 and the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1949. The Baseball Writers' Association elected him in 1962 on the first ballot. Davey Lopes (418 stolen bases, 1972 to 1981) is the alternative at the position.
Pee Wee Reese is the choice at shortstop with the strongest numbers in the club's record book: he is the franchise leader in runs scored (1,338) and walks (1,210), and second in hits (2,170). He was an All-Star ten times, in 1942 and in every year from 1946 to 1954. Reese's batting average was only .269, so his case rests on getting on base and on being at the center of teams that reached the World Series in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1984, after many years on the writers' ballot without reaching the required share.
The competitor most fans raise is Maury Wills, the franchise leader in stolen bases (490) and the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1962. His case is real, but Reese's totals in runs, walks and hits are all larger, and the historical record has no way to measure the defensive difference between them.
Third base and the outfield: Cey, Wheat, Snider and Furillo
Ron Cey is the choice at third base. He hit 228 home runs for the club, drew 765 walks (fifth in franchise history), was an All-Star from 1974 to 1979, and shared the 1981 World Series Most Valuable Player award with two teammates. Jim Gilliam, who appeared at second, third and in left field, has an argument: he is fourth in franchise runs (1,163), second in walks (1,036) and eighth in hits (1,889), and he was Rookie of the Year in 1953. Adrian Beltre, a Hall of Famer, spent seven seasons with the club and is the other name that comes up.
Zack Wheat is the club's all-time hits leader with 2,804, and his .317 average is the second-highest in Dodgers history among players with at least 3,000 at-bats (only Babe Herman's .339 is higher). He played 18 seasons with the club, from 1909 to 1926, the most of any Hall of Famer in the sheet, and was elected by the Veterans Committee in 1959. He played in two World Series, in 1916 and 1920, and the club lost both.
Duke Snider is the center fielder and the franchise home run leader with 389, ahead of Hodges. He drove in 1,271 runs and collected 1,995 hits, he was an All-Star from 1950 to 1956, and in the postseason he hit 11 home runs in 36 games. The BBWAA elected him in 1980, his eleventh year on the ballot. Willie Davis (2,091 hits, 335 stolen bases) is the alternative.
Carl Furillo is the right fielder, with 1,910 hits and 1,058 runs batted in over fifteen seasons. The competition is from the current era. Mookie Betts, in six seasons from 2020 to 2025, has 802 hits, 152 home runs and 443 runs batted in for the Dodgers, Silver Sluggers in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and a place on all three of the club's title teams since 2020. Betts has also played shortstop for the club in recent seasons, which makes a different roster possible. On totals with the club, Furillo wins; on peak, Betts is closer than the length of the records suggests.
Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani
The designated hitter spot was not in the National League for most of the franchise's history, and the all-time team can fill it with a man who has two seasons with the club and two Most Valuable Player awards to show for them. Shohei Ohtani batted .310 with 54 home runs, 130 runs batted in and 197 hits in 2024, the first season in major league history with both 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, and followed it with .282, 55 home runs and 102 runs batted in in 2025, when he also made pitching starts and finished with 62 strikeouts in 47 innings. He was named Most Valuable Player in both seasons (his other two awards came with another club) and was the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 National League Championship Series.
Two seasons is a short audition, and a system that rewards longevity would not choose him. The case is the peak, and the fact that the club won the World Series both years.
The rotation: five pitchers from different eras
| Starter | Years | Case in numbers (with the Dodgers) |
|---|---|---|
| Sandy Koufax | 1955-1966 | 165-87, 2.76 ERA, 3 Cy Young Awards, 40 shutouts |
| Clayton Kershaw | 2008-2025 | 223-96, 2.53 ERA, 3,052 SO, 3 Cy Young Awards, 2014 MVP |
| Don Drysdale | 1956-1969 | 209-166, 2.95 ERA, 49 shutouts, 1962 Cy Young |
| Don Sutton | 1966-1988 | 233 W, 2,696 SO, 52 shutouts |
| Dazzy Vance | 1922-1935 | 190 W, 1,918 SO, 1924 MVP |
Sandy Koufax has the best peak of any Dodger. From 1963 to 1966 he won the Cy Young Award three times (1963, 1965 and 1966), when the award covered both leagues, and the pitching Triple Crown in each of those three seasons. The seasons: 25-5 with a 1.88 earned run average in 1963; 26-8 with 382 strikeouts in 1965; and 27-9 with a 1.73 earned run average in 1966. He was also the Most Valuable Player in 1963 and the World Series Most Valuable Player in 1963 and 1965. He retired after the 1966 season, and the Hall of Fame elected him in 1972.
Clayton Kershaw is the best long-career pitcher, and the numbers back it: 223 wins, a 2.53 earned run average (third among pitchers with 1,000 innings, behind only two pitchers from the dead-ball era), and the most strikeouts in franchise history (3,052). He won Cy Young Awards in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and the Most Valuable Player award in 2014 (21-3 with a 1.77 earned run average). In June 2014 he threw a no-hitter.
