Franchises

Los Angeles Dodgers History

By Wikipedia

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. They are in the Western Division of the National League. The team originated in Brooklyn before moving to Los Angeles for the 1958 season.

At a glance... LOS ANGELES DODGERS Franchise Facts Established 1883 Located Brooklyn (1883-1957) Los Angeles (1958-present) Year by Year Results Affiliations American Association (1884-1889) National League (1890-present)   West Division (1969-present) Postseason/Titles World Series titles (6) 1988 • 1981 • 1965 1963 • 1959 • 1955 NL Pennants (21) 1988 • 1981 • 1978 1977 • 1974 • 1966 1965 • 1963 • 1959 1956 • 1955 • 1953 1952 • 1949 • 1947 1941 • 1920 • 1916 1900 • 1899 • 1890 AA Pennants (1) 1889 West Division titles (9) 2004 • 1995 • 1988 1985 • 1983 • 1981 1978 • 1977 • 1974 Wild card berths (1) 1996 Nicknames Los Angeles Dodgers (1958-present) Brooklyn Dodgers (1911-1913), (1932-1957) Brooklyn Robins (1914-1931) (Also referred to as "Trolly Dodgers" 1911-1931) Brooklyn Superbas (1900-1910) Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888-1889) Brooklyn Grays (1884-1887) Ballparks Dodger Stadium (1962-present) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1958-1961) Ebbets Field (1913-1957) Washington Park (II) (1898-1912) Eastern Park (1891-1897) Washington Park (I) (1884-1890) Retired Numbers   1   2   4 19 20 24 32 39 42 53 Pee Wee Reese* Tommy Lasorda* Duke Snider* Jim Gilliam Don Sutton* Walter Alston* Sandy Koufax* Roy Campanella* Jackie Robinson* Don Drysdale* SS MGR OF IF P MGR P C 2B P 1984 1997 07/06/1980 1978 08/14/1998 06/05/1977 06/04/1972 06/04/1972 06/04/1972 1984 * - Hall of Famer Top Performances Individual Team Single-Season Career

Early Brooklyn History

The City of Brooklyn had a history of outstanding baseball clubs dating back to the mid-1850's, notably the Brooklyn Atlantics, the Brooklyn Eckfords and the Brooklyn Excellsiors, who combined to dominate play through the late 1860's as part of the National Association of Base Ball Players. The first baseball game requiring paid admission was an all star contest between New York and Brooklyn in 1858. Brooklyn also featured the first two enclosed baseball grounds, the Union Grounds and the Capitoline Grounds, which accelerated the evolution of the game from amateurism to professionalism. Despite the success of Brooklyn clubs in amateur play, however, no strong Brooklyn-based club emerged after the first professional league, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, was formed in 1871.

The Brooklyn baseball club that would become the Dodgers was first formed in 1883, and joined the American Association the following year. The "Bridegrooms" won the AA pennant in 1889. Upon switching to the National League in 1890, the franchise became the only one in MLB history to win pennants in different leagues in consecutive years. Eight years passed before any more success followed. Several Hall of Fame players were sold to Brooklyn by the soon-to-be-defunct Baltimore Orioles, along with their manager, Ned Hanlon. This catapulted Brooklyn to instant contention, and "Hanlon's Superbas" lived up to their name, winning pennants in 1899 and 1900.

Teams of this era played in two principle ballparks, Washington Park and Eastern Park. They first earned the nickname "Trolley Dodgers", later shortened to Dodgers, while at Eastern Park during the 1890s because of the difficulty fans had in reaching the ballpark due to the number of trolley lines in the area. The club also engaged in a series of mergers during this period, acquiring the New York Metropolitans in 1888 for territorial protection and star contracts, merging with the Brooklyn Wonders in 1891 as part of the Players League settlement, and merging with the Baltimore Orioles (NL) in 1900 as part of the National League's consolidation of clubs.

In 1902, Hanlon expressed his desire to buy a controlling interest in the team and move it (back, effectively) to Baltimore. His plan was blocked by a lifelong club employee, Charles Ebbets, who put himself heavily in debt to buy the team and keep it in the borough. Ebbets' ambition did not stop at owning the team. He desired to replace the dilapidated Washington Park with a new ballpark, and again invested heavily to finance the construction of Ebbets Field, which would become the Dodgers' home in 1913.

