Since Mookie and Freddie are having such great years, I thought I would look back on some of the best all-time record holders. Freeman, who is about as consistent a ballplayer as you will ever see, is now one hit away from his first 200 hit season. Think about that. 14 years in the league and this will be the first time reaching that mark. By comparison, Steve Garvey had done it six times by the time he had been in the league for 10 full seasons. He was 31 when he garnered 200 hits for the last time in 1980. 184 was the most he would have after that. Garvey had 3, 200 hit seasons in a row twice.
Mookie needs a homer and an RBI to set the MLB record for most homers and RBIs by a leadoff hitter. With 10 games to play, he should do that soon. I would like to see him do it at home. Muncy needs one homer to top his career high. JD got his 30th against the Giants on Thursday. Freeman needs 4 for the Dodgers to have four 30 homer guys for the third time.
With all that in mind, we look back on some of the leaders in all-time stats. And some of the better single seasons in LA Dodger history.
WAR Position Player
The top career WAR for a position player is 68.4 and that player is Pee Wee Reese. Reese was a Dodger for 18 seasons and a coach for 1. The Colonel, as they called him was also team captain. The highest WAR by a LA Dodger is 54.6 by Willie Davis. Single season leader, Jackie Robinson 9,7
WAR PItcher
This one should be easy for all Dodger fans. Clayton Kershaw is the career WAR leader for all Dodger players and the pitching leader by a lot. His career WAR is 76.8. Dazzy Vance is a distant 2nd at 61.9. Drysdale is just behind Vance at 61.4. They are the only Dodger pitchers above 60. Single season leader, Koufax, 10.7
Batting Average
The highest career batting average is just for the time the player was a Dodger. And it can be as short as five years. So, the all-time leader with a .352 batting average is Wee Willie Keeler. Keeler played for Brooklyn for 5 seasons. The highest batting average by an LA Dodger is .331. That was accomplished by Mike Piazza in his 7 seasons with LA. Single season leader, Babe Herman .393. LA Mike Piazza .362
Earned Run Average
Zack Greinke’s ERA while in LA was 2.30. But since he only spent 3 years in Dodger blue, I do not think he fits the bill as the all-time leader since he was only a Dodger briefly. Jeff Pfeffer on the other hand, spent 9 years with Brooklyn. His career ERA is 2.31. The two best LA Dodgers are Kenley Jansen, 2.37 and Kershaw at 2.48. Single season, Marquard, 1.58. LA, Greinke 1.66
Hits
2804. That is how many hits Zack Wheat piled up with the Brooklyn team. He played 18 years for the Dodgers and is the career leader in 10 offensive stats. The LA Dodger leader in career hits is the Three-Dog, Willie Davis with 2091. Season: Herman 241 LA Davis 230.
Wins
For the sake of being equal, we will not use any stats pre-1900. After 1900 it would be Iron Joe Mcginnity and Dazzy Vance both with 28. Joe in 1928. Koufax and Newcombe are their modern equivalents with 27 each.
Doubles
Freddie Freeman now has 56 and counting. He passed Johnny Fredericks 52 a couple of weeks ago. No other Dodger player has had more than the 49 hit by Shawn Green in 2003.
Losses
Don Sutton is the all-time leader with 181. Drysdale second with 166. Leader from the Brooklyn era is Brickyard Kennedy with 149. Single season: George Bell, 27. It does not show who the LA leader is. I have never seen an LA pitcher lose 20. 18 or 19 would probably be close to the most in a season
Triples
Hi Meyers had 22 in 1920. Jim Gilliam is the only player on the list who played in LA and Brooklyn, and he has 17. Willie Davis has the season high for an LA Dodger with 16. Career leader: Zack Wheat with 171. Willie D had 110.
Winning Percentage
Tony Gonsolin with a .941 last season is at the top of the heap. For Brooklyn it was Freddie Fitzsimmons in 1940, with a .889 pct. Career leader: The career leader is Greinke, but since he was only a Dodger for three years, the leader is Kershaw, the only pitcher on the list with 10 years plus. .697.
Home Runs
The season leader is Shawn Green with his 49 bombs in 2001. Beltre second with 48 in 2004. Brooklyn Dodger record, 43 by Duke Snider in 1956. Duke also is the career leader with 389. Hodges second with 361. Eric Karros is the leader for LA Dodgers with 270. Cey Garvey and Kemp are the only other LA Dodgers ever with more than 200. Muncy now has 175.
