Legends of Dodger Baseball

Don Newcombe - RHP (1949-58) Brooklyn/Los Angeles

Inducted: 2019

Along with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, Newcombe was a trailblazer as one of the first African-American stars in the Majors. After beginning his pro career in 1944 at age 18 with the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues, the New Jersey native joined the Brooklyn organization in 1946.

He made his MLB debut on May 20, 1949, and within six weeks was a member of the NL All-Star team. He became the first MLB player to win Rookie of the Year (1949), MVP (1956) and Cy Young (1956) awards in a career.

The four-time All-Star won a career-high 27 games in 1956 en route to winning the inaugural Cy Young Award, which through 1966 was given to only one pitcher among the two leagues.

Newcombe was also a force as a left-handed batter at the plate with the Dodgers, compiling a lifetime .265 batting average in 734 plate appearances with 11 home runs. Newcombe missed two years during his prime in 1952 and 1953 because of military service in the U.S. Army.

Steve Garvey - 1B (1969-82) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2019

The 1974 NL MVP appeared in eight All-Star Games. He earned All-Star Game MVP honors in 1974 and 1978 and was the NL Championship Series MVP in 1978. Garvey holds the NL record with 1,207 consecutive games played. He hit 10 home runs and batted .346 in 45 postseason games with the Dodgers. He was the Roberto Clemente Award winner in 1981.

Garvey won four Gold Glove awards and was part of a Dodger infield that played a record 8 ½ seasons together. Along with second baseman Davey Lopes, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman Ron Cey, Garvey appeared in four World Series with Los Angeles. The quartet’s final game was the clinching 9-2 victory in Game 6 of the 1981 Fall Classic at Yankee Stadium.

Garvey also took part in another famous Dodger quartet in 1977 as the first team to boast four 30-home run hitters in one season – Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32), Cey (30) and Dusty Baker (30).

Fernando Valenzuela - LHP (1980-90) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2019

The legend of “Fernandomania” began on Opening Day 1981 at Dodger Stadium when the rookie left-hander made his first MLB start at age 20 and pitched a complete-game 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. During the next six weeks, the baseball world watched with awe as the Mexico native went 8-0 with a 0.50 ERA in his first eight starts, including five shutouts.

Valenzuela, in 1981, helped the Dodgers win their first World Series since 1965. Trailing 0-2 against the Yankees, the Dodgers returned to Los Angeles for Game 3 needing a victory. In his only career World Series appearance, he pitched a complete game, and the 5-4 victory sparked a comeback in which the Dodgers would win the series in six games.

Valenzuela is the only pitcher to ever win Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the same season. He was a six-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Award winner during a spectacular career that also included a no-hitter on June 29, 1990, vs. the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.

Maury Wills - INF (1959-66; 1969-72) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2022

It took Wills 8 1/2 seasons and 1,100 minor league at-bats before he made his MLB debut at age 26 in June 1959. Wills, who learned to switch-hit at Triple-A Spokane, developed into a catalyst at the top of the Dodger lineup. As a rookie, he contributed to the Dodgers’ 1959 championship team after replacing an injured Don Zimmer at shortstop in early June.

Wills became one of Dodger Stadium’s first stars when the ballpark opened in 1962. Southern California fans chanted, “Go!, Go!, Go!” when Wills reached base. He surpassed Ty Cobb’s previous MLB record of 96 stolen bases, set with the 1915 Detroit Tigers when he swiped 104 bases. He was the 1962 NL MVP, a seven-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove-winning shortstop and member of three Dodger World Series champion teams (1959, 1963, 1965).

Wills, who was appointed team captain by manager Walter Alston, spent 12 of his 14 MLB seasons with the Dodgers and is the club’s all-time leader in stolen bases (490).

Kirk Gibson OF - (1988-90) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2022

Along with Cy Young Award winner Orel Hershiser, Gibson sparked the Dodgers to the NL pennant in a seven-game NLCS win against the Mets. When knee and hamstring injuries prevented Gibson from starting the World Series opener against the Athletics, Gibson skipped pregame introductions and watched the first seven innings on television in the trainer’s room. Gibson eventually limped to home plate, an unlikely sight as Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley looked to close out a 4-3 victory with two out and a runner on first in the bottom of the ninth inning. Gibson worked the count to 3-2 and muscled a ball into the Right Field Pavilion for a 5-4 Dodger win. Gibson gingerly trotted around the bases after the walk-off heroics. The Dodgers won the series in five games. Gibson didn’t again bat in the World Series, but the one-bat secured his place in history.

