The Dodgers this season saw two of the best in the major’s bat back-to-back all year. Both put up excellent seasons. Both have had stellar careers to this point. Both Freeman and Betts will get some serious Hall consideration. Where do they rank with the hitters of the past? That would mostly be based on one’s personal preference and just how many years do they have to play for the Dodgers to be on the list. Mookie will be entering his 5th year in blue in 24, Freddie his 3rd.
Since according to the Baseball Reference Dodgers historical page Wee Willie Keeler is the leader in career average with 5 seasons as a Dodger, we will go with at least 5 years with the team. Keeler is an excellent example of the dead ball era, and the mentality of ball players of that era. Home runs were rare. The rules and the fields were much different. Getting on base was the prime goal of any hitter. Striking out was frowned upon.
In Keeler’s five seasons, his career BA was. .352. In those five seasons, he had 833 hits and struck out exactly 28 times. He hit 8 homers and drove in 219 runs. He scored 469. Keeler was a career .341 hitter in 19 years in the majors. He hit under .300 three times, all at the end of his career when he was in his late 30’s. His nickname was ” Hit em where they ain’t.” Truly a pure hitter. Oh yeah, he was 5’4″ and weighed 140 pounds.
Babe Herman was a great hitter, fielder, not so much. Babe was also about 2 cookies short of a dozen in the heads-up baseball department. He was known as a character. But man, he could hit. He still holds the Dodger record for the highest batting average in a single season, .393. And he lost the batting title! Babe usually hit homers in double figures, but only twice did he have more than 20. He hit 21 in 1929 and had his career high the following year when he hit 35. The same season he hit .393. His OPS that year? 1.132. Yes, Babe could hit. He just couldn’t remember how many teammates were on base! His career average was .324 over 13 seasons.
Mike Piazza spent six full seasons and parts of two others as a Dodger. I think he was the best hitter I have seen as a Dodger. In those six full years, he never hit under .300. One reason his career average as a Dodger is .331. By comparison, his average as a Met in 8 years is .296. Mike also holds the record for the highest batting average by a Los Angeles Dodger in a single season, .362 in 1997. He no doubt would have passed Campy’s record for homers by a Dodger catcher had he not been traded. As it is, he is the major league record holder for most career homers by a catcher. He had perhaps some of the best power to right center by a right-handed hitter I have ever seen.
Zack Wheat was a player who spent 18 years in Brooklyn. He hit .317 as a Dodger. He was a superb outfielder, and for his time, considered one of the better power hitters. His high-water mark in homers was 15. He also did not strikeout much, 572 times in over 10,000 plate appearances. He rarely led the league in any hitting categories. But there were so many great hitters in the National League at that time. Wagner, his teammate, Jake Daubert, who won back-to-back batting titles in 13 & 14. Something no Dodger would do until Tommy Davis in 62-63. Zack did win the title in 1918. But a guy named Hornsby came into the league and won 7 in a row from 20-26.
Manny Mota may have been the model of a great pinch-hitter, but man could he hit. It was once said of him that Mota could get out of bed in December and hit a line drive single to center. He collected 150 career pinch hits, and his .304 career BA over 20 seasons shows his consistency. He was a .315 hitter in his 13 years with the Dodgers. Not a power hitter, but he hit line drives in bunches. He also did not strike out much, about 10% of his at bats. Manny is still a part of the Dodger family, and his son works for the Dodgers on their Spanish language broadcast team.
Duke Snider is the Dodgers all-time home run leader with 389. To put that in perspective, only he and Gil Hodges hit 300 or more in a Dodger uniform. The LA Dodger all-time leader is Eric Karros with 270. Over 100 less. Duke also finished his 16-year Dodger career with exactly a .300 average. So he was more than just a power source. Although he felt he struck out too much, he only exceeded 100 K’s twice in his career. He was a graceful and excellent center fielder for most of his career. He is the only player to hit four homers in two World Series. And he is the Dodgers career World Series homer leader with 11.
Jackie Robinson was a pioneer. The first Black player in the majors. He paved the way for all the great players of color who have followed him. But he was also a very good hitter. .313 career batting average. He could beat you with his bat and his speed. He won the batting title in 1949 with a .342 average and also led the league in steals. Trea Turner did that in 2021 and spent part of the year with the Dodgers. But Jackie did it as a Dodger. He wasn’t a great power hitter, 141 for his career, but occasionally, he would beat you with a clutch blast. He is in the Hall for more than just being the first. The man could hit.