Saves
The all-time leader in career saves is Kenley Jansen with 350. And it isn’t even close. #2, Eric Gagne has 189 less than Jansen as a Dodger. The Brooklyn leader is Clem Labine with 81. Record for one season, Gagne, 55. He is the only Dodger pitcher to record 50 saves and he did it twice. Gagne also holds the Major League record for most consecutive saves at 84.
RBIs
Duke Snider holds the record for the most career runs batted in, 1271. He Zack Wheat, Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo, are the only Dodgers over 1000 for a career. Steve Garvey is the all-time LA leader at 992. Tommy Davis at 153 is the leader for a season, Campy leads the Brooklyn side with 142.
Strikeouts
Koufax holds the season record with 382. The Brooklyn record is 262 held by Dazzy Vance. Kershaw is #1 in career K’s with 2939. Will he stay and try for 3000??? Dazzy Vance holds the Brooklyn record with 1918. Kershaw and Koufax are the only Dodger pitchers with over 300 in a season, and Koufax did it three times. It probably will never happen again.
Stolen Bases
Career leader in bags is Maury Wills with 490. He also holds the single season mark with 104. Lopes is second with 418. Tom Daly is the Brooklyn leader with 298. Chances are that no one catches Wills unless something changes in the way the Dodgers develop players. Davey Lopes was the last player to steal 70 or more in 1975. Dee Gordon stole 64 in 2014. Gordon was the last Dodger to lead the league in steals. Trea Turner led the league in 21, but part of those came while he was with DC.
Complete Games
The all-time season record came in 1884 when Adonis Terry had 54. Post 1900, Oscar Jones had 38 in 1904. The season record for LA is 27, accomplished twice by Sandy Koufax. Another stat that is going the way of the Dodo. Pitchers rarely complete games anymore. Brickyard Kennedy holds the career record with 280. The LA leader would have to be Don Sutton. He had 156. Drysdale had 167, but 11 of them came in Brooklyn.
Extra Base Hits
Babe Herman had 94 in 1930. Freddie Freeman is at 85 and counting this year. Should he manage to get 9 more over the next 7 games, he would tie Herman. He still has a better shot at getting to 90 though. Duke Snider is the career leader at 814. Willie Davis the LA leader at 585.
Imagine how different those stats would be if Dodgers had no traded Mike Piazza, Adrian Beltre, and Pedro Martinez! Can you also imagine what JD Martinez s numbers would be this season if not for his back issues! Clayton has 13 wins while only pitching about half a season! Pepiot, Miller, and Sheehan all have 15-20 written all over them! And not to slight Gavin Stone who may end up the best out the bunch with hard work, the young slingers make for a very bright future. And back to Clayton, doesn’t he seem to love doing those interviews on tv? He still loves the game! I’m not sure he calls it quits unless they win it all, and then he might still come back. Reading some people don’t like on field interviews like Rojas last night. I loved. It! He is having a blast playing. And I might add playing a very high-level shortstop. And me, I didn’t like pinch hitting for Outman last night! Not blasting Doc, but unless he was banged up a little, I think James has earned the right to hit in that situation. But that’s my opinion. I like Ravich on Sunday night baseball. Cone is very good. Eduardo is ok. Not great. But at least I can watch Sunday night’s now and not turn the sound off like I did when Assrod and jolly Jess were on!
They didn’t trade Beltre. He left as a free agent. Martinez had pitched in 67 games for the Dodgers, all but 2 out of the bullpen. Lasorda felt he was too slightly built to be a starter, and the team needed a second baseman after Jody Reed left. DeShields was probably the best 2nd baseman in the league at that point. He was coming off of two very good seasons, he was 25 years old. They thought he would be their guy for the next 10 seasons. So, on the surface, it was a great trade. In his defense, he was injured the first season and only played 89 games. A .290 hitter the last two seasons in Montreal, he hit .250, .256 and .224 in his three seasons in LA. Where he averaged over 40 steals a year with the Expos, he averaged a little over 30 with LA. He played in 127 games his second year, and 154 his last. He rediscovered his stroke when he went to St. Louis in 1997 and 98 when he hit over .290 both years. But he was basically done by age 31. Injuries slowed him a lot his last couple of seasons. As for Martinez, everyone assumes he was great right out of the gate. Not so, he was in his fourth and last season with the Expos when he won his first Cy Young award. His ERA those first three years was above 3.50. In 7 years with Boston, his ERA was a whole run lower at 2.52 and he won 2 Cy Youngs and 20 plus games twice. Piazza was actually a better hitter in LA than he was with the Mets. He was a .331 hitter in LA and .296 with the Mets. His OPS in LA was .966. It was .915 in New York. Doc was playing the percentages pinch hitting for James. He was also getting bench players prepared for what they might need to do in the post season.
