Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles.

Contents [hide]

1 Profile

2 Introduction

3 Rivalry

3.1 With San Francisco Giants

3.2 With Los Angeles Angels (Freeway Series)

3.3 With San Diego Padres

3.4 With New York Yankees (Subway Series)

3.5 With Houston Astros

4 See Also

5 External Link

Profile

Affiliation	National League
Ballpark	Dodger Stadium
World Series Titles	7
NL Pennants	24

Introduction

Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn, which in 1898 became a borough of New York City, the team joined the NL in 1890 as the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and assumed several other monikers before finally settling on the name Dodgers in 1932. From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers developed a fierce crosstown rivalry with the New York Yankees as the two clubs faced each other in the World Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before defeating them to win the franchise's first title in 1955. It was also during this period that the Dodgers made history by breaking the baseball color line in 1947 with the debut of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884. Another major milestone was reached in 1956 when Don Newcombe became the first player ever to win both the Cy Young Award and the NL MVP in the same season.

After 68 seasons in Brooklyn, Dodgers owner and president Walter O'Malley relocated 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 by winning the 1959 World Series, representing the franchise's first championship since moving to Los Angeles. Success continued into the 1960s with their one-two punch ace pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale being the cornerstones of two more titles in 1963 and 1965. During the 1980s, Mexican phenom pitcher Fernando Valenzuela quickly became a sensation—affectionately referred to as "Fernandomania"—when he led the team as a rookie to another championship in 1981. Valenzuela became the first and, to date, the only player to ever 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 first and only franchise to win multiple titles in the 1980s. After a 32-year drought, which included 12 postseason appearances in a 17-year span and eight consecutive division titles from 2013 to 2020, the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series.

One of the most successful and storied franchises in MLB, the Dodgers have won seven World Series championships and a record 24 National League pennants. Eleven NL MVP award winners have played for the Dodgers, winning a total of 14. Eight Cy Young Award winners have pitched for the club, winning a total of 12—by far the most of any Major League franchise. Additionally, 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 2022, the Dodgers' all-time record is 11,234–9,942 (.531).

Today, the Dodgers are among the most popular MLB teams, enjoying large fan support both at home and on the road; they are widely seen as the most dominant team in the National League in the present day. They maintain a fierce rivalry with the San Francisco Giants dating back to when the two clubs were based in New York City, as well as a more recent rivalry with the former National League member who recently become American League member, the Houston Astros due to their role as the victims of the Astros' sign stealing scandal in the 2017 World Series. As of 2022, Forbes ranks the Dodgers second in MLB franchise valuation at $4.075 billion.

Rivalry

With San Francisco Giants

The Dodgers–Giants rivalry is one of the longest-standing rivalries in U.S. baseball.

The feud between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City, with the Dodgers playing in Brooklyn and the Giants playing at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. After the 1957 season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley moved the team to Los Angeles for financial and other reasons. Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham—who was considering moving his team to Minnesota—to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California as well. New York baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move. Given that the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have been bitter rivals in economic, cultural, and political arenas for over a century and a half, the new venue in California became fertile ground for its transplantation.

Each team's ability to endure for over a century while moving across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's leap from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in American sports history.

Unlike many other historic baseball match-ups in which one team remains dominant for most of their history, the Dodgers–Giants rivalry has exhibited a persistent balance in the respective successes of the two teams. While the Giants have more wins in franchise history, the Dodgers have the most National League pennants at 24, with the Giants following close behind at 23. The Giants have won eight World Series titles, while the Dodgers have won seven. The 2010 World Series was the Giants' first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers had won six World Series titles since their move, their last title coming in the 2020 World Series.

With Los Angeles Angels (Freeway Series)

The rivalry refers to a series of games played with the Los Angeles Angels. The Freeway Series takes its name from the massive freeway system in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, the home of both teams; one could travel from one team's stadium to the other simply by traveling along Interstate 5. The term is akin to Subway Series which refers to meetings between New York City baseball teams. The term "Freeway Series" also inspired the official name of the region's NHL rivalry: the Freeway Face-Off.

Animosity between the team's fanbases grew stronger in 2005, when the Angels' new team owner Arte Moreno changed the name of his ball club from the 'Anaheim Angels', to the 'Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim'. Since the city of Anaheim is located roughly 30 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, the Angels franchise was ridiculed throughout the league for the contradictory nature surrounding the name, especially by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who filed a formal complaint to commissioner Bud Selig. Once the complaint was denied, McCourt devised a t-shirt mocking the crosstown rivals reading 'The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles', which remains popular amongst the fanbase to this day.

With the introduction of interleague play in the 1997 season, the Angels and Dodgers played each other in the regular season for the first time with a two-game series beginning on June 17 at Dodger Stadium. A bench-clearing brawl occurred during a June 1999 series between the two teams when Angels pitcher Tim Belcher tagged out Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park after his at-bat, leading to an exchange of words that was followed by Park punching and kicking Belcher. Park was ejected from the game and subsequently suspended for seven games.

With San Diego Padres

Padres-Dodgers rivalry has often been lopsided in favor of the Dodgers; however, recent growth between the two teams in competition has added intensity on top of proximity between Los Angeles and San Diego. San Diego fans have often harbored animosity towards Los Angeles due in small part to San Diego being an unstable home for their sports teams as both the Chargers and the Clippers both relocated to Los Angeles after being unable to find a secure future in San Diego.

The Dodgers currently lead the series 506-412, with the two teams meeting in the playoffs twice. The Dodgers swept the Padres in the 2020 NLDS, and the Padres won in four games in the 2022 NLDS.

With New York Yankees (Subway Series)

The Dodgers–Yankees rivalry is one of the most well-known rivalries in Major League Baseball. The two teams have met eleven times in the World Series, more times than any other pair from the American and National Leagues. The initial significance was embodied in the two teams' proximity in New York City, when the Dodgers initially played in Brooklyn. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the rivalry retained its significance as the two teams represented the dominant cities on each coast of the United States, and since the 1980s, the two largest cities in the United States.

Although the rivalry's significance arose from the two teams' numerous World Series meetings, the Yankees and Dodgers have not met in the World Series since 1981. They would not play each other in a non-exhibition game until 2004, when they played a three-game interleague series. Their last meeting was in August 2019, when the Yankees won two out of three games in Los Angeles.

With Houston Astros

The series between the Dodgers and the Houston Astros had initially begun as a divisional matchup but following Houston's realignment to the American League, the rivalry regained intensity as the two teams played one another in the 2017 World Series in which the Astros controversially won the championship in 7 games. Animosity was quick to grow further after the Astros' widely publicized sign stealing scandal had drawn negative attention to the organization after it was revealed the team had utilized a complex system to steal pitch signs, including during the 2017 World Series. As a result of the scandal, hostility grew immensely between the two teams and their fans. The Dodgers lead the all time series 400-334, both teams are tied in postseason wins 6-6.