Los Angeles Dodgers

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1884
• Home ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California
• Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management
• Team colors: Dodger blue, white, and red

Overview

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that plays in the West division of the National League (NL). Originally founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1884 as the Brooklyn Atlantics and long known as the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team ultimately relocated to Los Angeles in 1958. Over the course of their long history, the Dodgers have won numerous World Series championships and NL pennants and earned an array of other accolades. Known for their remarkable on-field success, strong fan support, and history of legendary players, the Dodgers are often counted among baseball’s all-time great teams. The team is also one of the league’s most financially successful franchises, worth an estimated $5.4 billion in 2024.

In addition to their on-field activities, the Los Angeles Dodgers also maintain an active commitment to philanthropy. Much of the organization’s work in this realm is performed through the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. Created in 1995, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation has provided more than $30 million in various programs and grants to nonprofits across the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Dodgers also serve those in need through a variety of community-minded programs, such as the Summer Slugger Program and LA Reads, which promote education.

History

The history of the Los Angeles Dodgers began with the formation of a professional baseball team called the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1884. The Atlantics were originally part of a short-lived league called the American Association (AA). Throughout its early years, the Brooklyn-based team changed its name frequently, playing at various times as the Grays, Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Trolley Dodgers, Robins, and Dodgers. In 1889, the then-Bridegrooms won the AA league pennant. The following year, the team joined the NL and quickly won that league’s pennant as well. A number of key players from the Baltimore Orioles, a team that had just left the NL, found their way to Brooklyn, which was a reason for the Atlantics’ success. Brooklyn was also the landing spot for former Orioles manager Ned Hanlon, who soon expressed an interest in buying the team and moving it to Baltimore. Before that could happen, however, front office employee Charles Ebbets purchased the team and later built a new home stadium that became known as Ebbets Field. With the opening of Ebbets Field in 1913, the franchise became ensconced in Brooklyn for nearly fifty years.

The Brooklyn team officially became the Dodgers in 1932, a name that was a shortened version of the team’s earlier Trolley Dodgers moniker. Both names were a nod to Brooklyn’s complex network of streetcar routes. In any event, the Dodgers name stuck, finally giving the team a permanent identity.

On the field, the Dodgers had little consistent success until the 1940s and 1950s. During that time, the team won the NL pennant and reached the World Series in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953. On each occasion, however, the Dodgers faced and lost to their rival, the New York Yankees. Despite falling short of winning it all, the Dodgers still managed to make history during this period. In 1947, the team became the first MLB club to break the league’s color barrier by calling up African American third baseman Jackie Robinson. The arrival of Robinson, who would go on to play ten seasons with the Dodgers, had a transformative effect on the game that is still felt today. In his penultimate season, the team returned to the World Series again, this time besting the Yankees to win the first World Series championship in franchise history.

Even though the team was finally beginning to find real success on and off the field, then-owner Walter O’Malley decided to cash in on MLB’s West Coast expansion and moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. (The New York Giants, who were the Dodgers’ crosstown NL rival, also moved to California, becoming the San Francisco Giants.) Now playing at the newly constructed Dodger Stadium, the team quickly emerged as one of the league’s best. Powered by star players like pitcher Sandy Koufax and shortstop Maury Wills, the Dodgers won subsequent World Series championships in 1959, 1963, and 1965.

Although the Dodgers remained competitive in the 1970s and even won NL pennants in 1974, 1977, and 1978, further World Series championships eluded the team for some time. Perhaps the biggest bright spot during this era was the 1976 arrival of beloved Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. For more than twenty-one years, Lasorda led the team to considerable success and distinguished himself as perhaps the greatest manager in Dodgers history. With Lasorda at the helm, the Dodgers won their fifth World Series championship in 1981 and their sixth championship in 1988. He also guided the team to appearances in the National League Championship Series (NCLS) in 1983 and 1985.

The Dodgers entered a slide in the 1990s during which they frequently fell short of making the postseason at all and were quickly eliminated when they did. It was not until the late 2000s that the team began to enjoy a sustained resurgence. In 2008, the Dodgers won the NL East despite a middling 84–78 record and made it to the NCLS for the first time in two decades, although they lost to the eventual World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. The following season, the club improved its record to 95–67 and returned to the NCLS, before once again being eliminated by the Phillies.

