Dodgers Dugout: Seven elected to our Hall of Fame

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and this is the funnest part of writing this newsletter.

Last month, I asked you to vote from a list of candidates in our second annual “Dodgers Dugout Dodgers Hall of Fame.” And, proving that you are the best newsletter readers in the universe, I received 13,289 ballots. I mean, some cities don’t get that many voters in elections.

And after all the ballots were counted, seven people were above 65% and are inducted into the 2022 class.

Some of you were a bit disappointed that I lowered the threshold for induction from being named on 75% of the ballots to 65%. But it turned out not to really matter, because six of the seven cleared 75% and the seventh person had over 72% and is certainly a worthy member of the Hall.

Remember, there was a players list, where you could vote for up to 12, and a non-players list with a limit of six votes.

So, without further ado, let’s look at the results. The number in parentheses is what percentage of ballots the candidate was on last year.

Elected

Tommy Lasorda, 87.7% (64.8%): It was a big surprise that he wasn’t elected last year.

Walt Alston, 86.5% (55.4%): You could make a convincing argument that he was a better manager than Lasorda. Either way, they both deserve to be in.

Fernando Valenzuela, 80.6% (65.8%): Created tons of Dodgers fans, and with so many big names elected last year, was the first choice among players on a lot of ballots.

Maury Wills, 76.6% (64.1%): Now he needs to get into the actual Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gil Hodges, 75.3% (65.7%): A good year for Hodges, getting into the Baseball Hall and this one. (One of these is a bit more prestigious than the other).

Orel Hershiser, 75.1% (57.1%): The Bulldog is the most recent player to make it into this Hall.

Branch Rickey, 72.1% (41.8%): The man who signed Jackie Robinson and created the minor league system takes his rightful place.

Just missed (50-64.9%)

Pee Wee Reese, 64.7% (64%): Really ought to be in. One of four Dodger players in the real Hall of Fame who isn’t in ours.

Walter O’Malley, 64.4% (27.2%): The first five on the just-missed list will probably be voted in next year.

Steve Garvey, 63.9% (44.6%): Either Garvey or Hodges is the best first baseman in Dodger history.

Don Sutton, 61% (41.4%): Leads or is in top three in many all-time Dodger pitching list categories, but always seems to struggle to get respect.

Don Newcombe, 58.1% (48.1%): His work to help Dodgers struggling with substance abuse is almost enough to get him in before you even consider his greatness as a pitcher.

*-Jaime Jarrín, 53.7%: Really, should have been in this year. A big oversight.

(*-New to the ballot this year.)

Best of the rest (25%-49.9%)

Ron Cey, 42.1% (21.9%): Support doubled this year. Very underrated player.

Jim Gilliam, 39.2% (25.1%): Jack of all trades and the only non-Hall of Famer to have his number retired by Dodgers.

Mike Piazza, 35.5% (30.9%): What would Dodger history look like if he hadn’t been traded?

Tommy Davis, 34.3% (17.2%): Last Dodger to win a batting title before Trea Turner, and I’m not sure Trea Turner counts.

Red Barber, 31.9% (4.3%): Vin Scully before there was a Vin Scully.

Peter O’Malley, 31.7% (3.2%): The last owner who cared about keeping prices down for fans.

Everyone else

Zack Wheat, 24.2% (22.4%): He should be in. The first truly great Dodger position player.

Manny Mota, 23.4% (13.5%): Best pinch-hitter ever. He would stay on the roster the whole year and only pinch-hit.

Kirk Gibson, 23.3% (14.4%): One amazing season gets him 23% of the vote.

Davey Lopes, 22.3% (6.3%): Best base stealer in team history.

Dusty Baker, 19.7% (5.7%): Remember throwing bubble gum to him in left field?

*-Buzzie Bavasi, 19.1%: One of only six first-time candidates to remain on the ballot next year.

Willie Davis, 18.8% (8.3%): People seem to prefer Tommy Davis.

Carl Furillo, 17.6% (9.6%): Best arm in team history?

Johnny Podres, 17% (10.5%): 1955 World Series MVP gets little support.

Leo Durocher, 14.1% (1.7%): Barely remained on the ballot this year and his support rose greatly.

Carl Erskine, 14% (9.6%): Key member of 1955 title team.

*-Ross Porter, 13.6%: Pioneered using more obscure stats before it became popular.

