| Los Angeles Dodgers | |||||
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 2025 Los Angeles Dodgers season | |||||
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| Major league affiliations | |||||
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| Current uniform | |||||
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| Major league titles | |||||
| World Series titles(9) | |||||
| NLPennants(26) | |||||
| AA Pennants (1) | 1889 | ||||
| West Division titles(23) | |||||
| Chronicle-Telegraph Cup (1) | |||||
| Wild card berths(3) | |||||
| Front office | |||||
| Principal owners | Guggenheim Baseball Management Mark Walter (chairman)[4][5] | ||||
| President | Stan Kasten | ||||
| President of baseball operations | Andrew Friedman | ||||
| General manager | Brandon Gomes | ||||
| Manager | Dave Roberts | ||||
| Website | mlb.com/dodgers | ||||
TheLos Angeles Dodgers are an American professionalbaseball team based inLos Angeles. The Dodgers compete inMajor League Baseball (MLB) as a member of theNational League (NL)West Division. One of the most successful and storied franchises in MLB, the Dodgers have won nineWorld Series championships and a record 26National League pennants. As of 2024,Forbes ranked the Dodgers second in MLB franchise valuation at $5.45 billion.[6]
Founded in 1883 inBrooklyn, New York, the team joined the NL in 1890 as theBrooklyn Bridegrooms and used other names before becoming theBrooklyn Dodgers in 1932.[7][8][9] The Dodgers broke thebaseball color line in 1947 with the debut ofJackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Leagues since 1884.[10] From the 1940s through the mid-1950s, the Dodgers had a fierce crosstownrivalry with theNew York Yankees. The clubs have faced each other in theWorld Series seven times, with the Dodgers losing the first five matchups before winning the franchise's first title in1955.
After 68 seasons in Brooklyn, Dodgers owner and presidentWalter O'Malley movedthe franchise to Los Angeles before the 1958 season.[11] The team played their first four seasons at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to their current home ofDodger Stadium in 1962.[12] The Dodgers found immediate success in Los Angeles, winning the1959 World Series. Success continued into the 1960s; their ace pitchersSandy Koufax andDon Drysdale helped win titles in1963 and1965. In 1956,Don Newcombe became the first player to win theCy Young Award and be namedNL MVP in the same season.[13] In1981, rookie pitcherFernando Valenzuela became a sensation and led the team to a championship; he remains the only player to win the Cy Young andRookie of the Year awards in the same season.[14] The Dodgers were once again victorious in1988, upsetting their heavily favored opponent in each series and becoming the only franchise to win multiple titles in the 1980s.[15] Next came a 32-year championship drought, despite 12 postseason appearances in a 17-year span and eight consecutive division titles from 2013 to 2020. It was broken when the Dodgers won the2020 World Series.[16] Two-way superstarShohei Ohtani joined the Dodgers in 2024, who led the team to consecutive World Series titlesthat season and in2025 while setting league and franchise records along the way.[17][18]
Eleven players have been named NL MVP with the Dodgers. Eight Dodger pitchers have won a total of 12 Cy Young Awards—by far the most of any MLB franchise. 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 2025, the Dodgers' record is11,525–10,137–139 (.532). Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers' record is5,901–4,857–6 (.548) through the end of 2025.[19]
The Dodgers have a wide fanbase[20][21][22] and have historically been one of the National League's most dominant teams.[23][24] Theirrivalry with theSan Francisco Giants has spanned three centuries and distinct eras as a New York City cross-town affair and a California cross-state rivalry.
The club was formed, as the Brooklyn Baseball Association, in 1883, when it played in the Interstate League.[25] It joined the major leagueAmerican Association in 1884, and theNational League in 1890.[26]
Although the team had no official nickname until 1932, they were informally nicknamed the Bridegrooms in the team's earliest years, then the Superbas around the turn of the century, and then the Robins (named after managerWilbert Robinson). In the early 1900s, sportswriterCharles Dryden nicknamed the team the Trolley Dodgers after the Brooklyn pedestrians whododged streetcars in the city, and the Dodgers nickname was used contemporaneously with Superbas and Robins. In 1932, the team allowed the Brooklyn baseball writers to select a permanent name, and the writers chose Dodgers on January 22, 1932. The only other nickname seriously considered by the writers was Kings.[27][28]
In 1941, the Dodgers captured their thirdNational League pennant, only to lose to theNew York Yankees. This marked the onset of theDodgers–Yankees rivalry, as the Dodgers would face them in their next sixWorld Series appearances. Led byJackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era; and three-time National League Most Valuable PlayerRoy Campanella, also signed out of the Negro leagues, the Dodgers captured their firstWorld Series title in 1955 by defeating the Yankees for the first time, a story described in the 1972 bookThe Boys of Summer.
After the1957 season, the team left Brooklyn. In just their second season in Los Angeles, the Dodgers won their second World Series title, beating the Chicago White Sox in six games in 1959. Spearheaded by the dominant pitching ofSandy Koufax andDon Drysdale, the Dodgers captured three pennants in the 1960s and won two more World Series titles, sweeping the Yankees in four games in 1963, and edging the Minnesota Twins in seven in 1965. The 1963 sweep was their second victory against the Yankees, and their first against them as a Los Angeles team. The Dodgers won more pennants in 1966, 1974, 1977, and 1978, but lost in each World Series appearance. They won the World Series again in 1981 behind pitching sensationFernando Valenzuela; the early 1980s were affectionately dubbed "Fernandomania".