Steve Garvey could always hit. It was his throwing that worried the Dodgers when he first arrived on the scene. He was originally a third baseman, but after so many errant throws, the Dodgers took a chance and moved him to first base. Garvey would develop into one of the better first basemen in the league. From 74-77 he earned Gold Gloves at the position. But it was his bat that the Dodgers wanted to keep in the lineup. He was durable, he played almost every game and set the NL record for most consecutive games played with 1207. Garvey had 200 or more hits 6 times in his career, all with the Dodgers. He finished with a career, .294 BA. As a Dodger he hit .301 over 14 years with the team.
Carl Furillo was what most today would call a blue-collar player. But Ol Skoonj as he was known by his teammates, could rake. He won the batting title in 1953 with a .344 average. He could be counted on to hit at least .299, with 17 or more homers and 95 driven in a year. He had one of the best arms in baseball, and few ran on the man who had gotten the nickname, “The Reading Rifle” when he was young. He was one of the best right fielders in the game. Injuries eventually eroded his game some, but he still hit .290 in each of his last two full seasons with the team. LA Dodger fans remember him the most for driving in the winning run in game two of the 1959 playoffs with a single.
Matt Kemp was an excellent hitter. Especially before injuries slowed him down. As a Dodger, he batted .292 with 203 homers in blue. Yes, he struck out a lot, but that is the way hitters of this generation are. They do not carry the stigma they did years ago. Kemps high-water mark was in 2011. He hit .324 with 39 homers and 126 driven in. He also scored 115 runs. Kemp was off to an even better start in 2012. Then in May he suffered a hamstring injury. Two days after he returned from the IL, he injured it again. In total he missed almost two months. He was still voted to the All-Star team and he participated in the home-run derby. He hit .355 in the first half. But in August, he crashed into the wall at Coors Field, damaging his shoulder and knee. He continued to play and finished at .303 with 23 homers. He had surgery after the season on his shoulder. He never was the same player again. The injuries took his speed, he had 40 steals in 2011, he never had more than 12 after that. He was traded after the 2014 season to the Padres, but returned in a trade in 2018 and had a resurgent season.
Jake Daubert won back-to-back batting titles, making him the only player besides Tommy Davis to do that. He hit .350 in 1913 and .329 in 1914. He was also the MVP of the NL in 13. Over his nine seasons in Brooklyn, he was a .305 hitter. Teaming with Zack Wheat, they made a formidable 1-2 punch. Daubert was not a power hitter, nor did he drive in a lot of runs. 8 homers were his high-water mark with the Dodgers and 66 RBIs. Like most players of that era, he did not strike out much, 489 times in over 8,000 plate appearances.
Dixie Walker, better known in Brooklyn as ” The Peeples Cheerce”, spent nine of his eighteen years in the majors in Brooklyn. He batted .311 as a Dodger. His best year was 1944 when he won the batting title with a .357 mark. Dixie was traded not long after the 1947 season to the Pirates. He was supposedly one of the ringleaders in the group of players who wanted to keep Jackie Robinson off of the team. He went to Pittsburgh with Hal Gregg, another of the petitioners, and Vic Lombardi, a catcher, for Billy Cox, Preacher Roe and Gene Mauch, who would make his mark on baseball as a manager.
Johnny Frederick had a very short major league career, six years. He spent all of them with the Dodgers. Frederick, a left-handed hitting outfielder, hit 24 home runs in his rookie season to go along with his .328 batting mark. In 1932 he hit six pinch hit homers setting a mark that stood for 68 years. His rookie year he also had 52 doubles; a mark passed by Freddie Freeman this year. Frederick hit .308 for his career and he only struck out 172 times over that span.
Honorable mention goes to Lefty O’Doul who spent 3 years as a Dodger, Lefty hit .340 in his time as a Dodger. Jack Fournier in four years hit. .337. Gary Sheffield spent 3 1/2 years in LA and batted .312. Other great hitters who were past their prime when they played in LA included Eddie Murray, and Jim Thome. Chase Utley and Jeff Kent, two of the best second basemen the game has seen, who were also very good hitters, spent time in Dodger blue also.