"Uncle Robbie" and the "Daffiness Boys"

Manager Wilbert Robinson, another former Oriole, popularly known as "Uncle Robbie", restored the Brooklyn team to respectability, with the "Robins" winning pennants in 1916 and 1920 and contending perennially for several seasons. Upon assuming the title of president, however, Robinson's ability to focus on the field declined, and the teams of the late 1920s became known as the "Daffiness Boys" for their distracted, error-ridden style of play. Outfielder Babe Herman was the leader both in hitting and in zaniness. After his removal as club president, Robinson returned to managing, and the club's performance rebounded somewhat.

It was during this era that Willard Mullin, a noted sports cartoonist, fixed the Brooklyn team with the lovable nickname of "Dem Bums". After hearing his cab driver ask "So how did those bums do today?" Mullin decided to sketch an exaggerated version of famed circus clown Emmett Kelly to represent the Dodgers in his much-praised cartoons in the New York World-Telegram. Both the image and the nickname caught on, so much so that many a Dodger yearbook cover featured a Willard Mullin illustration with the Brooklyn Bum.

Perhaps the highlight of the Daffiness Boys era came after Wilbert Robinson had left the dugout. In 1934, New York Giants manager Bill Terry was asked about the Dodgers' chances in the coming pennant race and cracked infamously, "Is Brooklyn still in the league?" Managed now by Casey Stengel (who played for the Dodgers in the 1910s and would go on to greatness managing another team), the 1934 Dodgers were determined to make their presence felt. As it happened, the season ended with the Giants tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the pennant, with the Giants' remaining games against the Dodgers. Stengel led his Bums to the Polo Grounds for the showdown and beat the Giants twice to knock them out of the pennant race. The "Gas House Gang" Cardinals nailed the pennant by beating the Reds those same two days.

The first major-league baseball game to be televised was Brooklyn's 6-1 victory over Cincinnati at Ebbets Field on August 26, 1939. Batting helmets were introduced to Major League Baseball by the Dodgers in 1941, though they did not become mandatory for a few more decades.

Dodgers 1973 L.A. Dodgers program.

Breaking the Color Line

For the first half of the 20th century, not a single African-American played on a Major League Baseball team. A parallel system of Negro Leagues developed, but many of the era's most talented players never got a chance to prove their skill before a national audience. The first step in ending this injustice was taken by Jackie Robinson, when he played his first major-league game on April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. This event was the harbinger of the integration of sports in the United States, the concomitant demise of the Negro Leagues, and is regarded as a key moment in the history of the American Civil Rights movement. Robinson was an exceptional player, a speedy runner who sparked the whole team with his intensity, and was the given the inaugural Rookie of the Year award.

"Wait 'til next year!"

After the wilderness years of the 1920s and 1930s, the Dodgers were rebuilt into a contending club first by general manager Larry MacPhail and then the legendary Branch Rickey. Led by Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges in the infield, Duke Snider in center field, Roy Campanella behind the plate, and Don Newcombe on the pitcher's mound, the Dodgers won pennants in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953. In all five of those World Series, however, they were defeated by the New York Yankees. The annual ritual of building excitement, followed in the end by disappointment, became old hat to the long suffering fans, and "Wait 'til next year!" became an unofficial Dodger slogan.

In 1955, by which time the core of the team was beginning to age, "next year" finally came. The fabled "Boys of Summer" shot down the Bronx Bombers in seven games, led by the first-class pitching of young left hander Johnny Podres, whose key pitch was a changeup known as "pulling down the lampshade" because of the arm motion used right when the ball was released. Podres won two Series games including the deciding seventh. The turning point of Game 7 was a spectacular double play that began with left fielder Sandy Amoros running down Yogi Berra's long fly, then throwing perfectly to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who doubled up a surprised Gil McDougald at first base to preserve the Dodger lead. The World Series championship was the first in seven tries for the Dodgers and their first championship since 1900.