Bear, you are correct that the Pedro trade wasn’t as bad at the time. But I remember really hating it. Pedro was electric out of the pen. Won 10 games as a long reliever. Don’t remember the last time that happened. Before or since. And Deshields was evaluated by the metrics they used at that time. He was a good 2b. So I get why they made the trade. But even then, Pedro looked amazing. It was Tommy’s evaluation of him as a reliever that made the trade make sense. Which was a massive mistake. I remember the first time I saw Walker in the minors. He immediately reminded me of a young Pedro. Tommy would have done the same to Walker. Called him too small and relegated him to the bullpen.
A lot has changed in 30 years.
But if only we had “do overs”.
Never seen someone defend the Pedro deal.
Bear smdh
Tommy and Fred Claire take the heat for the Pedro Martinez trade. But it was a collaboration between a lot of people, including Dr. Frank Jobe, and even bullpen coach Mark Creese
Here’s an interview of Creese with Ross Porter. Apparently, Ramon was in the talks also.
https://youtu.be/vB9wAcB0rrI?si=LDWESnxltgi8-2Xg
If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, it starts about 15 minutes in
As the facts were at the time, the trade made sense. DeShields was young, 25, coming off of really good back-to-back seasons. He was an offensive force. Pedro had a lot of promise to be true. But it only became a bad trade when Pedro flourished, and Delino faded. Had he played for the Dodgers the way he did with the Expos, there would not even be a discussion. It was a good baseball trade. Piazza on the other hand was all FOX.
The other great do-over would concern Beltre. I remember somebody suggesting that Dodger management essentially lost Beltre so they could sign JD Drew. Ouch.
Gotta admit, I was OK with the Pedro-Delino deal when it happened. But not only did Pedro turn out to be an all-time great, DeShields was underwhelming.
I find myself thinking about the silver linings of trades that never got made.
If the Dodgers had landed Eduardo Rodriguez, would we have gotten such a good look at what Sheehan can do?
Maybe. But maybe not too.
Beltre was a huge mistake by management. And it was all about the money. Deshields was injured his first season and never really did recover from that as a Dodger. He had two really good years with the Cardinals after he left. Pedro did what good players do. Would he have gotten the same opportunity with the Dodgers? He was being used as a reliever. He did not become a starter until he went to Montreal.
Yes Beltre was a free agent, but they put forth minimal effort to sign him. As for Pedro, Lasorda was one heck of a motivator, but in my opinion not a great x & o ‘s guy! He was sure wrong on Pedro. Piazza was simply put , a bad trade! Went from Mike to Charles Johnson!
Tommy always takes the heat for the trade. But Dr. Jobe who worked on Pedro’s non-throwing shoulder in the past, told Fred Claire that he had weak tendons and probably wouldn’t hold up overtime.
Fred Claire also takes a lot of heat for that trade. But it was a collaboration between a lot of people , including Mark Cresse the Dodgers bullpen coach. Here’s Ross Porters interview with Mark
https://youtu.be/vB9wAcB0rrI?si=LDWESnxltgi8-2Xg
If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, it starts about 16 minutes in
It was the length of the contract that contract and the fact that his salary was doubled by the Mariners. I doubt really seriously that they did not have some meaningful discussions on his contract. Fans always think they did not try hard enough to resign the player. Unless you were in the front office at the time, you are just speculating from your point of view that they did not try. Piazza was traded because FOX did not think he was worth what his agent was seeking. Isn’t it amazing that Beltre never again came close to his 2004 stats for the rest of his career. Never sniffed 40 homers again, he hit over .300 a few times with Boston and Texas, but not with the Mariners. His time with the Mariners, he was considered a bad signing because he never came close to replicating those numbers. His best years were with the Rangers. Piazza pretty much the same thing. He was a .331 hitter over his time in LA. .296 with the Mets.
* Great stuff Bear. As usual.
* Another exciting win and other outstanding bullpen effort.