Not a great hitter, but perhaps the most unselfish player I have ever seen was Jim Gilliam. Gilliam did what the team needed from the first year he arrived. He had many clutch hits, but his biggest contributions came when he was hitting behind Maury Wills. Gilliam would often sacrifice his own stats for the good of the team. He was an excellent bunter and one of the more versatile players of his time. He could play 2nd, 3rd SS and the outfield.
There probably are a few more I could add to this list, but guys like Dolph Camilli, Ducky Medwick and the Waner Brothers, all great hitters, were only with the team a short time.
Perhaps one of the greatest nicknames in all of baseball history belongs to this guy. Bob “Death to all flying things” Ferguson. Never a Dodger, but what a great baseball handle.
Reliever Wander Suero has elected free agency after being outrighted by the Dodgers.
No surprise here.
The only surprise to me is that some actually had him on the 40-man!
The Dodgers have too many good young prospects to keep Suero.
Piazza was the best Dodgers hitter.
He and Tommy Davis were the two best I have seen.
As usual, I love your history lessons, Bear. One thing I love that seems to be more indicative of the past is great nicknames. Chris Berman did a yeoman’s effort , but that seemed more of an entertaining gimmick.
I was a Garvey kid when I started by Dodger obsession and he remains my favorite. But one of my favorite names from childhood reading was Wee Willie Keeler, great name and better ball player. I’d love it if players used nicknames more, like Lefty Grove.
Off the top of my head, in the current game, Marcus’s preferred moniker only comes to mind and his nickname could become one my favorites, especially since his initials are MLB…his Mother is awesome and I am glad I get to watch him play.
I loved the nicknames, most of the great ones were early in the last century. Tony “Poosh em up” Lazzeri. The Iron Horse, Ducky Medwick. Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown. One of my favorites was an infielder, Bob Ferguson. His nickname? ” Death to all flying things”. They don’t make them like that anymore. He got the nickname from his prowess as a fielder. Nothing in the air got by him. Snider was also called, The Silver Fox, Pee Wee was The Little Colonel. Of course, Stan the Man, Big D, The Left Arm of God, those are great too. Loved Randy Johnson being called The Big Unit. And Frank Thomas, the Big Hurt. Brooks Robinson, who passed away recently was known as Hoover.
Hi Bear. One of my favorite nicknames was “Dusty” Rhodes, even though he played for the Giants. He had a great season in 1954 and helped the Giants sweep the favorite Indians in the WS. He was used mostly as a PH.
how about Choo Choo Coleman?
I remember that guy, he was with the Mets. How about Dennis ” Oil Can” Boyd.
No question, Piazza was a great hitter, fun to watch. Then the Fox knuckleheads traded him. The face of the Dodgers gone. Part of that is on Peter O’Malley, who could have signed him for a lot less money, but decided to let whoever bought the team deal with it.
I really thought Matt Kemp was going to become one of LA’s best hitters ever until the injuries. Still, he had a good career and I wasn’t a big fan of the trade. Oh well.
As for Steve Garvey, his bat played up, part of a legendary infield, probably should be in the Hall of Fame. He’s the keynote speaker at the upcoming Senior Expo in Lancaster and just tossed his hat in the ring for California Senate race.
Those were great times to watch the Dodgers, always knew who was playing infield with Garvey at first, Lopes at second, Russell at short and Cey at third.
Fun look back, Bear.
Thanks Buff, I remember Beast Mode quite fondly. He hit some rockets when he was healthy. In the 2018 World Series, he hit the first of the Dodgers six homers in the series. For some unknown reason, Roberts used him sparingly the rest of the series.
Here we are again talking about the “good old days”, while watching D-backs, Astros, Phillies and Texas still competing to go to the World Series. LOL. At least, THANKFULLY , the tired old tsunami if excuses seems to be over.
It is called history, and to some of us, it is fun to look back on the guys we grew up watching. Also with so little Dodger news going on right now, it gives me a subject to write about. No one here gives a rats rear end about the four teams left playing.
Piazza was a beast with the bat, but he was not a great catcher. OK at best. Yeager and Scioscia were superior catchers. And the very best in Piazza’s time was Pudge Rodriguez.
But Piazza did have a great back story, with the Lasorda connection. Born to be a Dodger! It’s always heartening when a late draft pick turns out to a success. And Piazza was a HUGE success. (Suddenly remember Vin waxing about how the battery of Park and Piazza seemed like such a pleasant Saturday.)
I remember there was talk of the Dodgers shifting Piazza to LF because the strain of catching might shorten his career. Then the idiots traded him. There were worse trades, but I can’t recall a single trade that I hated more when I heard the news.