Although the Dodgers again lost the World Series to the Yankees in 1956 (in which they became the victims of history's only postseason perfect game), it hardly seemed to matter. Brooklyn fans had their memory of triumph, and soon that would be all they were left with.

The Move to California

Real estate businessman Walter O'Malley had acquired majority ownership of the team in 1950, when he bought the shares of his co-owner Branch Rickey. Before long he was working to buy new land in Brooklyn to build a more accessible and better arrayed ballpark than Ebbets Field. Beloved as it was, Ebbets Field had grown old and was not well-served by infrastructure, to the point where the most pennant-competitive team in the National League couldn't sell the park out even in the heat of a pennant race. New York City building czar Robert Moses, however, sought to force O'Malley into using a site in Flushing Meadows, Queens (the future site for Shea Stadium, where today's New York Mets play). Moses' vision involved a city-built, city-owned park, which was greatly at odds with O'Malley's real-estate savvy. When it became clear to O'Malley that he wasn't going to be allowed to buy any suitable land in Brooklyn, he began thinking elsewhere.

When the Los Angeles city fathers attended the 1955 World Series looking to entice a team to move to the City of Angels, they weren't even thinking of the Dodgers. Their original target was the Washington Senators (who would in fact move to Minnesota in 1961). At the same time, O'Malley was looking for a contingency in case Moses and other New York politicians refused to let him build the Brooklyn stadium he wanted. O'Malley sent word to the Los Angeles officials at the Series that he was interested in talking. Los Angeles offered him what New York would not: a chance to buy land suitable for building a new ballpark.

Meanwhile, New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham was having similar difficulty finding a replacement for his antiquated home stadium, and the two archrival teams moved out to the West Coast together. On April 18, 1958, the Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles, defeating the San Francisco Giants, 6-5, before 78,672 fans at the Coliseum - far more than who ever saw a game in Brooklyn or most areas east of St. Louis.

There has been much controversy over the move of the Dodgers to California, perhaps more than over any other franchise move of that era. Walter O'Malley, in particular, is described as villainous by some and admirable by others. Certainly he demonstrated some measure of selfishness and greed, but the same is also true of the New York City politicians who opposed him. Both sides were quite stubborn, and fatally misjudged each other. It should also be noted that Brooklyn had declined in many ways, under various social pressures, and was a much less desirable location for a baseball team than it had been. In fact, both sides in the stadium dispute proposed to remove the Dodgers from Brooklyn (Moses' plan for a team in Flushing Meadows was realized several years later, with little alteration, in the New York Mets). O'Malley also deserves credit as a visionary. Until 1958, St. Louis had generally been the westernmost outpost of Major League Baseball, whereas 12 of baseball's 30 teams now have their homes farther west. O'Malley was primarily concerned with making himself very rich (which he did), and certainly he broke the heart of many a New Yorker, but his move also helped lead the game of baseball to greater prominence and prosperity.

Dodgers As this 1954 Dodgers program shows, the team was hoping for a new stadium in the New York area.

A New Start

The process of building Walter O'Malley's dream stadium soon began in semi-rural Chavez Ravine, in the hills just north of downtown L.A. There was some political controversy, as the residents of the ravine, mostly Hispanic and mostly poor, resisted the eminent domain removal of their homes, and gained some public sympathy. Still, O'Malley and the city government were determined, and construction proceeded.

In the meantime, the Dodgers played their home games from 1958 to 1961 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a gargantuan football and track-and-field stadium that had been built to host the 1932 Summer Olympics. The Coliseum's dimensions were not optimal for baseball, and the only way to fit a diamond into the oval-shaped stadium was to lay the third-base line along the short axis of the oval, and the first-base line along the long axis. This resulted in a left-field fence that was only some 250 feet from home plate, and a 40-foot screen was erected to prevent home runs from becoming too easy to hit. Still, the 1958 season saw 182 home runs hit to left field in the Coliseum, while only 3 were hit to center field and 8 to right field. Dodgers outfielder Wally Moon, newly acquired for the 1959 season, became adept at launching lazy fly balls over the screen, which became known as "Moon shots."