In 1988, another pitching hero,Orel Hershiser, led them to a World Series victory, aided by one of the most memorable home runs of all time: star outfielderKirk Gibson, injured in both knees, came off the bench to pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 1, in his only appearance of the series. Their next pennant came in 2017, aided by aJustin Turner walk-off home run, 29 years to the day after Gibson's. They lost the Series in seven games to the Houston Astros, which would later be revealed to have beenstealing signs. The Dodgers repeated as pennant-winners in 2018 but lost the Series to the Boston Red Sox in 5 games. They took the pennant in 2020 in a season shortened by theCOVID-19 pandemic to 60 games, and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the Series in 6 games. The Dodgers returned to the World Series in 2024, defeating the New York Yankees in 5 games. They returned to the World Series as defending champions in 2025, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in 7 games.
The Dodgers share a fiercerivalry with theSan Francisco Giants, dating back the franchises' time in New York City. Both teams moved west for the 1958 season.[29] The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have appeared in the World Series 22 times, while the New York/San Francisco Giants have appeared in the World Series 20 times. The Dodgers have won nine World Series titles, and the Giants eight. When the two teams were based in New York, the Giants won five World Series championships, and the Dodgers one. Since the move toCalifornia, the Dodgers have won eight World Series while the Giants have won three.
In Brooklyn, the Dodgers won the NL pennant 12 times (1890,1899,1900,1916,1920,1941,1947,1949,1952,1953,1955,1956) and the World Series in 1955. After moving to Los Angeles, the team won National League pennants in1959,1963,1965,1966,1974,1977,1978,1981,1988,2017,2018,2020,2024, and2025 with World Series championships in1959,1963,1965,1981,1988,2020,2024 and2025. In all, the Dodgers have appeared in 22 World Series: nine in Brooklyn and 13 in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers were founded in 1883 as theBrooklyn Atlantics, borrowing the name of adefunct team that had played in Brooklyn before them. The team joined theAmerican Association in 1884 and won the AA championship in 1889 before joining theNational League in 1890. They promptly won the NL Championship in their first year in the League. The team was known alternatively as theBridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Robins andTrolley Dodgers, before officially becoming theBrooklyn Dodgers in the 1930s.
For most of the first half of the 20th century, no Major League Baseball team employed an African American player.Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play for a Major League Baseball team when he played his first major league game on April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.[30] This was mainly due to general managerBranch Rickey's efforts. The deeply religious Rickey's motivation appears to have been primarily moral, although business considerations were also a factor. Rickey was a member ofThe Methodist Church, the antecedent denomination toThe United Methodist Church of today, which was a strong advocate forsocial justice and active later in theAmerican Civil Rights Movement.[31]
This event was the harbinger of the integration of professional sports in the United States, the concomitant demise of theNegro leagues, and is regarded as a key moment in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. Robinson was an exceptional player, a speedyrunner who sparked the team with his intensity. He was the inaugural recipient of theRookie of the Year award, which is now named the Jackie Robinson Award in his honor. The Dodgers' willingness to integrate, when most other teams refused to, was a key factor in their 1947–1956 success. They won six pennants in those 10 years with the help of Robinson, three-time MVPRoy Campanella, Cy Young Award winnerDon Newcombe,Jim Gilliam andJoe Black. Robinson would eventually go on to become the first African-American elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
Real estate investorWalter O'Malley acquired majority ownership of the Dodgers in 1950 when he bought the 25 percent share of co-ownerBranch Rickey and became allied with the widow of another equal partner,Mrs. John L. Smith. Shortly afterwards, he was working to buy new land in Brooklyn to build a more accessible and profitable ballpark than the agingEbbets Field. Beloved as it was, Ebbets Field was no longer well-served by its aging infrastructure and the Dodgers could no longer sell out the park even in the heat of a pennant race, despite largely dominating the National League from 1946 to 1957.
O'Malley wanted to build anew, state-of-the-art stadium in Brooklyn. But City PlannerRobert Moses and New York politicians refused to grant him the eminent domain authority required to build pursuant to O'Malley's plans. To put pressure on the city, during the 1955 season, O'Malley announced that the team would play seven regular-season games and one exhibition game at Jersey City'sRoosevelt Stadium in 1956.[32] Moses and the City considered this an empty threat, and did not believe O'Malley would go through with moving the team from New York City.
After teams began to travel to and from games by air instead of train, it became possible to include locations in the far west. Los Angeles officials attended the1956 World Series looking to theWashington Senators to move to the West Coast. When O'Malley heard that LA was looking for a club, he sent word to the Los Angeles officials that he was interested in talking. LA offered him what New York would not: a chance to buy land suitable for building a ballpark, and own that ballpark, giving him complete control over all revenue streams. When the news came out, NYC MayorRobert F. Wagner, Jr. and Moses made an offer to build a ballpark on the World's Fair Grounds inQueens that would be shared by the Giants and Dodgers. However, O'Malley was interested in his park under only his conditions, and the plans for a new stadium in Brooklyn seemed like a pipe dream. O'Malley decided to move the Dodgers to California, convincing Giants ownerHorace Stoneham to move to San Francisco instead of Minneapolis to keep the Giants-Dodgers rivalry alive on the West Coast.[32] They were the first MLB teams both west and south ofSt. Louis.