After a brief rebuilding period, the Dodgers then began a remarkably consistent run of regular-season performances and playoff appearances that earned them a reputation as an MLB juggernaut. From 2013 to 2023 they won the NL West every year except 2021, and surpassed 90 wins every year except the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. They also reached the 100-win mark five times, underlining the extent of their dominance. Many observers noted that the team's success stemmed from both its ability to develop homegrown players from its farm system and its willingness to spend heavily on established stars. However, for a time the Dodgers struggled to translate regular-season success into postseason glory. They lost the 2013 NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals and the 2016 NLCS to the Chicago Cubs, with two even more disappointing division-round losses in between. The Dodgers then made it to the World Series in 2017, only to narrowly lose to the Houston Astros. They won a second consecutive NL pennant in 2018, but lost the World Series once again, this time to the Boston Red Sox. Those two losses became particularly controversial for many fans after the Astros were disciplined for illegally stealing signs throughout the 2017 season and postseason, and the Red Sox faced lesser accusations of cheating in 2018.

The Dodgers finally broke through in 2020. After going 43–17 in a regular season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, they progressed through the playoffs and returned to the World Series for the third time in four years. This time they prevailed, beating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games for the seventh championship in franchise history. The Dodgers continued to excel over the next few years, winning more than 100 games three seasons in a row (including a new franchise record of 111 wins in 2022), but again faced some underwhelming playoff performances. These struggles proved short-lived, however, as the team clinched another World Series berth in 2024. There they beat the Yankees in five games to claim an eighth championship title.

Notable players

Numerous former Los Angeles Dodgers and Brooklyn Dodgers players have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Chief among these honorees is the legendary Jackie Robinson. Unquestionably the most well-known Dodgers player of all time, Robinson became one of the most influential players in the entire history of baseball when he broke the MLB color barrier in 1947. In his ten seasons with the Dodgers, Robinson recorded 137 home runs, 374 runs batted in (RBIs), and 197 stolen bases. He was also a six-time All-Star and a key member of the Dodgers’ 1955 World Series championship team.

Another important figure in integrating baseball, catcher Roy Campanella was a Dodgers mainstay from 1948 to 1957. In that time, he had 242 home runs and 856 RBIs and was an eight-time All-Star. Like Robinson, he was also part of the 1955 World Series squad. Shortstop Pee Wee Reese spent his entire 16-season career with the Dodgers, in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Over the course of his run, Reese recorded 2,170 hits, 885 RBIs, and 126 home runs. A ten-time All-Star, he was yet another key member of the 1955 World Series team. Pitcher Sandy Koufax was also a career Dodger, playing for the team from 1955 to 1966. Earning 2,396 strikeouts and a 2.76 earned run average (ERA) during his run, Koufax was a six-time All-Star and a three-time Cy Young Award winner. Most importantly, his efforts on the mound helped secure the Dodgers’ 1955, 1959, and 1963 World Series championships. Pitcher Don Drysdale played for the Dodgers from 1956 to 1969 and recorded 2,486 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA in that time. He was also an eight-time All-Star and a member of the 1959, 1963, and 1965 World Series teams. Some other members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame who played for the Dodgers include Jim Bunning, Al Lopez, Greg Maddux, Don Sutton, and Dazzy Vance.

There have been many other notable players who spent time on the Dodgers as well. First and third baseman Steve Garvey played with the team from 1969 to 1982. In that time, he recorded 852 runs, 211 home runs, and 992 RBIs. Right fielder, third baseman, and shortstop Gary Sheffield played a short stint with the Dodgers from 1998 to 2001. During that period, he recorded 358 runs, 129 homers, and 367 RBIs. Although he eventually went on to greater fame with the New York Mets, catcher and first baseman Mike Piazza started his career with the Dodgers in 1992, remaining with the team until 1998. During his time in Los Angeles, Piazza had 443 runs, 177 homers, and 563 RBIs.

Several superstars played key roles in the Dodgers' long dominant run in the 2010s and 2020s. Clayton Kershaw made his major league debut with the team in 2008 and quickly became one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. By 2024 he had won three Cy Young Awards, ten All-Star Game nominations, and the 2014 NL MVP Award, among other honors. Before the 2020 season, the Dodgers acquired star outfielder Mookie Betts from the Red Sox in a blockbuster trade, and quickly signed him to what was at the time the most lucrative deal in franchise history and one of the biggest in all of North American sports, worth $365 million over twelve years. Considered one of the top all-around players of the era, Betts immediately helped the Dodgers earn a World Series championship. The team added another one of baseball's biggest stars before their championship-winning 2024 season, signing Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani—widely compared to the legendary Babe Ruth for his excellence at both hitting and pitching—to a record-setting ten-year, $700-million deal.

Bibliography

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