In 1959, the Dodgers benefited from a general decline in the National League. No team was dominant, and several teams were in the thick of the pennant race until the very end. The season ended in a tie between the Dodgers and the Milwaukee Braves, and the Dodgers won the tie-breaking playoff. 1959 also saw a team other than the Yankees win the A.L. pennant, one of only two such years between 1949 and 1964. In a lively World Series, the Dodgers defeated the "Go-Go" White Sox in 6 games, thoroughly cementing the bond between the team and its new California fans.

Pitching, Defense, and Speed

Construction on Dodger 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, and it remains a beloved landmark to this day. O'Malley was determined that there would not be a bad seat in the house, achieving this by cantilevered 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 its pitching.

The core of the team's success in the 1960's was the dominant pitching tandem of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, who combined to win 4 of the 5 Cy Young Awards from 1962 to 1966. Top pitching also came from Claude Osteen, an aging Johnny Podres, and reliever Ron Perranoski. The hitting attack, on the other hand, was not impressive, and much of the offensive spark came from the exploits of speedy shortstop Maury Wills, who led the league in stolen bases every year from 1960 to 1965, and set a modern record with 104 thefts in 1962. The Dodgers' strategy was once described as follows: "Wills hits a single, steals second, and takes third on a grounder. A sacrifice fly brings him home. Koufax or Drysdale pitches a shutout, and the Dodgers win 1-0." Although few games followed this model exactly, the Dodgers indeed won a great many low-scoring games.

The 1962 pennant race ended in a tie, and the Dodgers were defeated by the archrival Giants in the tie-breaking playoff, but the Dodgers proceeded to win the pennant in three of the next four years. The 1963 World Series was a 4-game sweep of the Yankees, in which the Dodgers so dominated that the vaunted Bronx Bombers never even took a lead against Koufax, Podres, and Drysdale. After an injury-plagued 1964, the Dodgers bounced back to win the 1965 World Series in a thrilling 7 games against the Minnesota Twins. Game 1 happened to fall on Yom Kippur, and Koufax (who is Jewish) refused to pitch on the holy day. The Dodgers rebounded from losing the first two games, as Koufax pitched shutouts in Games 5 and 7 (with only two days rest in between) to win the crown and the World Series MVP award.

The Dodgers again won the pennant in 1966, but the team was running out of gas and was swept by the upstart Baltimore Orioles (who went on to a successful run through the late '60s and early '70s). Koufax retired that winter, his career cut short by arthritis in his elbow, and Wills was traded away after offending Walter O'Malley. Drysdale continued to be effective, setting a record for consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, but he too retired early due to injuries. While the Dodgers were subpar for several seasons, a new core of young talent was developing in their farm system. A pennant in 1974, though quickly quashed by the dynastic Oakland A's, was a sign of good things to come.

The Lasorda Years

For 23 years, beginning in 1954, the Dodgers had been managed by Walter Alston, a quiet and unflappable man who commanded great respect from his players. Alston's tenure is the third-longest in baseball history for a manager with a single team, after Connie Mack and John McGraw. His retirement near the end of the 1976 season, after winning 7 pennants and 4 World Series titles over his career, cleared the way for an entirely different personality to take the helm of the Dodgers.

Tommy Lasorda was a 49-year-old former pitcher (never very successful in that capacity), who had been the team's top coach under Alston, and before that had been manager of the Dodgers' top minor league team. He was colorful and gregarious, an enthusiastic cheerleader in contrast to Alston's taciturn demeanor. He quickly became a larger-than-life personality, associating with Frank Sinatra and other celebrities, and eating Italian food in large volumes. He became well-known for sayings such as, "If you cut me, I bleed Dodger blue," and for referring to God as "the big Dodger in the sky." Although some considered his persona to be a schtick and to find it wearing, his enthusiasm won him a reputation as an "ambassador for baseball," and it is impossible to think of the Dodgers from the late '70s to the early '90s without thinking of Lasorda.

Another transition had recently occurred, higher up in the Dodgers management. Walter O'Malley passed control of the team to his son Peter, who would continue to oversee the Dodgers on his family's behalf through 1998.

