A great franchise with a great bi-coastal history; among those considered for this poll but cut for space reasons were: Mike Piazza, Ron Cey, Carl Furillo, Steve Garvey, Andy Messersmith, Ron Parranoski, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Tommy John, Dazzy Vance, Eric Gagne and Willie Davis (who started in CF for 13 straight years -- not many with any franchise match that) ...

Wow.

Dodgers are a lot weaker than I've had expected over the years when it comes to individual greats (kind of like the Maple Leafs). A fair number of HOF'ers but few are top level of the HOF (ie: top 5 all time at their position).

Campanella and Piazza are among the best catchers ever but both are pushed down, one due to injuries (including a horrible one at the end)/racism (costing a couple of seasons at the start of his career) and the other due to defensive reputation/arm strength.

Koufax was amazing, but for only a short time.

Jackie Robinson is inner circle due to what he fought through but had a short career for obvious reasons. Would he have been if he had a full career? Impossible to say for 100% certain but odds are extremely good as his stats look a lot like Joe Morgan's who is generally viewed as inner circle at second base and by some as the best ever.

The others on the list were extremely good, but no one argues that they are possibly the best ever for their position.

So to me I ranked them...
Jackie Robinson - might have been the best without colour barrier, almost was even with it
Mike Piazza - I don't view his defense as poorly as most
Roy Campanella - one of my all-time favorites
Sandy Koufax - burned brightly but all to short for me to rank higher

Drysdale, Hodges, Reese, Snider, Wheat, Wills were all greats, but far behind the top 4 imo.

FYI: I figured the Dodgers would have more of the guys you would think of as all-time best evers due to their long history, many titles, and rep as being the NL/west coast version of the Yankees (tons of cash, well run).

Most franchises I wouldn't expect it from but this one I did for some reason.

Also, I just cannot understand why Koufax is viewed as so much above the rest. His last 6 years were amazing (124-143-160+ for the last 4 years ERA+ with his ERA at 2.04 or less the last 4 years) but the rest was nothing to write home about. Randy Johnson's peak was longer and better, as was Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez to name 3 active pitchers (who are all viewed as inner circle) plus they all had a far longer career with many other great seasons. I guess it is the quick end to his career and the massive TV exposure he would've had in that era when TV was becoming common in peoples homes.

I voted Jackie.  Koufax probably did more to help the Dodgers of 63, 65 and 66 win than Jackie did for the great Dodger clubs of the late 40s and 50s, but still...

I think it's interesting that 22 votes into this, only Robinson and Koufax have received votes. And so far, only RObinson voters (including me) have posted a comment. Any Koufax voters out there want to take a stab?

And I thought Campanella and Hodges would get a stray vote or two ... maybe they still will.

As John mentioned above, it's surprising to me how few Dodgers would be listed among the absolute all-time best. It's easy to see why they kept losing to the Yankees in the World Series for all those years (6-1 Yankees in the WS in the 40's and 50's). Both teams were filled with very good players, but the Yankees always had the best player or two.

I think this lack of "inner circle" guys (I'd put Robinson there, as much for non-playing reasons as playing reasons) explains in part by Koufax gets so over-rated : i.e. you may have had Ruth, Dimaggio, and Mantle, but we had....Koufax? yeah, Koufax! Now, over-rated in this context means he wasn't one of the best pitchers of all time, just because he got injured and went out on top. He's still a worthy HoFer in my opinion.

I voted Robinson, because sometimes "greatest" doesn't always mean "best". Not many baseball players can touch Robinson in the lifetime achievement sense of the word great.

You'll notice that many of the greatest Dodgers tended to have somewhat short careers, but with extraordinarily high peaks. Only four men have played 2000 games for the Dodgers: Wheat, Reese, Hodges, and Bill Russell. Campanella and Robinson both started late because they were the wrong colour, but both also finished early (Campanella because of his accident, obviously, but they were both breaking down.) Koufax played his last game at age 30, Drysdale at 33. Duke Snider was a part-time player after age 30. Zack Wheat still holds the franchise records for GP, AB, H, 2b, 3b - Reese scored more runs, Snider and Hodges had more RBI, and lots of guys hit more HRs.

Anyway, I went with Robinson over Koufax after a few moments thought. As dominant as Koufax was, he was only that good for five years and two of them (1962 and 1964) were shortened by injury. Campanella won three MVPs himself, and I'm not entirely sure that Campanella was the greatest catcher in Dodger history. Defensively, there's no comparison - but Piazza is the greatest hitter ever to be a major league catcher (that's my acknowledgement of Josh Gibson, by the way). So he couldn't throw out a base stealer? You live with it.

By the way, I really am plugging away on the Dodgers entry in the Lobby of Numbers!

it's surprising to me how few Dodgers would be listed among the absolute all-time best.

Good idea - let's look it over. Campanella and Piazza certainly make the cut at catcher. I think Garvey, rather than Hodges, is the best first baseman in team history - he's not one of the 20 best first basemen ever (more like Top 40), but he was certainly a very good player. Dolph Camilli might have really been the best, but the career was too short. Jackie Robinson really is one of the three greatest second basemen ever, along with Collins and Morgan. Pee Wee Reese was an under rated player - he probably makes the Top 20 all time at short. Third base has traditionally been a black hole for this franchise - Ron Cey is far and away the best they've ever had. He might make Top 20 at the position.

Zack Wheat was a very good player, but not among the 20 best LF ever. But Duke Snider is easily one of the 10 best CF of all time - he was only the third best CF in his own city when he was active, but at many other moments in baseball history (right now, for example!) he would have clearly been the best centre fielder in the game. Have the Dodgers had a great career right fielder? Can't think of one.

And where does Guerrero go? He might have been the best hitter in baseball for a few years there...

All right.  I'll make the Koufax case.  What he did in 63 and 65 is not really well captured by ERA+, FIP, PRAR or any of the other metrics that we currently use to measure pitching performance. He made 40 starts a year, and completed over 1/2 his games.  He did allow more runs (for the environment) than Maddux or Johnson or Pedro did during their peaks, but he made more efficient use of his run support than any of them.  The closer the game, the better he pitched.  He also pitched more than any of them during the season.  He topped it off with post-season performance that none of them could come close to.  If you suggested that Koufax was the best player in baseball during the years 1963-66, you'd probably get the support of about 1/2 the fans who were watching baseball then. 

If you suggested that Koufax was the best player in baseball during the years 1963-66, you'd probably get the support of about 1/2 the fans who were watching baseball then.

Oh my goodness yes.

The closer the game, the better he pitched.

In 1963 and 1964, given three runs or fewer to work with - Koufax went 18-4. How many pitchers could post that kind of record with five or six runs to work with?

Yogi said it best after the 1963 World Series.

"Well, I can see how he won 25 games. What I don't get is how he lost 5."

For some reason I thought he wasn't that great in the postseason (Koufax) then I looked it up.

0.95 ERA
8 games, 7 started (relief outting was pre-greatness) with 4 complete games
57 IP, 61K, 11 BB, 36 H, 6 ER
4 wins, 3 losses

Guess that last figure is the one I was sort of aware of and where the image of him being mediocre in the playoffs came from. In the 1965 WS he allowed just 1 ER over 3 starts, in 66 just 1 ER in one start. He got a loss in 2 of those 4 games. Sheesh, talk about lack of support! In 1959 he again allowed just 1 ER and had an 0-1 record.

Koufax was extremely good for a short period. He was great in the playoffs and is worthy of the HOF. However, is he the best left handed pitcher ever? No. Is he the best Dodger ever? No, imo. You need a bit more longevity at the top than he had for me to call him that.