The Dodgers played their final game at Ebbets Field on September 24, 1957, which theDodgers won 2–0 over thePittsburgh Pirates.
New York remained a one-team town with theNew York Yankees until 1962, whenJoan Payson founded theNew York Mets and brought National League baseball back to the city. The blue background used by the Dodgers was adopted by the Mets, honoring their New York NL forebears with a blend of Dodgers blue and Giants orange.[33]
The Dodgers were the first Major League Baseball team to ever play in Los Angeles. On April 18, 1958, the Dodgers played their first Los Angeles game, defeating the former New York and now newSan Francisco Giants, 6–5, before 78,672 fans at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum. CatcherRoy Campanella, left partially paralyzed in an off-season accident, was never able to play in Los Angeles.
Construction onDodger Stadium was completed in time for Opening Day 1962. With its clean, simple lines and its picturesque setting amid hills and palm trees, the ballpark quickly became an icon of the Dodgers and their new California lifestyle. O'Malley was determined that there would not be a bad seat in the house, achieving this bycantilevered grandstands that have since been widely imitated. More importantly for the team, the stadium's spacious dimensions, along with other factors, gave defense an advantage over offense and the Dodgers moved to take advantage of this by assembling a team that would excel with itspitching.
Since moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have won twelve more National League Championships and seven moreWorld Series rings.[34] The Dodgers have had only threetop-five draft picks since theMLB Draft was introduced in1965, and have had one top-ten pick (Clayton Kershaw, No. 7) since 1985.[35]
The Dodgers' official history reports that the term "Trolley Dodgers" was attached to the Brooklyn ballclub due to thecomplex maze of trolley cars that weaved its way through the borough of Brooklyn.[36]
In 1892, the city of Brooklyn (Brooklyn was an independent city until annexed by New York City in 1898) began replacing its slow-moving, horse-drawn trolley lines with the faster, more powerful electric trolley lines.[37] Within less than three years, by the end of 1895, electric trolley accidents in Brooklyn had resulted in more than 130 deaths and maimed well over 500 people.[38] Brooklyn's high profile, the significant number of widely reported accidents, and a trolley strike in early 1895, combined to create a strong association in the public's mind between Brooklyn and trolley dodging.[37]
Sportswriters started using the name "Trolley Dodgers" to refer to the Brooklyn team early in the 1895 season.[39] The name was shortened to, on occasion, the "Brooklyn Dodgers" as early as 1898.[40]
Sportswriters in the early 20th century began referring to the Dodgers as the "Bums", in reference to the team's fans and possibly because of the "street character" nature of Jack Dawkins, the "Artful Dodger" in Charles Dickens'Oliver Twist. Newspaper cartoonistWillard Mullin used a drawing of famous clownEmmett Kelly to depict "Dem Bums": the team would later use "Weary Willie" in promotional images, and Kelly himself was a club mascot during the 1950s.
Other team names used by the franchise were the Atlantics, Grays, Grooms, Bridegrooms, Superbas, and Robins. All of these nicknames were used by fans and sportswriters to describe the team, but not in any official capacity. The team's legal name was the Brooklyn Base Ball Club.[41] However, the Trolley Dodger nickname was used throughout this period, simultaneously with these other nicknames, by fans and sportswriters of the day. The team did not use the name in any formal sense until 1932 when the word "Dodgers" appeared on team jerseys.[7] The "conclusive shift" came in 1933, when both home and road jerseys for the team bore the name "Dodgers".[8]
Examples of how the many popularized names of the team were used are available from newspaper articles before 1932. A New York Times article describing a game in 1916 starts out: "Jimmy Callahan, pilot of the Pirates, did his best to wreck the hopes the Dodgers have of gaining the National League pennant", but then goes on to comment: "the only thing that saved the Superbas from being toppled from first place was that the Phillies lost one of the two games played".[42] What is interesting about the use of these two nicknames is that most baseball statistics sites and baseball historians generally now refer to the pennant-winning 1916 Brooklyn team as the Robins. A 1918 New York Times article uses the nickname in its title: "Buccaneers Take Last From Robins", but the subtitle of the article reads: "Subdue The Superbas By 11 To 4, Making Series An Even Break".[43]
Another example of the use of the many nicknames is found on the program issued at Ebbets Field for the1920 World Series, which identifies the matchup in the series as "Dodgers vs. Indians" despite the fact that the Robins nickname had been in consistent use for around six years.[44] The "Robins" nickname was derived from the name of their Hall of Fame manager, Wilbert Robinson, who led the team from 1914 to 1931.[45]
The Dodgers' uniform has remained relatively unchanged since the 1930s. The home jersey is white with "Dodgers" written in script across the chest in royal. The road jersey is gray with "Los Angeles" written in script across the chest in royal. The word "Dodgers" was first used on the front of the team's home jersey in 1933; the uniform was then white with red pinstripes and a stylized "B" on the left shoulder.[46] The Dodgers also wore green outlined uniforms and green caps throughout the 1937 season but reverted to blue the following year.