New blood had also been injected into the team on the field. The core of the team was now the infield, composed of Steve Garvey (1B), Davey Lopes (2B), Bill Russell (SS), and Ron Cey (3B). These four remained in the starting lineup together from 1973 to 1981, longer than any other infield foursome in baseball history. The pitching staff remained strong, anchored by Don Sutton and Tommy John. The Dodgers won NL West titles inboth 1977 and 1978, both times defeating the Philadelphia Phillies to advance to the World Series, only to be defeated both times by the Yankees. In 1980, they swept 3 games from the Houston Astros to finish the regular season in a tie, but lost to the Astros in the tie-breaking playoff.

Fernando and the "Bulldog"

The Opening Day starting pitcher for 1981 was a 20-year-old rookie from Mexico: Fernando Valenzuela. Pressed into service due to an injury to Jerry Reuss, Valenzuela pitched a shutout that day, and proceeded to win his first 8 decisions through mid-May. The youthful left-hander, speaking only Spanish but sporting a devastating screwball, became a sensation. "Fernandomania" gripped Southern California, as huge crowds turned out to see him pitch. Valenzuela became the only pitcher ever to win the Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in the same season. The Dodgers' torrid start assured them of a playoff berth in the strike-shortened split season, and they proceeded to defeat the Yankees in the World Series.

The Dodgers won NL West titles in 1983 and 1985, but lost the Championship Series in both those years (to the Phillies and Cardinals, respectively). The 1985 NLCS was particularly memorable for Game 6, in which the Dodgers were protecting a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning, hoping to force a deciding seventh game. With two runners on and first base open, Lasorda elected not to walk Cards slugger Jack Clark, who proceeded to hit a home run and send St. Louis to the World Series.

After 7 years of high strikeout totals, and a 21-win season in 1986, Valenzuela sat out for most of the 1988 season. Plagued by arm troubles that were widely blamed on his being overused by Lasorda, his effectiveness faded before he turned 30. The new anchor of the pitching staff was a bespectacled string-bean of a right-hander named Orel Hershiser. He had been given the nickname "Bulldog" by Lasorda, more as a hopeful motivational tool than an objective description of his personality, but by 1988 he had matured into one of baseball's most effective pitchers. That year he won 23 games and the Cy Young Award, and broke Don Drysdale's record by tossing 59 consecutive scoreless innings, ending with a 10-inning shutout on his final start of the season.

The 1988 Championship is all the more magical for the fact that the Dodgers were hardly baseball's best team on paper. They enjoyed career years from several players, and were inspired by the fiery intensity of newcomer Kirk Gibson (the league's Most Valuable Player that year), as well as the quiet but steady Hershiser and the always ebullient Lasorda. Although they entered the NLCS as decided underdogs to the powerful New York Mets, the Dodgers pulled out a thrilling back-and-forth series in 7 games. The World Series matched them with an even more powerful opponent, the Oakland A's of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. The A's took an early lead in Game 1 on a grand slam by Canseco, and led 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. In a surprise move, Gibson, hobbling with injuries to both his legs, pinch hit against the formidable Dennis Eckersley. Gibson's dramatic home run has been called one of the most memorable moments in baseball history, and it set the tone for the rest of the Series. Hershiser dominated Games 2 and 5, and was on the mound when the stunning upset was complete.

The Nineties and the Fox Era

After 1988, the Dodgers did not win another postseason game until 2004, though they did reach the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, and narrowly missed in 1991 and strike-cancelled 1994. Hershiser, like Valenzuela before him, suffered an arm injury in 1990 due to overwork, which took the edge off his effectiveness for the remainder of his career. From 1992 to 1996, five consecutive Dodgers were named Rookie of the Year: Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth. After nearly 20 years at the helm, Lasorda retired in 1996, though he still remains with the Dodgers as an executive vice-president. He was replaced as manager by longtime Dodgers shortstop Bill Russell.