In other matters, I’m glad the D’backs avoided the steamroller.
No, “the idiots” didn’t trade him. The FUCKING ASSHOLE Chase Carey traded him. He didn’t know squat about baseball or know/care that it was obvious Piazza was destined for the Hall. I STILL cannot think of trading away a hitter of Piazza’s ability without anger and disgust coming on.
That Mike bears a grudge against the Dodgers for his contract dispute is a terrible shame. The Dodgers most definitely took a chance drafting him and gave him the opportunities that made him a rich and renown man didn’t enter into his thinking when selecting team to go into the Hall of Fame as still bothers me. He seemed/seems to be an angry man. What a shame.
Apparently he still carries a grudge against Vin (I never knew what Vin said that got to him so much) and it still baffles me all these years later.
From Friedman’s press conference the other day, he said his priority this offseason is getting pitching. My interpretation is: Budget – Pitching = Hitting.
How much is the budget? How much of that budget is going for getting pitching? Final step, how much is left for getting hitting? We don’t know the answers to the last 2 questions and that’s where our fun guesses/predictions come into play and how much free agents are going to cost and the cost of trades.
Budget – Pitching = Hitting.
Does anyone know how much Friedman has to spend? I guess that depends on who all leaves the team.
I think Id say the formula is:
(Remaining budget – Ohtani) – pitching = hitting
It is approximately $100 Million+, and they will still be under the luxury tax threshold.
That’s assuming no Kershaw, Martinez, Kelly, Lynn, Peralta, Heyward, et al.
If they’re willing to pass on Ohtani, that would give them enough room to sign Yamamoto, Hader, Korean outfielder Jung-hoo Lee (remember that name) and bring back JDM or JT to DH.
AF would never sign Hader (unless he wanted to take way below market).
He could sign Ohtani, Yamamoto, Lee, and Montgomery with that money.
Here’s one report on Lee:
Fangraphs has him with low game power but league average raw power. I’m guessing he can launch a meatball 400+ feet, but has more of a contact oriented approach. I’d anticipate he’ll be a 10-15 homer per year kind of guy, around .300 average with a walk rate higher than his strikeout rate. He did have one season (2022) in the KBO with 23 homers, but this year he was on pace for around 12 before his season was cut short due to injury. He does hit quite a few doubles and triples though.
Basically, his scouting report looks like the Cleveland Guardians wet dream. Great speed and defense, elite contact skills and a great eye, more of a line drive hitter that can stretch singles to doubles and doubles to triples.
How much are you figuring per year for Ohtani? I don’t think all those guys can be signed for $100MM.
Ohtani – $45 M, Montgomery – $20 M, Yamamoto – $18 Million, Lee – $17 Million = $100 M
I think you’re low on Ohtani and definitely on Yamamoto. Considering how desperate teams are for starting pitching, I’ll be very surprised if Yamamoto gets less than $25MM/year.
I guess we’ll know eventually.
I’d definitely like Hader and either Martinez or Turner.
I don’t know anything about the Japenese pitcher, but apparently he’s a starter and the Dodgers could use 2 top shelf starters. I don’t know if he’s considered top shelf because I don’t know anything about him.
Never heard of the Korean outfielder and how much he would cost, but I’m expecting at least 1 if not 2 outfield platoons and 0 or 1 infield platoon depending on where Betts plays.
Joc Pederson (probably not getting big money) would be a great platoon for DeLuca in the outfield. Someone said Joc is no longer an outfielder because of his gut. That must have came from someone with defense first/only philosophy because he’s not listed as a DH.
I highly doubt any big price hitter such as Ohtani and Bellinger coming to the Dodgers unfortunately. There is a budget and Friedman said in his press conference his priority is pitching, mainly starting pitching.
Then again, being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs 2 years in a row, I’m finding myself not caring much about who Friedman gets. Does it really matter?
Eric, I just checked on Joc’s baseball reference page. He played only 37 total games in the outfield this season. 31 in left, and 6 in right. He played parts of two games at first base. He was the DH in 79 games. As a starter, he only started 23 games in the outfield, all the others he was a sub. He started 72 games as a DH.
Oh wow I stand corrected and appologize to whoever told me he is no longer a full time outfielder.
I was a little surprised at the low number of games played out there. But I remember one game the Dodgers played up in Frisco, and he looked gassed chasing a ball off of the wall.