* The first two pitches of the game to Mookie from Ryan Walker were serious chin music. The ESPN pitch identifier listed both as “sinkers”. I didn’t see much sink to those babies.
* I wouldn’t be surprised to see Graterol and Phillips switch roles in the playoffs.
* Nice situational hitting by Kolten Wong in the 10th. It wasn’t necessary as CT3’s single would have scored Rosario from 2nd anyway, but I love the effort. Nice to see CT3 come through.
* My “One-Time Through” strategy for the playoffs:
As we know, from Sept 1 to the end of the regular season teams are allowed to carry 2 extra player with a 28 man roster. It’s back to 26 with 13 being pitchers for the playoffs.
If see some interesting piggy-back ideas. It would be a unique way to enter a playoff series. Gone is the old way of thinking about a play-off starting rotation. The traditional idea of using 3 of your starting rotation as starters and the other 2 becoming relief pitchers, has been typical thinking forever and still will be for most teams.
But they aren’t us. They haven’t faced the challenges of 2 arm surgeries, a DFA and an indefinite administrative leave, for the Dumb Ass. But necessity is the mother of invention. And in the Dodger’s case, I’d favor a radical approach to getting 27 outs.
What’s our pitching strength? The bullpen depth of arms. So use it. And I think that will be the plan, in some fashion..
With the exception of Miller as a starter and perhaps Lynn, everybody would either get an “opener” or one-time through then pass the baton. Yarbrough maybe longer. I like Sheehan used one-time through. Or Kershaw getting 2 innings in a different role. I think we have the arms to pull that off and keep the opponent from seeing the same stuff twice..
So speaking of the ”piggyback” idea. What are the possible duets. Thoughts?
As I look at the current selection of pitchers, here’s how I see the playoff roster:
Locks
1. Kershaw – L
2. Miller,
3. Pepiot
4. Yarborough- L
5. Fergie – L
6. Brasier
7. Graterol
8. Phillips
So who’s are the final 5?
This may be largely based who’s hot and who’s not, the opponent and match ups: But I’ll guess anyway.
Pick 5 :
1. Sheehan – my pick for one-time through. .196 vs LHB. Who needs a situational leftie?
2. Lynn – do we really need a starter type and innings eater with the new piggyback idea? I love his competitiveness and tenacity but Beware of the Dinger a playoff game.
3. Vesia – do we need a 3rd LHRP? Bad reverse splits but great lately. Could Kersh fill this role?
4. Kelly? Joe or Joseph. Joseph comes in and throws 100mph ‘Heat-Seekers”. Joe wants to extend counts and “Trick-em” with sliders. Sometimes that works, sometimes not so much
5. Stone – I don’t think he’s ready yet.
6. Grove – if healthy – I cautiously think he’s ready, but is their room?
7. Shelby Miller – my pick. Great vs RHB and LHB (.136) Who needs a situational leftie?
8. V-Gon – Sorry. V-Gon is long-gone
My guess is Sheehan, Lynn, Vesia, Shelby Miller and Kelly round our the playoff staff.
Vesia is interesting. He had a brutal first half and his season numbers don’t look that hot. But he’s been good lately. In his last 7 games, he’s at 1.17 and .517 OPS against. And he has a track record. I’m bothered by his struggles with LHB, hence his reverse splits. We have RHP’s better vs RHB.
It should be extremely how the brass plans to piece this unique situation together but this can be done.
Phillips seems to be much more vulnerable since the All Star Break. Many more messy innings as opposed to clean ones.
Hes getting em out of the way now.
That has no basis in fact. Before the All-Star Game, Phillips had a 2.55 ERA. Since the Break, his ERAS is 1.48.
1.48!
He’s had a couple shaky outings but my faith in him is sky high.
Agree with your thoughts about Graterol & Phillips.
Lynn
Kelly
Vesia
Miller
Sheehan or Grove
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
Dave Roberts said Daniel Hudson’s earliest possible return would be if #Dodgers advance to NLCS.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/atlanta-braves-pitching-news-and-notes/ar-AA1hf6Qb
My eye test tells me Phillips hasn’t looked as sharp last few outings as has been all year but got no worries, he’ll do just fine and sure glad we have him
My eyes tell me the same thing Micheal has seen, regarding Phillips. I think “lately” matters plenty when it comes to playoff player usage. What someone did in the first 1/2 is irrelevant right now. Phillips has had a great year but lately Graterol is pitching better.
