Los Angeles Dodgers: The franchise all-time bracket

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of MLB’s most successful franchises for eight decades. This bracket pits eight of the best teams from Brooklyn and LA.

Teams representing the Dodgers, either in Brooklyn or Los Angeles, have won six World Series championships, 24 pennants, and made 33 post-season appearances.

The franchise all-time record is a marvelous 1,160 games above .500. So an eight-team bracket pitting the Los Angeles Dodgers best against one another is bound to leave some excellent teams behind.

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In selecting the fortunate eight, we will be looking at the ideal mix of criteria. The teams should represent the panoply of franchise history in both cities, they should at least touch on all the great eras of that history, and when tough calls have to be made they should favor teams that achieved the ultimate success, a World Series win.

We begin with the 100-game winners. There have been eight in franchise history, beginning with an extraordinary 1899 team and continuing through 1941, 1942, 1953, 1962, 1974, 2017 and 2019. Some, however, should be set aside.

The 1899 team was a contrived product of ‘syndicate baseball,’ a moment in time when owners were allowed to control more than one team. The 1942 and 1962 teams both failed to win pennants. In such a crowded field, the 2017 and 2019  teams are too similar to allow both in, and the 2019 team failed to reach the World Series.

That leaves 1941, 1953, 1974 and 2017 as our first four entries.

The 1963 and 1988 World Series champions represent distinct eras not yet in the field, so they must be included.

We have two spots left to fill from among some exceptional candidates, including the 1955, 1959 and 1965 and 1981 World Series winners. Of those four the best regular-season records belonged to the 1955 and 1965 Dodgers, so they fill out the bracket.

The format is identical to previous bracket challenges. Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
3. Game 3: Team OPS+
4. Game 4: Team ERA+
5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
7. Game 7 (if necessary): Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers