A quick history of Dodgers in the Hall of Fame
by Cary Osborne
When Gil Hodges is inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 24, 2022, he will become the 55th player or manager in Dodger franchise history to receive the honor.
Hodges will be the 15th player or manager to wear a Dodger cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
Befitting of the franchise’s lengthy and influential history, many of the game’s greats have represented the Dodgers at some point in their careers and are enshrined in Cooperstown.
Hodges included, here are some notables about the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame history:
Hodges will be the 10th individual who played for or managed the Dodgers who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame this century. He will be the only one donning a Dodger cap. Before Hodges, Jim Thome was the last former Dodger inducted into the Hall. Thome, a 2018 inductee, spent two months with the Dodgers in 2009. He played 22 Major League seasons.
By wins above replacement, the greatest former Dodger player in the Hall of Fame is Rickey Henderson, whose 111.2 bWAR (Baseball Reference) ranks 14th in MLB history. Henderson played 30 games with the Dodgers in 2003, the final season of his 25-year career.
He is one of 14 former Dodger players in the Hall who were with the team for no more than one season.
Zack Wheat, inducted in 1959, played the longest with the Dodgers at 18 seasons from 1909–1926.
The greatest pitcher is Greg Maddux, whose 104.8 bWAR for pitchers ranks eighth all time. Maddux had two stints with the Dodgers and appeared in 19 games. He finished his 23-year career in Dodger Blue in 2008.
Here are the position by position bWAR leaders among former Dodgers in the Hall of Fame (by player’s primary position):
Pitcher: Maddux: 104.8
Catcher: Gary Carter: 70.1
First Base: Dan Brouthers: 78.7
Second Base: Jackie Robinson: 63.9
Third Base: Freddie Lindstrom: 28.3
Shortstop: Arky Vaughan: 78.0
Left Field: Henderson: 111.2
Center Field: Duke Snider: 65.9
Right Field: Frank Robinson: 107.2
Hodges will be inducted 59 years after he played his final Major League game and 51 years after he managed his last game.
Ned Hanlon’s wait was longer. The former center fielder ended his playing career in 1892. Seven years later, he became the manager for the Brooklyn Superbas. He managed in the Dodger organization for seven seasons and led the club to two NL championships. His managerial career ended after the 1907 season with the Cincinnati Reds. In 1996, 89 years after managing his final game and 104 years after his last game as a player, Hanlon was elected to the Hall by the Veteran’s Committee.
The shortest wait — five years — was by these men: Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Henderson, Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Thome.
Tommy Lasorda and Casey Stengel were enshrined the year after they managed their final game.
The first former Dodger to earn induction was “Wee” Willie Keeler — the great right fielder who played five seasons of his 19-year career with Brooklyn. The two-time batting champion was part of the fourth induction class in 1939 alongside Lou Gehrig, George Sisler and Eddie Collins.
Keeler is one of nine former Dodgers wearing a Brooklyn cap on his plaque. The others: Dazzy Vance, Wheat, Jackie Robinson, Burleigh Grimes, Roy Campanella, Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Leo Durocher.
There are five Hall of Famers wearing an LA cap: Koufax, Don Drysdale, Walter Alston, Lasorda and Don Sutton.
The stand-out ceremony for Dodger legends was in 1984 when Reese and Drysdale were inducted, marking the only year when two players went in wearing a Dodger cap.
Hodges will become the 65th individual who has been part of the organization either as a player, manager, coach, scout, executive or broadcaster enshrined in the Hall of Fame. That list also includes broadcasting legends Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín, baseball trailblazers Walter O’Malley and Branch Rickey and arguably the most legendary name of all — Babe Ruth, who was the Brooklyn Dodgers’ first-base coach in 1938.