He was the 1988 NL MVP and a Silver Slugger Award winner.

Manny Mota - OF/PH (1969-80, 1982) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2023

Mota was an All-Star outfielder in 1973 and later transitioned to a pinch-hit specialist whose talents defied his age. Mota Mota in 1979 set a then-MLB record with his 145th career pinch hit and finished his playing career with 150 pinch hits. His biggest hit occurred in Game 3 of the 1977 NL Championship Series at Philadelphia. Mota’s two-out double went off the glove of Phillies outfielder Greg Luzinski and was part of a three-run rally in the Dodgers’ 6-5 comeback victory. LA clinched the pennant the following day.

Mota’s .315 average career average with the Dodgers ranks second in LA Dodgers history among players with at least 2,000 plate appearances.

The Dominican hero is the longest-tenured coach in Dodger history (1980-2018). He participated in five World Series with the Dodgers as a player or coach. In 2022, he was inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame.

Orel Hershiser - RHP (1983-94, 2000) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2023

From his modest beginning as a 17th-round pick from Bowling Green University, Hershiser blossomed into one of the most prolific Dodger pitchers in history. Nicknamed “Bulldog” by his manager Tommy Lasorda as an incentive to become more aggressive, Hershiser became an ace in his second season as a starter, posting a 19-3 record and 2.03 ERA with five shutouts in 1985.

Three years later in 1988, he enjoyed a season for the ages while leading the Dodgers to a championship. Hershiser won Cy Young Award honors with a 23-8 record and 2.26 ERA with eight shutouts. The right-hander ended the regular season with a string of 59 scoreless innings, eclipsing the Major League record of 58 2/3 innings by Dodger Hall of Famer Don Drysdale in 1968. In the playoffs, Hershiser won MVP honors in both the NLCS against the Mets and the World Series against the Athletics. And like Drysdale, Hershiser eventually became a member of the Dodger broadcasting team in 2014. Hershiser ranks sixth in LA Dodgers history in strikeouts (1,456), seventh in wins (135), sixth in complete games (65) and sixth in shutouts (24).

Dusty Baker - OF (1976-83) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2024

Baker’s enthusiasm for the game and clutch hitting made him one of the most popular figures of the Dodgers’ late 1970s and early 1980s championship era.

Baker blossomed into a star in the years after the Dodgers acquired him in a trade with the Atlanta Braves on Nov. 17, 1975. Baker ranks eighth all-time by a Dodger outfielder in home runs and 10th in hits and RBI. He was a two-time All-Star (1981 and 1982) with the Dodgers, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner (1980 and 1981) and a Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder (1981).

Baker hit his 30th home run of 1977 on the last day of the season, joining Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Reggie Smith in creating the first 30-home run quartet in Major League history His grand slam in Game 2 and home run in the series-clinching Game 4 of the 1977 National League Championship Series were pivotal moments in the Dodgers’ run to the World Series and led to his crowning as NLCS MVP.

Ron Cey - 3B (1971-82) Los Angeles

Inducted: 2025

Cey was the cornerstone third baseman of the record-setting Dodger infield that spent a record 8 1/2 seasons together. The six-time All-Star appeared in four World Series, including the 1981 Fall Classic win over the Yankees in which he was a tri-MVP selection.

At the time of his induction into the Legends of Dodger Baseball, Cey’s 47.4 WAR (wins above replacement) with the club ranked highest all time by a Los Angeles Dodger infielder. Cey is the Dodger franchise all-time leader at third base in games, home runs, RBI, hits, runs, doubles, walks and extra-base hits.

Cey was part of the MLB’s first 30-home run quartet in 1977, along with teammates Reggie Smith, Steve Garvey and Dusty Baker. In the postseason, he belted a grand slam against the Phillies in the 1977 National League Championship Series.

Cey held the Los Angeles Dodger franchise record for homers until surpassed by Eric Karros in 2000.