Posted on 06/05/2015 9:24:05 AM PDT by EveningStar
We asked you to list your choices for the 10 greatest Dodgers of all time. You could vote via comment, Facebook, Twitter or email. And vote you did. We received an amazing 14,383 ballots. So many, that we have decided to expand the list from the top 10 to the top 20.
You were asked to rank your top 10 in order. We assigned points, with your choice for first getting 12 points, second getting nine points, third getting eight points, all the way down to one point for 10th place. Each weekday here, we will unveil the top 20, one at a time, until we reach No. 1.
So without further ado:
No. 17: Don Newcombe; No. 18: Gil Hodges; No. 19: Don Sutton; No. 20: Kirk Gibson
No. 16: Walter Alston
No. 15: Walter O'Malley
No. 14: Branch Rickey
No. 13: Orel Hershiser
No. 12: Steve Garvey
No. 11: Pee Wee Reese
No. 10: Maury Wills
No. 9: Fernando Valenzuela
No. 8: Tommy Lasorda
No. 7: Clayton Kershaw
No. 6: Roy Campanella
No. 5: Duke Snider
No. 4: Don Drysdale
No. 3: Vin Scully
No. 2: Jackie Robinson
No. 1: Sandy Koufax
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So many great Dodgers! And still no room on the list for Rick Monday and Reggie Smith (who was a better hitter than Garvey) and Davey Lopes.
Oh, and Walter O’Malley should be demoted from #15 to Dante’s eigth circle.
Jackie Robinson isn’t 1st ? That’s racist.
Many do not know, but Reese was really the man who integrated baseball.
Robinson was heatedly opposed by other players, but team owner Branch Rickey wanted him. It wasn’t for any social reasons. Rickey simply wanted more paying fans in the stands, and Robinson was the way to attract Blacks.
When Robinson was introduced, team was ready to walk out, but Reese, an backwoods Kentucky boy, and team Captain, got other players to support Robinson. He saw him as a way to fill the stands, and win games.
That changed baseball... and America
My number one has always been Don Drysdale.
That’s so funny.
It would seem Robert Moses should draw the ire of East Coast Dodger fans, not O’Malley.
Also interesting how no one seems to hate Horace Stoneham.
That’s easy
The Artful one.
I was the best Dodger in fifth grade. I loved dodgeball.
You need to study History More. Mr O’Malley(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_O%27Malley) WANTED to stay in NYC(Specifically Brooklyn) HOWEVER Robert Moses(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses) wanted a Ball Park in Queens(He got Shea Stadium) and Mr O’Malley wanted to build a new ball park in Brooklyn(Ebbetts Field was falling apart and the area was “going to Seed”). So REALLY Robert Moses FORCED Mr O’Malley and ALSO the Owner of the New York Giants(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Stoneham) west.
I saw Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese play in Brooklyn when I was a boy.
He did play the 1927 season with the Philadelphia A's, a team with seven future Hall-of-Famers on their roster, six of them position players.
It was an awesome team which few people remember because it finished second to the 1927 Yankees, arguably the greatest team of all time.
Yeah, I know a subsequent edition of the Yankees won more games, but they didn't have competition even in the same class as the 1927 A's.
I have the autograph’s of three on this list on original game balls. I have the whole dodger team (on original game balls) autograph’s from 1984-1989 (to include Belinda Carlisle when she was dating Steve Howe).
I still remember that season where Kirk Gibson hit that 3-2 2 outs, 9th inning homer to win the first game of the World Series.
It just does not get any better than that!
So did I
The boys of Summer
14,383 ballots for one of MLB's most popular franchises, based in the 2nd largest media market in the US and a catchment area of 13 million persons and users able to cast ballots electronically is 'amazing?' Er, no, it's an AMAZINGLY low number and undeniable evidence of the Times' vanishing readership in all formats...long may their demise continue.
Including broadcasters and executives is gimmicky and silly, even if the broadcaster is the unmatched and unmatchable Vin Scully. Yes, teams have 'retired' microphones for Chick Hearn, Jack Buck et al but again that is a bit gimmicky and silly since a) they don't involve the playing of the sport and b) other microphones will be used since broadcasts will continue after death or retirement.
I know the Brooklyn/LA schism is an eternal topic but I think the LA Times should focus exclusively on the LA Dodger era.
No. 21 Roger Owens :o)
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