The Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the best teams in Major League Baseball over the past five seasons, winning a pair of World Series in 2020 and 2024.
The franchise has one of the most storied histories of all time since its days in Brooklyn, with eight World Series victories and 22 total appearances. Sustaining that level of greatness requires developing, acquiring and maximizing talent — and having those players perform at their best when it matters most.
That said, we’ve rounded up the 10 best Dodgers in history.
Who are the top 10 Dodgers of all time?
10. Don Sutton
Sutton’s legacy is most defined by his durability. He started 756 games across 23 seasons and had a career earned run average of 3.26, including an MLB-best 2.20 mark in 1980. While he never won a World Series, he helped the Dodgers reach four and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998.
9. Dazzy Vance
Vance might as well have founded the high fastball. Renowned for his heater, he used it as a setup and put-away pitch. Vance led the league in strikeouts in five separate seasons and led the National League in ERA on three occasions. That’s even more impressive considering he didn’t start pitching until age 31, so his ceiling could’ve been even higher.
8. Duke Snider
Snider was a safety net in center field. He could get under any ball hit his way, even when it required diving or making basket catches. He complimented that defense with his prolific bat: Snider hit more home runs and RBIs in the 1950s than any other player. He was also a crucial part of the Dodgers’ 1955 and 1959 World Series victories.
7. Roy Campanella
Talk about safety behind the plate. Every hurler needs a reliable catcher like Campanella, who could frame any ball and scare any would-be base stealer. Not only was Campanella a defensive savant, but he could hit the leather off the ball. He had three separate 30-HR, 100-RBI seasons, and he won NL MVP in each of those. He’s one of just three catchers to have multiple MVP awards, joining Yogi Berra (three) and Johnny Bench (two).
6. Don Drysdale
Drysdale had two main intimidating factors, and he combined them to become one of the most imposing pitchers of all time: His height and unorthodox throwing motion maximized his reach. Drysdale was a towering 6-foot-5, and he threw with a sidearm motion. Right-handed hitters could barely see it, and lefties struggled to time it. Drysdale led the league in strikeouts in 1959, 1960 and 1962, winning the Cy Young in that latter season. In 1959, he helped the Dodgers win their first World Series since making the move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. When the Dodgers won it again in 1963, Drysdale pitched a gem in Game 3, allowing no runs and just three hits while striking out nine batters.
5. Pee Wee Reese
A dazzling shortstop with everlasting range, Reese could make plays falling away from first base or moving toward it — scooping soft ground balls with his bare hand or digging one-hoppers out of the dirt. He led the league in fielding percentage (97.7%) in 1949 and helped the then-Brooklyn Dodgers win their first World Series in 1955.
4. Fernando Valenzuela
“El Toro” is one of the most beloved Dodgers to this day. His popularity with fans and his influence on the Los Angeles community alone could land him on this list. Then, there are the stats and accolades. Valenzuela had one of the best debut seasons in MLB history. In his rookie year in 1981, Venezuela led the league in strikeouts, won Rookie of the Year and Cy Young honors and helped the Dodgers win the World Series.
Kershaw is essentially the 21st century version of the next player on this list, Sandy Koufax. An imposing southpaw, Kershaw has been the model of regular-season consistency in Los Angeles. He has led the league in ERA in five separate seasons and in wins three times. He has won three Cy Young awards and earned MLB MVP honors in 2014 when he had a career-best 21-3 record with a career-low qualifying ERA of 1.77.
2. Sandy Koufax
Koufax stamped his legacy when he pitched a pair of complete-game shutouts in the 1963 World Series to help the Dodgers close out the Chicago White Sox. Koufax also ranks second all time in most no-hitters, throwing four over his career. He won three Cy Young awards and was named MLB MVP in 1963, doing all this despite an arm injury so notable that a book, “Black and Blue,” was named after it.
1. Jackie Robinson
Robinson was MLB’s first Black player, and he was a star from the moment he came into the league at 28 years old. He won Rookie of the Year in 1947, while leading the National League in stolen bases. Two years later, he won MLB MVP when he hit a career-high .342 batting average. Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.
Honorable mentions:
- Don Sutton
- Carl Furillo
- Orel Hershiser
- Mike Piazza
- Matt Kemp
- Eric Karros
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