In 2021, a player who at the end of the season was wearing a Dodger uniform won the National League batting title. That player was Trea Turner. But Turner came over in the big trade with Max Scherzer at the deadline. So, did a Dodger really win the batting title? Technically since he was wearing the uniform, one did. If you look on Baseball Reference’s page listing the batting title winners, it does not say Dodgers. It says total. Meaning his combined stats with DC and LA. His trade to LA definitely pushed him over the top. He was hitting .322 in DC; he hit .338 for LA. He finished the season with a .328 BA, beating out former teammate, Juan Soto, who hit .313.
Who was the last Los Angeles Dodger to win a batting title? Well, you have to go all the way back to 1963 when Tommy Davis batted .326 and won his second title in a row. He also won in 1962 when he hit .346. Winning batting titles has not really been a thing in Dodger history. Pitching is what carried this team to its 8 World Series wins, and many playoff appearances. It’s one reason why they have more Cy Young awards than batting titles. 
Since the league officially formed in 1890, the first Brooklyn winner was Dan Brouthers. Brouthers hit .335 in 1892, It was actually his second title in a row. He won the title in 1891 playing for Boston. Brouthers would play for 19 years. He only spent 2 seasons in Brooklyn. He was born on May 8, 1858, in Sylvan New York. He began his career in 1879 with the Troy Trojans. If you look on the baseball reference page, it says they were part of the NL. Troy is located in upstate New York. 
Brouthers in his long career, never stayed with any team longer than 5 years. That one team was the Buffalo Bisons. Dan was an excellent hitter. He finished with 2303 hits and a career BA of .342. Over his career he played the outfield, 3rd and 1st. He also pitched a little, not very well, he had an 0-2 record. He died in August of 1932; he was 74 years old. He was voted in to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s committee. 
It would be 1913 before the next Brooklyn player would win the title. Jake Daubert, the teams 1sr baseman, won the title with a .350 batting average. Jake also was the NL MVP that year. Jake played 15 years in the majors, 9 of them with Brooklyn. He would win the title again in 1914 batting .329. He was born in April of 1884 and died in October of 1924, just 40 years old. Jake batted .303 for his career. He finished with 2326 hits. 1387 of them came with Brooklyn. 
Next up was Zachariah Davis Wheat. Wheat joined Brooklyn in 1909. He became the regular leftfielder in 1910. He established himself as one of the better players on the team. He won his only batting title in 1918. Zack hit .335 that year. He played in just 105 games but had enough at bats to qualify for the title. By today’s standards, it was not a great year for him. He did not hit a single homer and had just 18 extra base hits. In 1922, he hit .335 but had 16 homers and drove in 112 runs. In 23-24 in his mid 30’s, he hit .375 both seasons. 
Zack was born in May of 1888 in Hamilton Missouri. He died in March of 1972, he was 83. He is tied with Bill Russell for the most seasons as a player for the Dodgers at 18. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1959. He was voted in by the Veterans committee. 2804 of his 2284 hits he got as a Dodger. The next title won by a Dodger would not come until 1932 and it would be accomplished by a 35-year-old leftfielder they got in a trade with the Phillies in 1930.
That player was Francis Joseph O’Doul. Better known as Lefty. O’Doul was born in March of 1897 in San Francisco. He began what would be an 11-year career in 1919 with the Yankees. It was 1928 before he finally got a real chance to prove himself, and it was the Giants who gave it to him. He was 31 years old. The Giants traded him that winter to the Phillies. He blossomed that year and won his first batting title with a .398 batting average. He also led the league in hits with 254. He hit 32 homers and drove in 122 runs. He finished 2nd in the MVP vote to Hall of Famer, Rogers Hornsby who was by then playing for the Cubs.