Dazzy Vance, 13% (8.9%): Another guy who should be in. The Don Drysdale of his era.

Pedro Guerrero, 12.8% (8.1%): You could argue that he is the best hitter in L.A. history.

*-Jerry Doggett, 12.7%: Complemented Scully beautifully on radio and television.

Eric Karros, 12.4% (3.9%): This is all you get after hitting the most homers in L.A. history?

Mike Scioscia, 12.4% (4.9%): Another what if: What if he had been named Dodgers manager instead of Angels manager?

John Roseboro, 11.5% (5.8%): The key catcher for Koufax and Drysdale.

Bill Russell, 10.8% (2.8%): Longtime Dodger draws the least support among “The Infield.”

Eric Gagné, 9.9% (6.4%): Would he receive more support if not for his PED use?

Andre Ethier, 8.9% (5.1%): Doesn’t look like many from Ethier’s prime era will make it.

Ron Perranoski, 8.6% (5.7%): Being a great reliever and longtime coach didn’t get him much support.

Babe Herman, 8% (4.9%): Great hitter pretty much forgotten.

*-Fred Claire, 7.7%: Builder of the 1988 World Series champions.

Wes Parker, 7.6% (4.5%): Perhaps the greatest defensive first baseman ever.

*-Steve Yeager, 5.5%: He blocked the plate as well as anyone ever.

Adrián Beltré, 5.4% (1.7%): Really had only one great season with the Dodgers, but what a season it was.

Reggie Smith, 5.2% (3.6%): The best player on the ‘77-78 World Series teams.

Bottom 12, eliminated from at least next two ballots

Matt Kemp, 3.9% (2.9%): Should have been NL MVP in 2011.

*-Mike Marshall, 3.1%: As a reliever, pitched in 106 games in 1974. Can you imagine that happening today?

*-Preacher Roe, 2.8%: First-time candidates didn’t fare well this year.

*-Shawn Green, 2.5%: But we’ll always remember his four home runs in one game.

*-Pete Reiser, 2.3%: Seems apropos that his candidacy also crashed into a wall.

*-Mickey Hatcher, 2.2%: One and done.

Clem Labine, 1.7% (2%): Could start and relieve effectively.

*-Bob Welch, 1.6%: Just didn’t match up to the other candidates.

*-Jerry Reuss, 1.3%: Underrated pitcher.

*-Raul Mondesi, 1%: Great arm.

*-Burt Hooton, 0.6%: Nothing for “Happy” to smile about here.

*-Van Lingle Mungo, 0.4%: Well, someone has to finish last.

—Ten of the 16 first-time candidates were eliminated from the next two ballots.

—Why did non-players’ votes jump so much? Voters were allowed to vote for six this year instead of three.

—There are five people who aren’t in who definitely should be in: Jarrín, Reese, Sutton, Vance and Wheat.

Added to the ballot next year: Ralph Branca, Billy Cox, Ron Fairly, Frank Howard, Tommy John, Cookie Lavagetto, Jim Lefebvre, Rick Monday, Wally Moon, Takashi Saito, Steve Sax, Gary Sheffield, Casey Stengel, Dixie Walker, Red Adams, Monty Basgall, Ned Colletti, Helen Dell, Rick Honeycutt, John Ramsey, Stan Wasiak.

The Dodgers Dugout Dodgers Hall of Fame

People inducted, with year (and percentage of vote)

Walt Alston, 2022 (86.5%)

Roy Campanella, 2021 (84.7%)

Don Drysdale, 2021 (90%)

Orel Hershiser, 2021 (75.1%)

Gil Hodges, 2022 (75.3%)

Sandy Koufax, 2021 (95.6%)

Tommy Lasorda, 2022 (87.7%)

Branch Rickey, 2022 (72.1%)

Jackie Robinson, 2021 (88.9%)

Vin Scully, 2021 (92.7%)

Duke Snider, 2021 (78.2%)

Fernando Valenzuela, 2022 (80.6%)

Maury Wills, 2022 (76.6%)

Scheduling note

Unless something big happens in Dodgerland, this will be the final newsletter of the year. No matter what upcoming holidays you celebrate, I hope they are as wonderful as they can be for you. Thanks for being the best newsletter readers throughout the land (even the ones who write to tell me I’m an idiot!). See you in January.

And finally

Tommy Lasorda has a graphic discussion on the mound with Doug Rau during the 1977 World Series(warning: bad language). Watch and listen here.