Nearly a half-century of unusual stability (only two managers 1954-1996, owned by a single family 1950-1998) finally came to an end. In 1998, the O'Malley family sold the Dodgers to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, owner of the Fox network and 20th Century Fox. Among the new ownership's early moves were trading away popular catcher Piazza, and replacing Russell with celebrity manager Davey Johnson. Johnson's volatile tenure ended two years later, and he was followed as manager by Jim Tracy. To fans accustomed to the personal touch of the O'Malleys, the Fox corporate ownership often seemed clumsy and distracted. Huge contracts were awarded to injury-prone pitchers Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort, unprofitably tying up money that could have improved the team in many other areas. Yet the team became more steady on the field in the early 2000's, with four consecutive winning seasons under the leadership of manager Tracy, slugger Shawn Green, third baseman Adrian Beltre, and catcher Paul LoDuca. The 2002 season was marked by the emergence of Eric Gagne as one of baseball's top relief pitchers. Gagne won the Cy Young Award in 2003.

The DePodesta Experiment

In 2004, the Dodgers were returned to family ownership, as News Corp sold the team to real estate developer Frank McCourt. McCourt immediately hired Paul DePodesta, a disciple of Billy Beane's "Moneyball" philosophy of using statistics to evaluate players, as general manager. With a team largely assembled by DePodesta's predecessors, augmented by some shrewd acquisitions, the Dodgers were near the top of the standings through much of 2004. In an effort to put the team over the top, DePodesta then executed a blockbuster series of mid-season trades, sending away three starting players (including popular team leader LoDuca) and two key pitchers, while obtaining several new players. The Dodgers did win the NL West in 2004, but went down quickly in the Division Series to the pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

During the winter of 2004-05, the team parted with several more longtime players, including Beltre and Green. Their replacements included starting pitcher Derek Lowe, outfielder J.D. Drew, and hard-hitting second baseman Jeff Kent. DePodesta's radical overhaul did not bear fruit in 2005, as the Dodgers suffered from clubhouse strife and decimating injuries, finishing with their second-worst record in Los Angeles history. Supporters of DePodesta note that many of the players he let go also had sub-par seasons elsewhere, but he was widely blamed for ignoring "chemistry" and other intangible factors in the players he acquired or let go. Manager Jim Tracy resigned at the end of the season, citing irreconcilable differences with DePodesta on how the team should be run. But DePodesta himself was fired by McCourt less than a month later, McCourt later citing DePodesta's lack of leadership and personal skills. Ned Colletti was hired as the new Dodger GM on 17 November 2005.

Team Nickname

Prior to the declaration of an official team nickname in 1933, sportswriters and fans applied a number of nicknames to the club. Early names included the Brooks, the Atlantics (after an earlier Brooklyn Atlantics club), and the Bridegrooms (after several players married prior to the 1888 season). When the streetcar lines were set up in Brooklyn, writers began calling the city and the team by the somewhat pejorative term Trolley Dodgers, which became shortened to Dodgers. Under manager Ned Hanlon (1899-1905), the team became known as the Superbas, after a popular (though unrelated) acrobatic troupe at that time called "Hanlon's Superbas". Under manager Wilbert Robinson (1914-1931), the team was known as the Robins, though newspapers used Robins and Dodgers interchangeably, often in the same game summary. No nickname was acknowledged on team uniforms until 1933, when the word Dodgers finally appeared. Prior to that, they had sported either the word "Brooklyn" or a stylized letter "B".

Rivalry with the Giants

The historic and heated rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants is more than a century old, having begun when both clubs played in New York City (the Dodgers in Brooklyn and the Giants in Manhattan). When both franchises moved to California in 1958, the rivalry was easily transplanted with them, as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have long been rivals in economic, cultural, and political arenas throughout the history of the State of California.

Vin Scully

Vin Scully has served as the play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers for 55 years, the longest tenure of any broadcaster with a single club in professional sports history. In 1976, he was selected by Dodgers fans as the Most Memorable Personality (on the field or off) of the team's history in L.A.

Quick Facts

Founded: 1883, as a member of the minor Inter-State League. The team moved up to the American Association in 1884 and transferred to the National League in 1890.

Logo design: cursive "Dodgers" superimposed over a red streaming baseball

Uniform: cap is "Dodger blue" with white "LA" (letters overlapped) centered on front of cap; home is "Dodger blue" on white, jersey has cursive "Dodgers" (similar to logo but without baseball) across chest; away is "Dodger blue" on gray, jersey has similar cursive "Los Angeles" across chest; as of 2005, names not printed on back of home or away jerseys