Los Angeles Dodgers - The Beginning Years in LA (1958-1969)

Dodgers
Home
Click
on Logo

1960

Decade

102

Click

on Log

Titles:

Top Dodgers Players of the Early LA Years

World Champs 1959 (beat White Sox)

World Champs 1963 (beat Yankees)

Pitchers:

World Champs 1965 (beat Twins)

Don Drysdale (53.6) - 126

NL Champs 1966 (lost to Orioles)

Sandy Koufax (51.32) - 104

Claude Osteen (16.15) - 53

BallPark:

Johnny Podres (19.01) - 51

The Coliseum (1958-1961)

Ron Perranoski (14.91) - 36

Chavez Ravine (1962-1969)

Bill Singer (12.21) - 30

Don Sutton (9.82) - 29

Team Name:

Stan Williams (12.01) - 29

Dodgers

Larry Sherry (6.48) - 17

Phil Regan (6.09) - 14

Owner:

Jim Brewer (7.97) - 14

Walter O'Malley

Bob Miller (5.44) - 11

General Manager:

Catchers:

Buzzy Bavasi (1960-1968)

John Roseboro (22.33) - 80

Fresco Thompson (1968)

Tom Haller (6.84) - 15

Al Campanis (1969)

First Basemen:

Managers:

Ron Fairly (12.94) - 34

Walter Alston

Wes Parker (13.4) - 31

Gil Hodges (3.67) - 17

No Hitters:

Norm Larker (4.85) - 16

Sandy Koufax (1962)

Dick Nen (0.1) - 0

Sandy Koufax (1963)

Sandy Koufax (1964)

Second Base:

Sandy Koufax (1965)

Charlie Neal (5.76) - 22

Hall of Famers:

ShortStop:

Don Sutton

Maury Wills (28.79) - 103

Gil Hodges

Don Zimmer (0.27) - 13

Don Drysdale

Sandy Koufax

Third Base:

Pee Wee Reese

Junior Gilliam (23.48) - 50

Duke Snider

Jim Lefebvre (15.41) - 20

Maury Wills (Pending)

Outfield:

Rookie of the Year

Willie Davis (34.57) - 107

Frank Howard (1960)

Tommy Davis (16.19) - 52

Jim Lefebvre (1965)

Wally Moon (12.65) - 33

Ted Sizemore (1969)

Frank Howard (10.85) - 28

Duke Snider (7.79) - 23

MVP

Lou Johnson (6.63) - 22

Maury Wills (1962)

Sandy Koufax (1963)

Notable Events:

Cy Young

1962 - The Dodgers and Giants tie for first place. It was the Dodgers'

Don Drysdale (1962)

fourth playoff in eighteen years (1946, 1951, 1959, 1962).

Sandy Koufax (1963)

The Giants win in three games. the third time that the Dodgers lose one

Sandy Koufax (1965)

of these in that eighteen year span.

Sandy Koufax (1966)

1963 - LA wins the pennant and then sweeps the Yanks in the World Series

Notable Events:

This obviously never would have happened if they were still in Brooklyn.

The stars of this team were the still young pitchers Koufax, Drysdale

1958 - In Brooklyn, the club had one of the most successful runs in baseball

and Podres plus relief ace Perranoski and speedsters Wills, Willie

history leading up to the move to LA, having won 6 pennants and losing three

Davis and Tommy Davis This group plus Claude Osteen and Phil

more pennants on the last day of the season in the preceding twelve years.

Regan will be the stars of the '65 & '66 pennant winning squads.

1958 - The Dodgers open up their tenure in Los Angeles playing in the

1964 - Righthander Bill Singer, 20, is a rookie. He was signed three

Coliseum

years earlier.

1958 - LA brings up four youngsters who will be a big part of the club

1964 - Lefty reliever Jim Brewer, 26, is stolen from the Cubs for Dick Scott.

moving forward:

You would think that the Cubs would have learned something after the

□ first baseman Ron Fairly, 19, signed in 1958

Perranoski deal. The Dodgers had been fleecing the Cubs for decades.

□ outfielder Frank Howard, 21, 6 foot 7 basketball All American at Ohio State

□ righty reliever Larry Sherry, 22, signed in 1953

1965 - Lefthander Claude Osteen, 25. is obtained in a huge deal with

□ righthhander Stan Williams, 21, signed in 1954

Washington. At first, the general consensus was that the Dodgers

were out of their minds to make this deal. They gave up slugger

1959 - Two more big time youngsters are brought up by LA, as the changing

Frank Howard (who altho' he was very talented was completely

of the guard from the Ebbets field sluggers to the LA speedsters gains

opposite of the type of player needed in Chavez Ravine), excellent

momentum:

young third baseman Ken McMullen and two top young pitching

□ Outfielder Tommy Davis, 20, signed in 1956 -

prospects in lefty Pete Richert and righthander Phil Ortega.

he would win two batting titles with LA

It turns out that Bavasi knew exactly what he was doing as Osteen

□ shortstop Maury Wills, 26, originally signed in 1951

would be a valuable member of the Dodger rotation for years

with an odyssey taking him thru the Tigers and Reds organizations before

to come as he turned the Dodges big two into a big three.

coming back to the Dodgers. Maury would revolutionize the game winning

six consecutive stolen base titles including a record (since broken)

1965 - The Dodgers win the World Series beating the Twins

104 steals in 1962.