Don Drysdale won the Cy Young Award in 1962 (25-9) and worked more than 300 innings in four straight seasons from 1962 to 1965. His 49 shutouts are second in franchise history, behind Sutton.
Don Sutton has the most wins in franchise history (233), the second-most strikeouts (2,696) and the most shutouts (52), over 16 seasons. He never won a Cy Young Award, which says something about the kind of career it was: a very good pitcher for a very long time without a single dominant season.
Dazzy Vance is the fifth starter, with 190 wins and 1,918 strikeouts in twelve seasons and the 1924 Most Valuable Player award. Fernando Valenzuela (1981 Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award winner, 1,759 strikeouts) and Orel Hershiser (1988 Cy Young Award, 23-8 and a 2.26 earned run average) are the strongest alternatives. Hershiser's season is also the key to the 1988 World Series, and fans who value October may prefer him to Vance.
Closer and manager
Kenley Jansen is the franchise saves leader by a wide margin: 350 saves and 701 games, both the most in club history, with the next closer, Eric Gagne, well behind at 161 saves. He was named Reliever of the Year in 2016 and 2017 and had a 1.32 earned run average in 2017. Gagne won the 2003 Cy Young Award, which makes him a fair challenger for peak.
Walter Alston is the manager: 2,040 wins and 1,613 losses from 1954 to 1976, four World Series titles in the Brooklyn and Los Angeles years (1955, 1959, 1963 and 1965), and more wins than any other Dodgers manager. Tom Lasorda (1,599 wins from 1976 to 1996 and the titles of 1981 and 1988) and Dave Roberts (944 wins from 2016 to 2025, and the titles of 2020, 2024 and 2025) are the other two to consider. Roberts has the best winning percentage of the three.
What this team leaves out
Even with those criteria, serious omissions remain.
- Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershiser (1988). Gibson won the National League MVP in 1988 with 25 home runs and 76 runs batted in, but he played only three seasons with the club, so his case is almost entirely October. The 1988 World Series turned on his one at-bat.
- Maury Wills and Davey Lopes are not on the team. Together they lead the club in stolen bases (490 and 418), but neither played a position at which they outranked the starter above.
- The nineteenth-century clubs. The franchise won pennants in 1889, 1890, 1899 and 1900, but the rules and the run environment were different enough that comparing those players with later ones is shaky.
- Players whose careers were delayed by segregation. Robinson, Campanella and Don Newcombe (Rookie of the Year in 1949, then Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner in 1956) reached the majors after the color line fell, so their Dodgers numbers start late in their careers.
Which eras the team represents
Count the fifteen players chosen by when they starred. Two (Wheat and Vance) belong to the Brooklyn clubs of the 1910s and 1920s. Six (Campanella, Hodges, Robinson, Reese, Snider and Furillo) belong to the Brooklyn team of the late 1940s and 1950s, which won pennants in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. Two (Koufax and Drysdale) carry the 1960s, two (Cey and Sutton) the 1970s and 1980s, and three (Kershaw, Jansen and Ohtani) the twenty-first century.
That balance leaves the recent years looking light for a club that won twelve division titles between 2013 and 2025. One explanation is that long single-club careers are rarer now, so recent stars have fewer seasons in which to pile up franchise totals; Kershaw's 18 seasons and Jansen's 12 are the exceptions that prove it. Another is that the method rewards totals, and the newest players are still adding to theirs.
Common questions
Who is the greatest Dodger? If the question is the best player at his peak, Koufax; if it is the greatest career, Robinson or Kershaw, depending on whether you weigh history or statistics. The Hall of Fame list is too deep for one answer.
Do Brooklyn Dodgers statistics count? Yes. The franchise record books, and the historical record, treat Brooklyn and Los Angeles as one club, so Snider's 389 home runs and Kershaw's 3,052 strikeouts sit on the same list.
Why is Mookie Betts not in the outfield? On the numbers with the club, Furillo's longer record edges him. A reasonable fan who weighs recent championships more heavily could swap them, and Betts's six-year record is already strong.
Is Shohei Ohtani on the team after only two seasons? Yes, as the designated hitter, because two Most Valuable Player awards and two World Series titles in two seasons is a peak few players match.
Which Hall of Famers are missing? Several: Burleigh Grimes, Rube Marquard, Joe Medwick, Mike Piazza and Adrian Beltre appear in the Hall of Fame list for the club, and none starts here.
Where to go next
For the full story behind these players, read the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the club's best seasons and every October run, and the guide to the ballpark. Rivals worth comparing are the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres, and the history of the World Series puts the nine titles in context. On the site, see the Los Angeles Dodgers team page and the ballpark page.