O’Doul was in his second year with Brooklyn; he had hit .336 in his 1931 season. In 1932, he hit .368 with 21 homers and 90 RBIs. He struck out just 20 times in 595 at bats. He also had 32 doubles and 8 triples. He would finish 3rd in the MVP vote behind Chuck Klein of the Phillies and pitcher, Lon Warneke of the Cubs. Lefty was a .349 hitter over his career. He died in December of 1969 in San Francisco at the age of 72. 
It would be 1941 before the next Dodger won. This time it was 22-year-old Pete Reiser, the Dodger center fielder taking home the crown. Reiser had a great year. He led the league in WAR, 8.0, runs, 117, doubles, 39, triples, 17, BA, .343, slugging, .558, OPS.964, OPS+, 164 and total bases, 299. Reiser was from St. Louis Missouri. He was born there in March of 1919. He was originally signed by the Cardinals. In 1938, they found something in his signing that was illegal, and he became a free agent. He signed with the Dodgers in April of 1938. Pete’s career would be derailed by a couple of things, first, he served in the military for 3 years during WWII. Second, a series of serious injuries from running into walls chasing fly balls. He had at least 11 collisions with walls, which in his era, were not padded. But his injuries were indirectly responsible for teams beginning to pad the outfield walls. Pete spent 6 years in Brooklyn before being traded to the Braves. It is a shame he never reached his full potential. 
Next up was Dixie Walker in 1944. Dixie, real name Fred Walker, was born in Villa Rica Georgia in September of 1910. He was originally signed by the New York Yankees and his rookie year was 1933. He spent 5 years in NY before being traded to the White Sox where he spent 2 years. after being claimed off of waivers. The Sox traded him to the Tigers in December of 1937 with 2 other players for Marv Owen, Gee Walker and Mike Tresh. Tresh was the father of future MLB player, Tom Tresh. Walker was placed on waivers by the Tigers in July of 1939, and the Dodgers claimed him. He was in his 6th year with the team when he won the title in 1944. He batted .357/13/91. He also had 37 doubles and 9 triples. Walker was traded to the Pirates after the 1947 season. One of the reasons was his stand against playing with Jackie Robinson. He and two other dissenters to Robinson went to the Pirates for Billy Cox and Preacher Roe.
In 1949, Jackie Robinson won the title. He batted .342/16/124. He added 38 doubles and 12 triples to that. He led the league in WAR, 9.3, steals 37, caught stealing 17, and sacrifice bunts. He also won the NL MVP award. Jackie was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962, named on 124 of 160 ballots. His number 42 was retired along with Koufax’s 32, and Campanella’s 39 at Dodger Stadium in 1972 in June.
Carl Furillo #6 Ol Skoonj
The last Brooklyn Dodger to win a batting title was Carl Furillo in 1953. Carl was born in Stony Creek Mills in Pennsylvania in March of 1922. He was obtained from Reading, a team in the Class-B Interstate League in 1941, Reading is located in Pennsylvania. Furillo, nicknamed Ol Skoonj by his teammates, batted .344/21/92. He had 38 doubles and 6 triples to his credit. He also had a cannon for an arm. He hit .333 with a homer and 4 driven in during the series loss to the Yankees. Carl played all 15 of his seasons as a Dodger. He played on the 55 and 59 Championship teams. 
The first LA Dodger, and so far, the last to win a batting title, was 2-time winner, 62-63, left fielder, Tommy Davis. Davis was a Brooklyn native born there in March of 1939. He signed with the Dodgers in 1956 when he was 17. He debuted with the team in LA in 1959 playing just 1 game. He became a regular in 1960. The Dodgers moved into their new home, Dodger Stadium in 1962 and Davis would have his best season ever. He batted .346/27/153. No Dodger has driven in more runs since. He led the league with 230 hits. He added 27 doubles and 9 triples to his numbers, and he stole 18 bases. He would follow that in 1963 with a .326/16/88 season. But LA won the pennant and then swept the Yankees 4-0 in the series. Davis hit .400 in the series. He hit .275 in 1964, a down year for the whole team. He was injured 17 games into the 1965 season and missed the rest of the year. He was replaced by journeyman outfielder, Sweet Lou Johnson. Even though he rebounded to hit .313 in 1966, he wasn’t the same player and LA traded him to the Mets. For his 19-year career, Tommy played for 10 different teams and had a career BA of .294.