1966 - Future Hall of Fame righthander Don Sutton, 21, is a rookie.

1959 - Los Angeles and the Braves tie for first place.

He was signed in '64 out of USC.

LA then beats the Braves 2-0 in a playoff before proceeding to beat the

White sox in the World Series 4-2

1966 - The Tigers are fleeced for ace righty reliever Phil Regan, 29.

This is a very different team than the Brooklyn squad that dominated the

He is obtained for utility infielder Dick Traceowski.

National League in the Fifties. GM Buzzy Bavasi didn't have time to do

much of a re-tooling job. LA was fortunate, that at this point of time,

1966 - Righty Charlie Hough, 18, is an 8th round pick in the draft.

the whole league was in transition, particularly Milwaukee, and that there

He comes up in '70

were no dominant clubs to challenge at the moment.

It allowed the Pirates to sneak in as champs in 1960, the Reds in 1961,

1966 - Shortstop Bill Russell, 17, is a 9th round pick in the draft.

and the Giants in 1962 before the Dodgers would restore order with a

He comes up in '69

completely re-tooled team by 1963.

The 1959 team had a runs scored/given up ratio that would have only

1966 - Los Angeles wins the pennant on the final day of the season,

predicted a mundane 80-74 mark.

but then gets swept by the Orioles in the World Series.

Superior relief pitching from Larry Sherry, 22, Roger Craig, 29,

Stan Williams, 22, Clem Labine, 32 and Danny McDevitt, 26, allowed

1967 - Catcher Steve Yeager, 18, is a 4th round pick in the draft.

the Dodgers to win an inordinate share of the close ones.

He comes up in '72

The staff was led by three young and talented starters:

Johnny Podres, 26, Don Drysdale, 22, and Sandy Koufax, 23.

1967 - Sandy Koufax retires after the 1966 season with an arthritic elbow.

Craig, Labine, Podres and Drysdale had been big contributors in

His retirement instantly marks the end of the Dodgers dominance in the

Brooklyn, the rest were new.

National League.They had won ten pennants in the previous twenty years.

The offense, meanwhile, was way behind where it was in Brooklyn,

Additionally, they had either lost the pennant on the last day of the

altho those clubs set an impossibly high bar.

season or lost a playoff after being tied for first place at the end of the

Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese were gone.

regular season on five more occasions.

Their replacements, Charlie Neal, 28, John Roseboro, 26, and

That's fifteen of twenty one seasons that the Dodgers had either won

Don Zimmer, 28 weren't nearly as good.

the pennant or were there on the last day, By comparison, in the

Carl Furillo, 37, was no longer starting, replaced by Don Demeter, 24.

American League, the Yankees also were right there fifteen times during

1B Gil Hodges, 35, and CF Duke Snider, 32, were showing their age.

that same stretch - the difference being that the Yankees won the

Only LF Wally Moon, 29, was an upgrade over the Brooklyns.

pennant all fifteen times that they were that close and the Yankees

also won ten World Series (including five of seven against the Dodgers)

1960 - Centerfielder Willie Davis, 20, is a rookie. A vastly underrated

while the Dodgers "only" managed to win four World Series in that span.

player by everyone except the Dodgers, he was the perfect player for

Chavez Ravine. He could cover tons of space in centerfield, he was

1968 - GM Buzzy Bavasi leaves a parting gift for the Dodgers before

a force on the basepaths, altho' overshadowed by Wills' exploits,

moving on to San Diego to start up the Padres franchise.

and he was a decent hitter with a bit of power.

Here's some of his picks in the '68 draft:

□ #1 - first baseman Steve Garvey, 19, comes up in '69

1961 - The Dodgers had a succession of outstanding relievers in the Sixties.

□ #2 - outfielder Bill Buckner, 19, comes up in '69

Most of whom they stole from other clubs in lopsided deals.

□ #2 - supplemental draft - second baseman Davey Lopes, 23,

The first was Larry Sherry, who was the only home grown one.

he came up in '72

The next was lefthander Ron Perranoski, 25, who was pilfered from

□ #3 - third baseman Ron Cey, 20, comes up in '71

the Cubs in exchange for Don Zimmer.

□ #5 - lefthander Geoff Zahn, 22, comes up in '73

□ #8 - catcher Joe Ferguson, 21, comes up in '70

1962 - Chavez Ravine opens. It is a ballpark where pitching,

defense and speed rule.

1969 - Al Campanis takes over as Dodgers GM. As good as Bavasi was,

there is no dropoff in quality in the front office with Campanis at

1962 - OF Tommy Davis, 23, emerges as a star with a 27-153-.346

the helm. Owner Walter O'Malley had a great eye for management

line and 18 SB. He wins the batting title and repeats

talent.

with a .326 average in '63.