Tommy Davis was the best Dodger hitter. If he had not gotten hurt, it was HOF for sure!
I totally agree with that. Davis was a line drive hitter. He had some pop, but just hitting the ball hard somewhere was his biggest asset.
Gabe Kapler interviewed with Boston for the GM’s job. Kim Ng turned down a request to interview. MLBTR is reporting that the Giants are really interested in Bob Melvin as their next manager. But since he is under contract to the Padres, they need permission to interview him and probably would have to compensate the Padres if they signed him.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, a possible Yamamoto contract could reach the $160 million range. This would surpass the seven-year, $155 million contract that Masahiro Tanaka signed with the Yankees. That price may limit the number of contenders to sign him but these three teams could use him and have the money to pay up: Yankees, Mets, Red Sox.
I don’t see the Dodgers mentioned.
Which is it? They don’t need him or they can’t afford him?
I think you could also add the Rangers, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels and Phillies to that list.
Dodgers need starting pitching so apparently the Dodgers can’t afford him.
My question is how many years for 160 million?
To be clear on my thought, I’m not expecting Kershaw on the team in 2024.
Pay it. Stretch it out over years if needed.
I don’t mean to beat the drum on Ohtani, but isn’t he questionable about being a pitcher? And if so, do you really want to give him 45+ million dollars per year for god knows how long to just be a DH? DH is the easiest position to fill. Or can he play a position on the field?
According to most reports, he will not pitch again until 2025. But his arm is supposed to be healed by then. He fully expects to be back on the mound by then. My question has always been do they need to go to a six-man rotation when he does. Japanese pitchers are brought up pitching every sixth day. He has started over 20 games three times in his time in the majors. 23-28-23 the last three years.
Healed and ready to pitch in 25 is one thing. Being successful is another.
Exactly
I’ll be honest: I don’t watch much Texas Rangers baseball whatsoever, unless we’re playing then.
But man, watching Seager in these 3 rounds so far, I forgot just how good he was. I don’t fault him for leaving whatsoever, as he got paid, and he owed us nothing after being a World Series MVP.
But man, he’s so good. Damn.
Can’t argue Tommy Davis. Another hitter that I felt was going to get a hit was Pedro Guerrero. Unfortunately he couldn’t field and no DH. The dude was a hitting machine for LA.
Hard to believe that he played 11 years as a Dodger. His career BA in LA was .309. He hit 171 homers in LA. When he broke his leg at the end of spring training in 86, I knew the Dodgers were not going to contend for the pennant. And they didn’t. They finished fifth. I was not a huge fan of the trade that sent him to the Cardinals either. I couldn’t stand John Tudor and he turned out to be a bust, but by that time, Pedro was past his prime anyway. He was only 6 homers behind Piazza in career homers in LA. Muncy just passed him. He is 11th on the all-time list. 7th all-time in LA.
As much as I hate those ASStros and that little cheater, I have to begrudgingly give him his do
Little rat can hit, and he is clutch. Turner struck out with the tying run on second for the Phillies. Tied now. I still do not want to see the D-Backs win. I can’t stand that team.
They do both regular and post season! Why them and not us?
3 of the 4 teams remaining ended up with 90-72 record this year. Arizona less wins.
Are we really going to see the same 2 teams from last year in the World series again this year.
Baseball’s worst nightmare is a Houston-Arizona match up. Viewership is already down 12 percent. With football in full swing and the NBA getting ready to start and the NHL already started, fans have too many options. Lets not forget college football.
I just realized that I have a glaring omission from this list. Maybe one of the better hitters to ever play for the Dodgers. Pete Reiser. Pete hit .306 in his six years in Brooklyn. Amazing considering how many times he was injured. He was fearless and would crash into walls chasing fly balls. That would eventually end his career. His best year was 1941 when he hit .343. He was 22 years old. He hit .310 in 42 and then missed 43-45 due to military service. Pete was a natural and he also was one of the speediest players in the game.
TV ratings have steadied some since the playoffs moved to the championship rounds. But they are only averaging 5.2 million viewers. That is pretty pathetic.
Guardians interviewed Clayton McCullough for their managerial opening. Giants ask permission from the Red Sox to interview Jason Varitek for their manager’s position. Former Dodger, Luis Avilan retires. Mets released 6 players. Wil Venable declined to be interviewed for the Mets manager’s job.