HOMER KINGS
The first Brooklyn player to win the home run crown, actually tied two other players with 13 homers each in 1890. His name was Thomas Burns. His nickname was Oyster Burns. Burns was born in 1864 in Philadelphia. He started his pro baseball career in 1884 with Baltimore in the American Association. Burns joined the Brooklyn team in 1888 while they were still a part of the AA. His line in 1890 was .283/13/128. He also had 22 doubles and 12 triples to his credit. Over his career, Oyster hit 65 homers and batted exactly .300. Burns played multiple positions over his 11 years in the majors. 
In 1903, Jimmy Sheckard hit 9 homers to lead the National League. Sheckard, a Pennsylvania native born in 1878 played the outfield. He joined the Brooklyn team in 1897, and except for a 4-game stint in Baltimore in 1902, he would stay with them until 1905. The most homers he ever hit in a season was 11 in 1901. He would hit 36 in his 8 years with Brooklyn. He would play 17 years, retiring in 1913 after playing for the Reds. Also in 1903, he stole 67 bases and led the league. 
In 1904, another Dodger took the crown, Harry Lumley, an outfielder from Forest City Pa. Lumley slugged 9 homers that year. It was his rookie season. He also led the league in triples with 18. Lumley, nicknamed, Judge, would play 7 years for Brooklyn. He would hit 38 homers in his career. But he had 66 triples. Unusual stat. 
In 1906, Tim Jordan, the team’s first baseman, won the first of two titles. He would win again in 1908. Jordan, a New York City native would play parts of 7 seasons in the majors. But he played only 4 full seasons. In 06 and 08 he hit 12 homers in each season to lead the NL. Over his career, he hit 32. Like Freddie Freeman, he batted left and threw right. 
It would be 1924 before another Brooklyn player won the crown. Jack Fournier, a left-handed hitting 1st baseman-outfielder, led the NL with 27 homers in his 12th year in the majors and his second in Brooklyn. He was 31 at the time. He was born in Au Sable Michigan. He batted .334 that year and drove in 116 runs. He also had 25 doubles and 4 triples. Furnier would hit 136 homers in his big-league career, 82 of them came in a Brooklyn uniform. 
It would be 1941 before the first Dodger led the league in homers. You have to remember that until the early 30’s, the team was still called the Robins. They did not officially change the name until 1932. In 41 the NL HR leader was first baseman, Dolph Camilli. Camilli smashed 34 homers and drove in 120 runs. Dolph was a native of San Francisco. He played for 12 years, with half of those coming in Brooklyn. He would hit 239 homers in his career with 139 of those as a Dodger. One more thing you should know about the long drought between HR champs, those were the heydays of guys like Hack Wilson, Chuck Klein, and Mel Ott. Johnny Mize won his first title in 1939 and repeated in 1940.
The Duke of Flatbush
Again, a long wait as the next Dodger winner would be Duke Snider in 1956 when he slugged a career high, 43. It was also the fourth straight season Duke had hit 40 or more. He would hit 40 for the last time in 1957. Duke was a Compton California native who played for 18 years, 16 of those as a Dodger. He led the NL in homers in the 50’s. His teammate, Gil Hodges was the only other player to hit more than 300 in that decade. Snider hit 326, Hodges 310. Eddie Mathews of the Braves just missed with 299. 
Duke is the All-time leader in career homers for the Dodgers, 389 with Hodges right behind him. 56 was his only home run title. He did hit 11 home runs in World Series play, giving him exactly 400 homers in a Dodger uniform. Duke was competing against Kiner, Mathews, Mays, Kluszewski, and Aaron during his peak years. It would be a very long drought after Snider’s win. Not until 2004 would a Dodger again lead the league. 48 years between winners. 
