April 14th, 2020 at 8:30 am 
by Ron Cervenka Ask 10 Dodger fans who their all-time favorite Dodger is and chances are exceptionally good that you will get 10 different answers. Chances are also exceptionally good that those 10 answers will be generation-based.
Although every current Dodger fan undoubtedly has a current favorite Dodger player, there are but a handful of Dodger players who have stood the test of time as the best-of-the-best over the franchise’s storied 137-year history, 74 years in Brooklyn and (hopefully) soon-to-be 63 years in Los Angeles.
It goes without saying that all eight former Dodger players (plus two former Dodger managers) who have had their numbers retired were indeed among those best-of-the-best. They are (with the dates their numbers were retired):
| 1 | Pee Wee Reese | July 1, 1984 |
| 2 | Tommy Lasorda (Mgr) | August 15, 1997 |
| 4 | Duke Snider | July 6, 1980 |
| 19 | Jim Gilliam | Oct. 10, 1978 |
| 20 | Don Sutton | August 14, 1998 |
| 24 | Walter Alston (Mgr) | June 5, 1977 |
| 32 | Sandy Koufax | June 4, 1972 |
| 39 | Roy Campanella | June 4, 1972 |
| 42 | Jackie Robinson | June 4, 1972 |
| 53 | Don Drysdale | July 1, 1984 |
Recently, popular Dodgers beat writer Ken Gurnick posted a poll for fans to vote for their all-time favorite Dodgers lineup, beginning with third base:
Although voting will remain open through Thursday, the early returns are as follows and may be surprising to some:
- Ron Cey 36.9%
- Justin Turner 33.9%
- Adrian Beltre 26.8%
- Jim Gilliam 2.4%
I say ‘surprising’ because this indeed tends to support that generation-based thing … sort of.
Among the four third base choices offered to Dodgers fans by Gurnick is Jim Gilliam who, as noted above, is one of the eight former Dodger players (and the only third baseman) to have his number retired. That being said, he is also the only former Dodger to have his number retired who is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame; a frequent (and controversial) topic among older Dodger fans who, to this day, still cannot understand why Gil Hodges and Fernando Valenzuela have not had their numbers retired by the Dodgers and even more so are not in the sacred Halls of Cooperstown.
In his 14-year Dodgers career (five in Brooklyn and nine in LA), Gilliam posted a non-Cooperstown-worthy slash line of .265 / .360 / .355 / .715 with a career fielding percentage of .952 in his 761 games as the Dodgers third baseman.
By contrast, Cey finished his 12 years as the Dodgers everyday third baseman with a slash line of .264 / .359 / .445 / .804 and a FPCT of .961; Beltre with a seven-year Dodgers slash line of .271 / .332 / .463 / .794 with a FPCT of .951; and Turner with a current six-year Dodgers career slash line of .302 / .381 / .506 / .887 and a current FPCT of .981.
Additionally, Gilliam was a two-time All-Star and the 1953 NL Rookie of the Year as a Dodger; Cey a six-time All-Star and the 1981 World Series co-MVP as a Dodger; Beltre a one-time Silver Slugger as a Dodger; and Turner a one-time All-Star as a Dodger. That being said, since leaving the Dodgers after the 2004 season, Beltre went on to appear in four All-Star Games, win five Gold Gloves, win four Silver Sluggers, and win two Platinum Gloves with the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, and Texas Rangers collectively … so there’s that.
(AP photo)
Obviously, Gurnick’s all-time lineup poll is just getting started, so we won’t know who Dodger fans will consider the best-of-the-best at their respective positions for quite some time. However, this most certainly does not preclude each of you from sharing with us who your own personal all-time favorite Dodger is.
So, who is it, and why?
Play Ball!
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@Dodgers Duke Snider, my idol when growing up.
@Dodgers The great Sandy Koufax!
Always and forever, the greatest of all time, Sandy Koufax.
@Dodgers You know who mine is and always will be 💙⚾️💙
I’m thinking you might be a little biased for a youngster named Dustin May.
Always and forever Sandy
Who else? Of course Sandy Koufax. My second choice would be Gil Hodges
@Dodgers Since I was a little kid @OrelHershiser has been my guy! Always tried to pitch like Orel with my dad haha! #bulldog
I trust you noticed that ‘Bulldog’ liked your comment on Twitter.
👍👊✋
Sandy Koufax is my greatest Dodger of all time. When I saw him pitch in Dodger Stadium in the early ’60’s I would sit on the third base side, right behind the Dodger dugout, about 10 to 12 rows behind. Koufax fastball was so fast I could not see the pitch without getting up and walking up the the main aisle and stand there right in line with his pitch where I could see it. He was the best, no question, of all time !!! Four no-hitters and one perfect game, come on, who is better than that?
I only got to see Sandy pitch live once. I only got to sit behind home plate (second deck) once. Fortunately, both happened the same game.
The only way to watch Sandy pitch.
Loved watching Orel (saw him pitch against Nolan Ryan in 88) and Fernando, but my favorite has to be Sandy. So dominant, a class act, and a lefty, like me! Loved hearing Joe Morgan talk about him. He said you could tell if you had a shot of getting the bat on the ball just by watching him warm up!
@Dodgers Garvey is my childhood favorite. But I respect and admire Koufax for his religious convictio… https://t.co/5vvZgm5htR
Sandy of names given. And as a player. But everything considered vince
Their have been so many great (and popular) players on the Dodgers it’s really tough to choose, but my all time favorite is should-be Hall of Famer Maury Wills. How many players change the way the game is played (not counting Houston A’holes)?
Maury was one of only two official Dodger captains and he took his duties very seriously.
I learned a lot that made me respect Maury even more from the book “The Last Innocents” (thank you, Ron).
Brooklyn favorite – Duke Snider; followed closely by Roy Campanella.
Los Angeles favorite – Sandy Koufax
@Dodgers Mine will always be Wes Parker When I discovered I could get Dodger games late at night up… https://t.co/DM1YSv77uq
I always liked Wes, too.
Sandy Koufax because, dude, Sandy Koufax!
But I really miss Drysdale. He was so fun to watch and I really enjoyed listening to his broadcasts – especially when the umps would issue a warning for throwing inside. Man, he would just rail: “You can’t take the inside of the plate away from a pitcher!”
Scully once told a story that he’d heard from Drysdale. It was late in a game on a hot night and Don was getting tired. The signal came to issue an intentional walk. Drysdale didn’t want to waste the effort to make four pitches, so he reared back and plunked the guy.
That was Don!
@Dodgers Sandy.
Sandy Koufax. Because he is the greatest pitcher in the history of Baseball and a outstanding human being as well!
It’s gotta be the wild man Mickey Hatcher!
HATCH! – The leader of “The Stuntmen!”
Sandy Koufax and Chase Utley
Its hard to pick A FAVORITE after all these years. As a youngster I remember Carl Furillo, but as the years went by, I found myself just rooting for the name in front of the uniform.
All-time favorite = Mike Scioscia. Tough behind the plate, saved 1988 with homer vs Mets in nlcs, and yeah, I grew up in the eighties (I remember when Jack Clark knocked him out in a collision, but Scioscia held onto the ball). Greatest of all-time must be Sandy, but I never saw him, followed be Kersh.
Davey Lopes and Penguin.