The current design was created in 1939 and has remained the same ever since with only cosmetic changes. Originally intended for the1951 World Series for which the ballclub failed to qualify, red numbers under the "Dodgers" script were added to the home uniform in1952.[47] The road jersey also has a red uniform number under the script. When the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, the city name on the road jersey changed, and the stylized "B" was replaced with the interlocking "LA" on the caps in 1958. In 1970, the Dodgers removed the city name from the road jerseys and had "Dodgers" on both the home and away uniforms. The city script returned to the road jerseys in 1999, and the tradition-rich Dodgers flirted with an alternate uniform for the first time since 1944 (when all-blue satin uniforms were introduced). These 1999 alternate jerseys had a royal top with the "Dodgers" script in white across the chest, and the red number on the front. These were worn with white pants and a new cap with a silver brim, a top button, and a Dodger logo. These alternates proved unpopular and the team abandoned them after only one season. They would, however, bring back the blue jerseys in recent years but only wear them in spring training games. In 2014, the Dodgers introduced an alternate road jersey: a gray version with the "Dodgers" script instead of the city name.[48] Since its introduction, however, the road jersey with the "Dodgers" script was used more often than the road jersey with the "Los Angeles" script, so much that the team now considers it as a primary road uniform.[49] In 2018, the Dodgers wore their 60th anniversary patch to honor the 60 years of being in Los Angeles.[50][51]
In 2021, the Dodgers again unveiled a blue alternate uniform, this time as part of the "City Connect" series in collaboration withNike. This uniform was similar to the blue alternates they wore in 1999, but with the script "Los Dodgers" in homage to Los Angeles'Latino community. The uniform is also worn with blue pants, and black stripes are added to the sleeves. Initially, the Dodgers wore a special blue cap with the "Los Dodgers" script but switched in 2022 to a blue interlocking "LA" cap with a black brim. The "Los Dodgers" script was then relocated to the right side. In 2023, white pants with blue piping replaced the blue pants previously worn with the "City Connect" uniform.[52]
Midway through the 2024 season, the Dodgers unveiled their second "City Connect" uniform. The cream-based uniform paid homage to the city of Los Angeles and various chapters of the city's history that are connected to the team. The "Los Angeles" wordmark was inspired by the signage of the Dodgers' original home ofLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum and was slanted upward. The number font was inspired by the mid-century typefaces that were popular during the team's early years in Los Angeles. The uniform also featured two different shades of blue: cobalt and electric, while "chili red" was based on the chest number colors the team had worn since the 1950s. The cobalt blue cap featured the "interlocking LA" and script "D" from the "Dodgers" logo merged to form the LAD team code; the said logo also appears as a sleeve patch. Above the manufacturer's tag is the hashtag #ITFDB, a reference to broadcasterVin Scully's catchphrase "It's time for Dodger baseball!".[53]
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The Dodgers have been pioneers in signing players from Asia, particularlyJapan,South Korea, andTaiwan. Then-ownerPeter O'Malley began reaching out in 1980 by starting clinics in China and South Korea and building baseball fields in two Chinese cities. In 1998, the Dodgers became the first major league team to open an office in Asia. They were the second team to start aJapanese player, and first in nearly 30 years (pitcherHideo Nomo); the first team to start aSouth Korean player (pitcherChan Ho Park); and the first to start aTaiwanese player (Chin-Feng Chen).
In 2005, the Dodgers'Hee Seop Choi became the first Asian player to compete in theHome Run Derby.[54]
In the 2008 season, no team had more Asian players on its roster than the Dodgers: Park; Japan'sTakashi Saito and countrymanHiroki Kuroda; and Taiwan's pitcherHong-Chih Kuo and infielderChin-Lung Hu. On May 17, 2008, they became the first team to send out three Asian pitchers from different Asian countries in a single game: Park, Kuo, and Saito against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
For the 2013 season, the Dodgers signed starting pitcherHyun-Jin Ryu with a six-year, $36 million contract, after posting a bid of nearly $27 million to acquire him from theKBO'sHanhwa Eagles. For the 2016 season, the Dodgers signed starting pitcherKenta Maeda with an eight-year, $25 million contract, after posting a bid of $20 million to acquire him from theNPB'sHiroshima Toyo Carp. For the 2024 season, the Dodgers signed free agenttwo-way playerShohei Ohtani with a 10-year, $700 million contract, thelargest in professional sports history.[55]
The Dodgers' rivalry with theSan Francisco Giants dates to the 19th century when the two teams were based in New York; the rivalry with theNew York Yankees took place when the Dodgers were based in New York, but was revived with their East Coast/West Coast World Series battles in 1963, 1977, 1978, and 1981. The Dodgers' rivalries with thePhiladelphia Phillies andSt. Louis Cardinals also dates back to their days in New York, but were most fierce during the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s.
The Dodgers also shared a heated rivalry with theCincinnati Reds during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The Dodgers had even shared a rather volatile rivalry with divisional foes; theArizona Diamondbacks during most of the 2010s. Their intra-city rivalry with theLos Angeles Angels dates back to the Angels' inaugural season in 1961. The Dodgers have recently revived an old Southern California-based rivalry with theSan Diego Padres dating back to the Padres' inaugural season in 1969. Most recently; the Dodgers have also regrown a heated rivalry against the former divisional foeHouston Astros after their move to the American League, due in no small part to the controversy of the2017 World Series.
