April 15th, 2021 at 9:00 am 
by 0799291000348 The Dodgers 1966 starting rotation of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, and Don Sutton is generally regarded as the greatest starting rotation in Dodgers franchise history – perhaps even in Major League Baseball history.
Koufax was the ace with a 27-9 win-loss record and a 1.73 ERA, Osteen went 17-14 and 2.85, the rookie Sutton was 12-12 and 2.99, and Drysdale was 13-16 and 3.42. Koufax, Drysdale, and Sutton would eventually be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown.
(AP photo)
How will the Dodgers 2021 starting rotation stack up with the 1966 group? Only time will tell, but after the first dozen regular-season games, the 5-man rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, and Dustin May has the potential of supplanting the 1966 quartet as the Dodgers greatest of all time (GOAT). While their early-season ERA’s are exceptional (May 0.87, Buehler 1.50, Bauer 2.70, Urias 2.84, and Kershaw 2.89), watching them dominate opposing teams’ hitters is even more impressive. This group of starting pitchers gives the Dodgers an excellent chance of winning every time they take the mound.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
There are still 150 regular-season games remaining in 2021. Only after the final out of the last one is recorded will we know for sure that this year’s starting rotation is worthy of the GOAT title.
What do you think Dodgers fans, 1966 or 2021? Or is there another Dodgers starting rotation deserving of this lofty title?
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Posted in 
@Dodgers I think the answer is shaping up to be “yes”. I’ve already told my son (13) that this will p… https://t.co/WKJZbt8qkJ
I was having a conversation with Jim Hill of CBS Sports in the press box the other day, and he asked me which Dodger team I had personally seen that I thought was the best. He was quite surprised when I told him this one – and I had personally witnessed every LA Dodger team since 1959, albeit as a youngster.
As far as the GOAT starting rotation, as Jesse notes, I will have to wait to see how this season plays out before putting anyone ahead of Drysdale and Koufax … but the potential is definitely there with this one.
@Dodgers Thinkin I might go with Koufax & Drysdale
Hard to argue with that choice considering that Sutton was also in that rotation and Osteen was a terrific pitcher for the Dodgers (3.09 ERA and 100 complete games). There was another young starting pitcher for the Dodgers that season, Joe Moeller (8 starts) with a sub 3.00 ERA.
Koufax was the GOAT by himself.
Drysdale was a Hall of Famer.
Osteen borderline HOF.
Sutton is in the Hall.
Don’t forget Ron Perranonski
He was way better than KJ.
1974
Messersmith 20-6 292 innings 259 era
Sutton 19-9 3.23 era 276 innings
T John 13-3 2.59 era
Ray 13-11 3.7 era
Good one, but you forgot the fifth starter — gentleman Al Downing with a 3.66 ERA. Doug Rau was a very good pitcher for Dodgers; never received the recognition he deserved
It’s still pretty early but things truly are looking good.
I will go with the 1966 rotation of Koufax, Drysdale, Osteen and Sutton. They were not only the keys to the Dodgers success that year, they also were part of the pennant winning team in 1965 when they beat the Twins in seven games.
That is the Dodgers starting rotation of my youth. “Those were the days,” as Archie Bunker used to say.