Hall of Fame Legends

Lore & Background

Founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and used other names before becoming the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932. The Dodgers broke the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884. From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers had a fierce crosstown rivalry with the New York Yankees. The clubs have faced each other in the World Series a record 11 times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before winning the franchise's first title (and only one in Brooklyn) in 1955. After 68 seasons in Brooklyn, Dodgers owner and president Walter O'Malley moved the franchise to Los Angeles before the 1958 season. The team played their first four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to their current home of Dodger Stadium in 1962. The Dodgers found immediate success in Los Angeles, winning the 1959 World Series. Success continued into the 1960s; their ace pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale helped win titles in 1963 and 1965. In 1956, Don Newcombe became the first player to win the Cy Young Award and be named NL MVP in the same season. In 1981, rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela became a sensation and led the team to a championship; he remains the only player to win the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season. The Dodgers were once again victorious in 1988, upsetting their heavily favored opponent in each series and becoming the only franchise to win multiple titles in the 1980s. The Dodgers later made 12 postseason appearances in a 17-year span, and they ended the championship drought in 2020. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani joined the Dodgers in 2024. With Ohtani, the Dodgers won consecutive World Series titles in 2024 and 2025, accomplishing a feat not seen since the Yankees' three-peat from 1998 to 2000.

In Their Own Story

The stadium lights hummed with a low electric buzz as an old man in a faded 1988 jersey leaned against the warning track railing. He closed his eyes, letting the phantom roar of the crowd wash over him—the deafening eruption for Koufax's perfect game, the collective gasp when Valenzuela stepped from the bullpen to ignite 'Fernandomania.' In his mind, the grass was impossibly green and the sky a bruised twilight blue; the ghosts weren't just memories, they were playing right now. He ran a hand over the steel where legends had once gripped it in anticipation, feeling the vibration of history thrum through the metal, knowing that while uniforms change, the spirit of these men never truly left the field.

Reader's Guide

The O'Malley family owned the Dodgers for 48 years before selling the club to Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group in 1998. Frank and Jamie McCourt bought the team in 2004; amid their divorce and the franchise's debts, Major League Baseball took over day-to-day operations and the Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011. Guggenheim Baseball Management purchased the club in 2012 for $2.15 billion, then the highest price ever paid for a North American professional sports franchise. Forbes and Sportico both rank the Dodgers second in value among Major League Baseball franchises, behind the New York Yankees. Thirteen players have been named NL MVP with the Dodgers. Eight Dodger pitchers have won a total of 12 Cy Young Awards—by far the most of any MLB franchise. The Dodgers boast 18 Rookie of the Year Award winners, twice as many as the next club. This includes four consecutive Rookies of the Year from 1979 to 1982 and five consecutive from 1992 to 1996. From 1884 through 2025, the Dodgers' record is 11,525–10,137–139 (.532). Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers' record is 5,901–4,857–6 (.548) through the end of 2025.

Did You Know?

• Don Drysdale threw 58 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968.
• Orel Hershiser pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings in a single regular season (1988).
• The New York Yankees have the most Hall of Famers, not the Dodgers.
• Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held out jointly in 1966 and signed separate contracts, not a single joint contract.