The Dodgers–Giants rivalry is one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in North American sports.[56][57]
The feud between the Dodgers and theSan Francisco Giants began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City, with the Dodgers playing inBrooklyn and the Giants playing at thePolo Grounds inManhattan. After the 1957 season, Dodgers ownerWalter O'Malley moved the team to Los Angeles for financial and other reasons.[58] Along the way, he managed to convince Giants ownerHorace Stoneham—who was considering moving his team toMinnesota—to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California as well.[58]New York baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move.[58][59] 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.[60][61][62]
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 26, with the Giants following close behind at 23. The Dodgers have won nine World Series titles to the Giants' eight. and the Giants. The2010 World Series was the Giants' first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers had won seven World Series titles since their move, their last title coming in the2025 World Series.[63][64]
In2021, the Dodgers and Giants both finished the regular season with over 100 wins, with the latter clinching the division with a record of 107–55. The Dodgers were one game behind with a record of 106–56, relegating them to theNL Wild Card Game, in which they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. This resulted in the first postseason matchup between the Dodgers and Giants in theNLDS. With a combined 213 regular season wins, this is the most number of regular season wins between competing teams in any MLB postseason series.[65] The Dodgers ultimately won in the decisive Game 5, but would lose in theNLCS to the eventual World Series champions: Atlanta Braves.[66]
ThePadres' rivalry with the Dodgers has often been lopsided in favor of Los Angeles; however, recent growth between the two teams in competition has added intensity on top of proximity between Los Angeles and San Diego.[67][68]
The Dodgers currently lead the series 518–419, with the two teams meeting in the playoffs three times.[69] The Dodgers swept the Padres in the2020 NLDS, won in five games in the2024 NLDS, and the Padres won in four games in the2022 NLDS.[70]
The rivalry between the Dodgers and theArizona Diamondbacks was one of the fiercest divisional matchups for multiple years, particularly during the 2010s when both teams were in regular contention for control of the division.[71] In addition to the elevated competition, animosity rose immensely between both sides resulting in multiple incidents involving either team throwing pitches at one another, occasionally escalating into several bench-clearing brawls.
After eliminating the Diamondbacks and clinching the division on September 19, 2013, multiple Dodgers players celebrated the win by jumping into the pool at Chase Field.[72] On December 8, 2015, Zack Greinke signed a six-year, $206.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks in free agency. Both teams met during the2017 National League Division Series; the Diamondbacks were swept 3–0 by the Dodgers en route to their appearance in theWorld Series. The teams rematched in the2023 National League Division Series, with the Diamondbacks returning the favor with a 3–0 sweep of their own as they eventually reached theWorld Series. The Dodgers lead the series 259–193, with the teams tied 3–3 in the postseason.[73]
Primarily a playoff rivalry; since 1892, The Dodgers andSt. Louis Cardinals have met six times in the postseason. The Cardinals have won four, including two NLCS series, while the Dodgers won the 2009 NLDS and the 2021 National League Wild Card Game.[74][75]
The Dodgers' rivalry with theCincinnati Reds was one of the most intense during the 1970s through the early 1990s.[76] They often competed for the NL West division title. From 1970 to 1990, they had eleven 1–2 finishes in the standings, with seven of them being within 5½ games or fewer. Both teams also played in numerous championships during this span, combining to win 10 NL Pennants and 5 World Series titles from1970–1990, most notably as theBig Red Machine teams clashed frequently with theTommy Lasorda-era Dodgers teams. Reds managerSparky Anderson once said, "I don't think there's a rivalry like ours in either league. The Giants are supposed to be the Dodgers' natural rivals, but I don't think the feeling is there anymore. It's not there the way it is with us and the Dodgers."[77] The rivalry ended when division realignment moved the Reds to the NL Central. However, they did face one another in the1995 NLDS.
This rivalry refers to a series of games played with theLos Angeles Angels.[78] The Freeway Series takes its name from the massive freeway system in thegreater Los Angeles metropolitan area, the home of both teams; one could travel from one team's stadium to the other simply by traveling alongInterstate 5. The term is akin toSubway Series, a term for meetings between New York City baseball teams.[79] The termFreeway Series also inspired the official name of the region'sNHL rivalry: theFreeway Face-Off.
Animosity between the team's fanbases grew in 2005, when the Angels' new team ownerArte Moreno changed the name of his ball club from the 'Anaheim Angels', to the 'Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim'.[80] Since the city of Anaheim is roughly 30 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, the Angels franchise was ridiculed throughout the league for the contradictory name, especially by Dodgers ownerFrank McCourt, who filed a formal complaint to commissionerBud Selig.[81] After the complaint was denied, McCourt ordered a t-shirt reading "The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles", which remains popular among fans to this day.[82]
The Dodgers' rivalry with theNew York Yankees is among the best-knownrivalries in Major League Baseball.[83] The two teams have met 12 times in theWorld Series, more than any other two teams from theAmerican andNational Leagues.[83] The rivalry began when the Dodgers played inBrooklyn. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, the teams represented the two largest U.S. citiessince the 1980s.
The teams have met in numerous World Series, although they went 40 years without doing so, from1981 until2024.[83] They would not play each other in a non-exhibition game until 2004, when they played a three-gameinterleague series.[83] Their last meeting in the regular season was in June 2024, when the Dodgers won two out of three games in New York.[84]
The rivalry between the Dodgers and theHouston Astros began as a divisional matchup, but hostility waned after Houston moved to the American League. In 2017, the two teams faced off in the2017 World Series, which the Astros won in seven games using asign-stealing system to steal pitch signs.[85] The Dodgers lead the all-time series 400–334; the teams are tied in postseason wins 6–6.
