Jackie, Sandy, and the Duke — an all-time Dodgers team

The baseball playoffs are down to a final four: the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. These are four of the sport’s most venerable franchises. So why not pick all-time teams (25 players and a manager) for each of them?

Doing so is a highly subjective exercise, of course. The biggest problem is comparing players who played well for a team for many years with those who played great for a much shorter period. But that’s part of the fun.

In some cases, we also have to consider steroids, I think. That’s not fun.

I’ll start with the first team to battle its way into the final four — the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starting nine:

C Roy Campanella — Piazza hit better but Campy was a better catcher and a three-time MVP.

1B Gil Hodges — Higher OPS than Garvey; more RBI and home runs

2B Jackie Robinson — No more needs to be said.

3B Ron Cey — Tenth on the Dodger RBI list; no Dodger third baseman is close.

SS Pee Wee Reese — All time Dodger leader in runs; second in hits.

OF Zack Wheat — Batted .317 during am 18-year Dodger career.

OF Duke Snider — All time team leader in RBI and home runs.

OF Carl Furillo — Based on longevity, mostly. Fourth in RBI and had that great arm.

P Sandy Koufax — No more needs to be said.

Reserves:

Mike Piazza

Steve Garvey

Dolph Camilli — Seventh in OPS; led the league in homers and RBI for ’41 pennant winners.

Davey Lopes

Maury Wills

Pedro Guerrero

Matt Kemp — One of two current Dodgers, but out of post-season due to injury.

Babe Herman — Fourth in OPS; those ahead of him played fewer games for the Bums.

Extra pitchers:

Don Drysdale

Don Sutton

Dazzy Vance

Orel Hershisher

Don Newcombe

Clayton Kershaw — The other current Dodger. He’s amazing.

Ron Perranoski

Eric Gagne — Canada’s contribution.

Manager:

Walter Alston — More wins than Lasorda, more championships, higher winning percentage.

NOTE: In the original version of this post I said “OBS” where I meant to say “OPS,” which means on-base percentage plus slugging percentage.

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