The Dodgers have played more than 10,000 games as a franchise. Their 50 greatest games span two coasts and three centuries worth of baseball. They include:
• A doubleheader that lasted six and a half innings combined • A single game that featured three teams on the field • A game in which the Dodgers didn’t record a hit – and won • The games in which the single-season and career home run records were broken • Three perfect games and two no-hitters • The longest game in major league history • The first major league game ever televised • A game in which the Dodgers’ pitcher lost consciousness on the field • An exhibition game that drew 93,103 spectators • The first integrated game in major league history
The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games features all the best players to don the uniform: Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Kirk Gibson, Zack Wheat, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Clayton Kershaw, Steve Garvey, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese and more. It also features some of the unsung heroes of baseball history, like Cookie Lavagetto, Vic Davalillo, Sandy Amoros, Al Gionfriddo and Joe McGinnity.
For the first time, their performances are laid side-by-side in this account of the greatest Dodgers games ever played. Which game ranks number one?
The ending is enough to make game 4 of the 1947 World Series one of the Dodgers’ greatest. But it was extraordinary for reasons beyond the Dodgers walking off the New York Yankees in the bottom of the ninth inning. For one, it remains one of the finest gatherings of baseball talent ever assembled on a diamond. Five future Hall of Famers had a hand in the outcome: Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese. The Dodgers drew ten walks against the opposing starter, a World Series record. The Dodgers’ 3-2 win tied the series at two games apiece.