Attendance rose from eleventh in MLB during the Dodgers' final season in Brooklyn to second in their first season in Los Angeles.[86] Team owner Walter O'Malley feared that the planned Dodger Stadium would be too large to fill regularly, but the Dodgers led the league in attendance by a sizeable margin for the 1962 season, nearly doubling that of the New York Yankees.[87][88]
In 2012, aBleacher Report article called Dodgers fans the best in Los Angeles.[89]
In 1978 the Dodgers became the first MLB team to attract more than three million fans in a season, and repeated the feat six more times before any other franchise reached three million fans overall.[20] The Dodgers drew at least three million fans for 15 consecutive seasons from 1996 to 2010, the longest such streak among all MLB teams.[20] The team's largestfan club, Pantone 294 (a reference to thePantone code ofDodger blue), regularly travels to away games to cheer for the Dodgers.[90] The Dodgers have regularly placed in the top three in attendance, or have led the league numerous times since 2000, excluding the 2020 season; the Dodgers have recently led the league in attendance for nine straight seasons going back to 2013.[91][92][93]
On July 3, 2007, Dodgers management announced that total franchise attendance, dating back to 1901, had reached 175 million, a record for all professional sports.[94] In 2007, the Dodgers set a franchise record for single-season attendance, attracting over 3.8 million fans.[95] On March 28, 2008, the Dodgers set the world record for the largest attendance for a single baseball game during an exhibition game against theBoston Red Sox at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum in honor of the Dodgers' 50th anniversary, with 115,300 fans in attendance.[96] In 2009, the Dodgers led MLB in total attendance.[21] The Dodger baseball cap is consistently in the top three in sales.[97]
Primarily, Dodgers fans originate from most of southern or central California and also parts of southernNevada. The fanbase has also extended out to states across the southwest such asArizona,New Mexico and even westernTexas.[98][99] In 2015,Vivid Seats reported that the Dodgers were the most popular MLB team inUtah based on ticket sales.[100] Dodgers' away games throughout the US will usually attract substantial numbers of expats and traveling fans.[101]
Home games often draw Hollywood celebrities, including team co-ownerMagic Johnson,Flea,Mary Hart,DaBaby,Larry King,Tiger Woods,Alyssa Milano,Shia LaBeouf,George Lopez,Lana Del Rey,Mila Kunis andAshton Kutcher[102]. Some sit at field box seats behind home plate where they sign autographs for fellow Dodger fans. ActorBryan Cranston is a lifelong Dodger fan.[103]
| Year | MLB rank | Total attendance | Game average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2nd | 3,488,283 | 43,065 |
| 2005 | 2nd | 3,603,646 | 44,489 |
| 2006 | 2nd | 3,758,545 | 46,401 |
| 2007 | 2nd | 3,857,036 | 47,617 |
| 2008 | 3rd | 3,730,553 | 46,056 |
| 2009 | 1st | 3,761,653 | 46,440 |
| 2010 | 3rd | 3,562,320 | 43,979 |
| 2011 | 11th | 2,935,139 | 36,236 |
| 2012 | 5th | 3,324,246 | 41,040 |
| 2013 | 1st | 3,743,527 | 46,216 |
| 2014 | 1st | 3,782,337 | 46,695 |
| 2015 | 1st | 3,764,815 | 46,479 |
| 2016 | 1st | 3,703,312 | 45,719 |
| 2017 | 1st | 3,765,856 | 46,492 |
| 2018 | 1st | 3,857,500 | 47,042 |
| 2019 | 1st | 3,974,309 | 49,065 |
| 2020 | N/A | 0[b] | N/A |
| 2021 | 1st | 2,804,693[c] | 34,625 |
| 2022 | 1st | 3,861,408 | 47,671 |
| 2023 | 1st | 3,837,079 | 47,371 |
| 2024 | 1st | 3,941,251 | 48,657 |
The Dodgers have a devoted following in Mexico because of Mexican players such asFernando Valenzuela,Ismael Valdéz, andJulio Urias. TheSonora-born, California-raisedMel Almada, the first Mexican-born player to play in the MLB, played for the Dodgers near the end of his career in 1939. An estimated 54% of fans in home attendance are of Mexican descent.[105][106][107] The team boosted its Asian fanbase with players such asHideo Nomo,Hiroki Kuroda,Kenta Maeda, andYu Darvish. The Dodgers signedChan Ho Park, the first South Korean-born MLB player, and in 2013, All-Star pitcherHyun Jin Ryu. The team worked with the Korean communities of Los Angeles to launch an annual Korean Heritage night in 2016.[108] The Dodgers signed the first Taiwanese player in MLB:Chin-Feng Chen in 2002; other Taiwanese players such asChin-Lung Hu andChin-Hui Tsao later signed.[109][110]
The Dodgers signed Japanese starShohei Ohtani, then launched theme nights in collaboration with Japanese companies such asSanrio (which sponsored aHello Kitty night, headlined by the national anthem being performed by Japanese musician andX Japan memberYoshiki),[111] andVTuber agencyHololive (which also coincided with Los Angeles'Anime Expo).[112]
As of 2023, the primary play-by-play announcers on television and radio, respectively, areJoe Davis andCharley Steiner, withOrel Hershiser (TV) andRick Monday (radio) working as the primary color commentators. On some games,Stephen Nelson would fill in for Davis during his national assignments withFox Sports, with Davis typically working as the lead voice of theMLB on Fox and as one of the play-by-play voices of theNFL on Fox.Nomar Garciaparra,Eric Karros,Dontrelle Willis andJessica Mendoza often fill in for Hershiser on select games. On the radio side,Tim Neverett works play-by-play on select games, and also fills in for Davis on television broadcasts.[113]