That guy was Adrian Beltre. In his walk year, Beltre made sure he was going to get a huge deal with a .334/48/121 line. He was 25 years old. The native of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic would never come close to repeating those numbers the rest of his 21-year career. He did slug 447 homers playing for the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox and then the Rangers. He spent one more year with Texas than he did LA, 8-7. He hit 199 homers for the Rangers and 147 for LA. 
Beltre was an excellent defender at third and Dodger fans have long rued the Dodgers not re-signing him as a free agent. But one must remember, 2004 was the first year of McCourt’s ownership of the Dodgers. It is doubtful McCourt had the resources to sigh Adrian. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024. 
LA only had to wait seven years for the next champ, Matt Kemp just missed being a 40-40 guy in 2011 when he slugged 39 homers. The 26-year-old native of Midwest City in Oklahoma, led the NL in WAR, 8.0, runs, 115, RBI’s, 126 and OPS+, 172. He finished 2nd in the MVP voting, and most felt he was robbed when it went to Ryan Braun of the Brewers. He was also an All-Star that year and won a gold glove and a silver slugger award. He was never really the same player after injuring his shoulder in 2012. He hit 203 homers as a Dodger and 287 for his career. 
Thirteen years after Kemp won, LA got its next champ in the person of Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani became the majors first 50-50 guy with 54 bombs and 59 steals. He did that at Miami with an epic 6-6, 3 homer, 10 RBI game. It was a shame he injured himself in game 2 of the World Series because we did not get to see the best of him in that series. He hit 3 homer and drove in 10, but all of that damage came in the NLDS and NLCS. He only had 2 hits in the World Series. Ohtani is leading the NL with 38 homers so far this season, his closest pursuer is Eugenio Suarez and Kyle Schwarber. There is a good chance that Suarez might be traded at the deadline since Az has already traded two players and seems to be in sell mode. If Ohtani does win another title, he would be the first Dodger ever to do that in back-to-back seasons. In just 2 years with the team, he has 92 homers. That gives him more than Joe Ferguson and Tommy Davis. He is tied with Roseboro. He is within striking distance of Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig, who he will no doubted pass in the near future. He is just 16 back of Seager. Well, those are the hitting and home run kings. Hope you all enjoyed this.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
Reno Aces (Arizona) 6 – OKC Comets 2
The game started out well for OKC. Justin Dean doubled (9) and Ryan Ward singled him home with his 94th RBI, best in MiLB.
Reno got the run back after a single and double off SP, Landon Knack.
The scored remained tied at 1 until the bottom of the 5th. Knack issued a BB, single, and BB to load the bases. After a pop out, he gave up a run scoring single. Knack struck out the next batter and was then relieved by Ronan Kopp. Kopp gave up a 2-run double and BB before getting the final out.
Nick Frasso entered in the 6th. He gave up a leadoff single. Frasso got a strikeout and ground out, with runner moving into scoring position. A single brought home the 5th run.
OKC got a run back in the 8th. Nick Senzel singled, moved to 2nd on a Noah Miller BB and scored on an Austin Gauthier RBI single.
I watched Bobby Miller’s initial relief and it did not go well. He gave up a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch, that was followed by a double. The runner was thrown out at the plate. The batter moved up to 3rd on the throw home, and scored on a single. The runner on 1st was thrown out on a steal attempt by Chuckie Robinson. Miller struck out the next batter to end the inning. IMO, there is absolutely no reason to give up on the Bobby Miller to reliever conversion. There is nothing to lose to continue the experiment. He has very limited trade value.
In the 9th, the Comets loaded the bases with 1 out, but Nick Senzel and CJ Alexander struck out to end the game.
Noah Miller and Austin Gauthier had 2 hits each, with Justin Dean and Noah Miller each having doubled (5).