The stats reinforce what my eyes told me. In their last 6 outings, let’s compare:
Phillips – In 6 games, 6 innings, opponent BA = .333, opponent OPS = 1.030
Graterol – In last 6 games, 5.2 innings, opponent BA = .000, Opponent OPS = 000
My eyes didn’t lie.
Michael, my eyes tell me the same thing about Phillips. He’s a very valuable piece in the pen but Graterol is pitching better right now. First 1/2 stats aren’t important to me now. It’s what have you done for me lately.
Phillips in his last 6 appearances – 6 games, 6 innings, opposing BA = .333, opposing OPS = 1.030
Graterol in his last 6 appearances – 6 games, 5.2 innings, opposing BA = 0.00, opposing OPS = 000
My old eyes haven’t failed me. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if Graterol moved into the “closer” role.
Graterol has been unhittable lately, but he strikes out very few hitters. They put the ball in play. Lately, it has been hit to people wearing gloves. He doesn’t have a lot of swing and miss.
I hate to jinx him, but there is a huge element of luck involved here.
It’s “weak contact” but it is contact!
I agree with you about Graterol. I personally like Brasier. he doesn’t seem to get that lump in his throat like I see Phillips get when he’s in a little bit of a jam.
But it’s probably too late to be making changes, unless Phillips collapses in his last few outings.
Sandy is the greatest.
For six years with a higher mound and bigger strike zone.
I wonder how Sandy would do with a smaller strike zone and lower mound?
I wonder how Clayton would do with a taller mound and a bigger strike zone?
Therein lies the rubb!
Remember that Koufax pitched to only the best hitters more often than in Kershaws era.. The National league had just expanded to 10 teams in 1962, one year after the Junior Circuit
And the rubb goes on
So, the taller mound and larger strike zone is not as much a thing as fewer teams?
Is that what you are saying?
How many pitchers threw 100 MPH during Koufax’s time?
Answer: None!
BTW, Koufax hit 97 MPH.
Why did they make the mound shorter and the strike zone smaller? That is a dumb argument!
My point was you can go back-and-forth on this forever.
You’re the one that keeps bringing the argument up.
I love them both, and it’s impossible to really compare them. I’m just happy they’re both part of our great dodger history
Strike zone is bigger now and would have benefited Koufax even more…
No, that is not true – the Strike zone is smaller.
They did not have radar guns or an accurate way of telling how fast a ball was being thrown back then. Like many have said, you just cannot compare eras. Too many things have changed. But I have my eye test and I have seen both of them pitch on several occasions. Kersh is built for this era, Sandy was a product of his. But there can be no doubt, either would have done well in the other’s time frame. Mark talks of the smaller strike zone, Koufax had pinpoint control. He would have easily adapted. If he had the same coaching, he would probably have a third or even fourth pitch. But he lived with his curve and his heater. I remember sitting in the left field pavilion when he was warming up to pitch. The sound of his fastball hitting the mitt was just different. I was like a gunshot.
Actually Markis right Bkemdano. K zone was from just above the letters to the top of the knee back in the day. Now it is more like mid waist to the knee.
Don’t know why my post keeps disappearing, but here it is again.
Tommy and Fred Claire usually take the heat on the Pedro Martinez trade. It was a collaboration between a lot of people, including Dr. Frank Jobe and even bullpen coach Mark Creese
Here’s an interview of Mark with Ross Porter
https://youtu.be/vB9wAcB0rrI?si=LDWESnxltgi8-2Xg
If you don’t wanna watch the whole thing, it starts about 15 minutes in
My first post magically returned. It wasn’t in moderation, but it disappeared and reappeared again. Don’t know what’s going on.
I know I’ve lost a few marbles, but I don’t think they’re all gone.
RIP David McCallum. Iliya Kuryakin in the Man from Uncle series and Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in NCIS. Show won’t be the same without him. Also one of the stars of the movie The Great Escape.
Learned today that Iliya’s son Val McCallum plays guitar for Jackson Browne. And that Iliya’s father was a concert violinist.
I thought that show was pretty cool.
Also cool that it inspired Get Smart.
McCallum put out an album in the early 70’s. I think I remember having it. It was Jazz I think. I just always liked the guy. He was absolutely great as both Kuryakin and Dr. Mallard. His relationship with Gibbs was part of the cement that held that show together.