From 1950 to 2016, almost all Dodger games were called byVin Scully.[114] His longtime partners wereJerry Doggett (1956–1987) andRoss Porter (1977–2004).[114] In 1976, he was selected by Dodgers fans as the Most Memorable Personality (on the field or off) in the team's history. He is also a recipient of theBaseball Hall of Fame'sFord C. Frick Award for broadcasters (inducted in 1982). Unlike the modern style in which multiple sportscasters have an on-air conversation (usually with one functioning asplay-by-play announcer and the other[s] ascolor commentator), Scully, Doggett, and Porter generally called games solo, trading with each other inning-by-inning. In the 1980s and 1990s, Scully would call the entire radio broadcast except for the third and seventh inning, allowing the other Dodger commentators to broadcast an inning. Fans and critics alike frequently praised Scully due in large part for his longevity with the team, and his ability to provide peculiar details about multiple players appearing onfield. Despite his longevity and a strong relationship with the team and fanbase, Scully was also praised for his relatively unbiased view of any game he called, often referring to the listeners as 'friends' instead of 'fans'.[115]
When Doggett retired after the 1987 season, he was replaced by Hall-of-Fame Dodgers pitcherDon Drysdale, who previously broadcast games for theCalifornia Angels andChicago White Sox.[114] Drysdale died in his hotel room following a heart attack before a game inMontreal in 1993. This was a difficult broadcast for Scully and Porter who could not mention it on-air until Drysdale's family had been notified and the official announcement made.[116] He was replaced by former Dodgers outfielder Rick Monday.[114] Porter's tenure ended after the 2004 season, after which the format of play-by-play announcers and color commentators was installed, led by Monday and newcomer Charley Steiner.[114] Scully, however, continued to announce solo.
Scully called roughly 100 games per season (all home games and road games in California and Arizona)[117] for bothflagship radio stationKLAC and on television forSpectrum SportsNet LA. Scully wassimulcast for the first three innings of each of his appearances, then announced only for the TV audience. If Scully was calling the game, Steiner took over play-by-play on the radio beginning with the fourth inning, with Monday as color commentator.[117] If Scully was not calling the game, Steiner and Orel Hershiser called the entire game on television while Monday and Kevin Kennedy did the same on radio. In the event the Dodgers were in post-season play, Scully called the first three and last three innings of the radio broadcast alone, and Steiner & Monday handled the middle innings.[118] Vin Scully retired from calling games in 2016. His tenure with the Dodgers was the longest with any single sports team at 67 years. Youthful announcer Joe Davis was selected in 2017 by Dodgers management to handle play-by-play on television with Orel Hershiser as his colorman.
The Dodgers also broadcast on radio in two other languages, Spanish and Korean. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers became the first MLB team with a Spanish-languageflagship station,KWKW (1300AM), with a broadcast team that includedRené Cárdenas.[119][120] From 1959 to 2022, the Spanish play-by-play was voiced by another Frick Award winner,Jaime Jarrín. Until his death in 2024, a color analyst for some games was former Dodger pitcherFernando Valenzuela, for whom Jarrin once translated post-game interviews. Valenzuela was joined on the Spanish booth in 2023 and 2024 byPepe Yñiguez andJosé Mota, son of Dodger legendManny Mota.[113] The Spanish-language radio flagship station isKTNQ. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' Korean broadcast began in 2013 throughKMPC.[121][122]
Koufax, Campanella, and Robinson were the first Dodgers to have their numbers retired, in a ceremony at Dodger Stadium on June 4, 1972. Although other MLB teams had already been retiring numbers for decades, the Dodgers were late to the trend. The Dodgers had wanted to retire Robinson's No. 42 for some time, but Robinson had consistently rejected the honor due to a long-running grudge with Dodgers ownerWalter O'Malley.[123] Robinson did not agree to appear at a number retirement ceremony until O'Malley handed over control of the team to his sonPeter in 1970.[124]
Although the Dodgers website states that there are no "written 'criteria' for retiring uniform numbers," the team has historically retired only the numbers of individuals who played most of their career with the Dodgers and are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.[125] (Underscoring the principle, Koufax, Snider, Reese, Drysdale, Lasorda, Sutton, and Hodges all had their numbers retired during the seasons in which they were inducted into the Hall. Robinson and Campanella had already been Hall of Famers for several years when their numbers were retired in 1972.) There have only been three exceptions:
In 1997, 50 years after he broke thecolor barrier and 25 years after the Dodgers retired his number, Robinson's No. 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball. Robinson is the only major league baseball player so honored. Starting in the 2007 season,Jackie Robinson Day (April 15, commemorating the Opening Day of Robinson's rookie season of 1947) has featured many or all players and coaches wearing the number 42 as a tribute to Robinson.