Tulsa Drillers 3 – Springfield Cardinals 2
Patrick Copen started for Tulsa and had a rough 1st inning. He walked the first two batters he faced. Both runners moved up on a sac bunt. After Copen got the next batter on a K, Copen was about to get out of the inning. However, Griffin Lockwood-Powell allowed a passed ball and a run scored.
Tulsa tied it up in the bottom of the 1st, Damon Keith drew a 1-out BB. Kyle Nevin singled Keith to 2nd. Kendall Simmons then laced a 2-out single to plate Keith to briefly tie the score.
In the 2nd, Copen allowed a single, and after 2 stolen bases, the runner scored on a sac fly.
Copen finished 4.0 innings allowing just the two runs (1 earned) on 2 hits, 3 BB, and 5 K. Carson Hobbs pitched 2.0 perfect innings with 2 K.
The score remained 2-1 into the bottom of the 6th. Keith singled and was forced out at 2nd on a Kyle Nevin ground ball. Nevin advanced to 2nd on the throwing error from the relay to 1st. Chris Newell drew a BB, and a WP moved both runners into scoring position. Nelson Quiroz then hit a 2-run single to give the Drillers a 3-2 lead, and the ultimate final winning score.
Jerming Rosario and Antonio Knowles finished the final three innings with Knowles notching his 10th save.
Quiroz was the only Drillers’ hitter with a multi-hit game (2 singles). There were no XBH (by either team).
Beloit Sky Carp (Miami) 3 – Great Lakes Loons 0
The Loons managed 2 singles and 2 BB in this game.
Brooks Auger allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, 2 BB, and 1 HBP in 4.0 IP. He did register 2 Ks. Joseilyn Gonzalez a walk, single and 2 HBP in the 6th for the Sky Carp’s 3rd run.
Reynaldo Yean, Jorge Gonzalez, and Alex Makarewich followed with 3 hitless and scoreless innings (1.0 inning each).
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona) 11 – Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7
The Visalia Rawhide capitalized on three Rancho errors on Sunday, holding on for an 11-7 win over the Quakes.
Rancho’s offense put 11 hits on the board, but left 13 men stranded, including the bases loaded three times in their final four innings.
After a Jackson Nicklaus (2) homer gave them a 3-2 lead in the second, Rancho committed a crucial error behind Logan Tabeling (4-3) in the top of the third, as the Rawhide took a 4-3 lead.
They’d add six in the sixth to take a commanding 10-3.
Rancho got two back in the sixth and then two more in the eighth, but left the bases full in both the eighth and ninth, as they couldn’t take advantage of the eight walks served up by Rawhide pitching.
The Quakes still take four of six in the series as they enter Monday’s off-day. On Tuesday, they’ll resume action in Fresno, taking on the Grizzlies with right-hander Marlon Nieves taking on Fresno’s Marcos Herrera at 6:50pm.
- Ching-Hsien Ko – 2-4, 2 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI
- Jaron Elkins – 2-6, 1 run, 1 RBI, 2 doubles (24)
- Angel Diaz – 2-4, 1 BB
- Samuel Munoz – 1-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, triple (6)
- Jackson Nicklaus – 1-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (2)
I bet Copen gets traded. Possibly Linan too. Helium guys. Zazueta possible.
I am beginning to believe that the Dodgers are not going to be as active at the deadline as most people think, and as most fans hope.
I think the Dodgers will make two big trades.
One for a closer, one for another bat.
Good to see Conforto break out a bit. But as soon as his bat heats up the glove goes south.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bear, thanks for all the hard work you put in for us readers, great articles.
You are welcome. I love doing this.
Noticed that Freeland is playing 3rd most of the time now with Miller getting most of the reps at SS.
Could It be that he will be part of a trade with Arizona for Suarez?
With Treinen and Wrobo now up the pen looks a lot better .
Was surprised they sent down Henriquez and not Diaz.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!