A broader term, the Dodgers "Ring of Honor," encompasses both the retired numbers and three non-baseball personnel whose insignia are displayed alongside the retired numbers. Longtime broadcasters Vin Scully (English) and Jaime Jarrín (Spanish) are honored with microphone symbols.[131][132] Team owner Walter O'Malley, who moved the Dodgers to Los Angeles, is honored with the team "LA" logo.[133] All three have been recognized by the Hall of Fame, O'Malley by induction,[134] and Scully and Jarrín by theFord C. Frick Award for broadcasters.[135][136]
Tommy Lasorda2 |
In 2019, the Dodgers established "Legends of Dodger Baseball", which is meant to honor Dodger greats whose numbers have not been retired.[138] The program honors those who made an "impact on the franchise, both on and off the field." Recipients are recognized with plaques at Dodger Stadium.[139]
| 40-man roster | Non-roster invitees | Coaches / other |
|---|---|---|
Pitchers
Two-way players Catchers Infielders Outfielders | Manager Coaches
Restricted list
|
Since 1884, the Dodgers have used a total of 31 Managers, the most current beingDave Roberts, who was appointed following the 2015 postseason, after the departure ofDon Mattingly.
Over the nearly 43 years from 1954 to mid-1996, the Dodgers employed only two managers,Walter Alston andTommy Lasorda, both of whom are in theHall of Fame. During this entire time period of extraordinary stability, the Dodgers were family-owned byWalter O'Malley and then his sonPeter O'Malley. It was during this era that the Dodgers won 11 of their 24 pennants and their first six World Series championships.
The managers of the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–present) are as follows:
From the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958, the Dodgers employed a handful of well-known public address announcers; the most famous of which wasJohn Ramsey, who served as the PA voice of the Dodgers from 1958 until his retirement in 1982; he was also well known for announcing at other venerable Los Angeles venues, including theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum andSports Arena, and theForum. Ramsey died in 1990.
From 1958 to 1982, Doug Moore, Philip Petty, and Dennis Packer served as back-up voices for John Ramsey for the Dodgers, California Angels, Los Angeles Chargers, USC football, and Los Angeles Rams. Packer was Ramsey's primary backup for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings until Ramsey's retirement from the Forum in 1978. Thereafter, Packer became the public address announcer for the Lakers, Kings, indoor soccer, and indoor tennis events at the Forum.
Nick Nickson, a radio broadcaster for theLos Angeles Kings, replaced John Ramsey as the Dodger Stadium public address announcer in 1983 and served in that capacity through the 1989 season to work with the Kings full-time.
Dennis Packer andPete Arbogast were emulators of John Ramsey, using the same stentorian style of announcing Ramsey was famous for. Packer and Arbogast shared the stadium announcing chores for the1994 FIFA World Cup matches at theRose Bowl. Arbogast won the Dodgers job on the day that Ramsey died on January 25, 1990, by doing a verbatim imitation of Ramsey's opening and closing remarks that were standard at each game. His replacement, in 1994 was Mike Carlucci, who remained as the Dodgers' PA voice announcer until he resigned in 2002 to concentrate on his voiceover and acting career along with his Olympics announcing duties.
From 2003 to 2014, the Dodgers public address announcer was Eric Smith, who also announces for theLos Angeles Clippers andUSC Trojans.[141]
On April 3, 2015, the Dodgers announced that former radio broadcasterTodd Leitz was hired to become their new public address announcer. Leitz was an anchor and news reporter in Los Angeles atKNX 1070AM for 10 years, and a news reporter atKABC 790 for two years.[142]
From 1988 to 2015,Nancy Bea Hefley enjoyed popularity behind the Dodger Stadium keyboard similar toGladys Goodding. Since retirement in 2015, Bea's replacement and current organist isDieter Ruehle, who also plays atCrypto.com Arena for Los Angeles Kings games.
Vin Scully is permanently honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame's "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit as a result of winning theFord C. Frick Award in 1982. Frick Award recipients are not official members of the Hall.
Allan Roth was the first person hired as the official statistician of a Major League team when he was hired by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He continued his tenure with Los Angeles until 1964.
Sue Falsone, was the first female physical therapist in Major League baseball, and from 2012 to 2013, was the first female headathletic trainer.
The Los Angeles Dodgersfarm system consists of sevenminor league affiliates.[143]
The billowy script Dodgers in an alluring angle and a blue so distinctive that it has come to bear the name of the team. The red numbers that pop, as if dropped straight from the heart to the left upper abdomen. The interlocking LA on the sleeve, matching the simple-but-distinctive blue caps. All of these elements combine to make the Dodgers' home white somehow shine a little bit brighter. It is a timeless, trimless look, baseball's accouterment answer to the American flag.
The official logo of the 2020 MLB All-Star Game celebrates the golden age of Hollywood. Within the logo, the words 'All-Star Game' appear epic as in a dynamic film scroll. The golden logo is contained in the signature hexagon shape found throughout Dodger Stadium. The Club's iconic Dodger Blue creates the logo's dimension, while the star features a splash of red reminiscent of the Dodgers' classic jerseys. Stylistically these icons and colors create a unique Los Angeles theme to MLB's Midsummer Classic.
When it comes to looks, there's no one with a more classic jersey set than the Dodgers. Simple but timeless, the Dodger blue script across the chest and the interlocked L.A. on the hat are recognizable around the world. The thing that pops out the most, though? The red numbers on the front, which were introduced in the 1950s when the Dodgers became the first team to include numbering on the front of a jersey.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Series champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers 2024–2025 | Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Bridegrooms 1890 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Superbas 1899–1900 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Robins 1916 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Robins 1920 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1947 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1952–1953 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Brooklyn Dodgers 1955–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1965–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1977–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League champions Los Angeles Dodgers 2024–2025 | Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by | American Association champions Brooklyn Bridegrooms 1889 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
