Honoring Legends

                                       Since they moved to Los Angeles, the Dodgers have found more than a few ways to honor their Hall of Famers and team legends. The team first began retiring numbers in 1972. That year, three players were so honored, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Roy Campanella. Walter Alston was next in 1977 after he retired from managing at the end of 1976. Jim Gilliam became the first non-Hall of Famer so honored when his number 19 was retired after his death in 1978.

                                     Duke Snider’s #4 was retired in 1980 after Duke’s election to the hall. Pee Wee followed in 1984. Don Drysdale’s 53 was retired the same day as Pee Wee’s. They also began a ring of honor around the press level at Dodger Stadium. Lasorda’s #2 was retired in 1997. Don Sutton’s #20 the next year. There is no set criteria for retiring a number, but outside of Gilliam, all of the honorees played the bulk of their careers with the Dodgers. It would be a while before the next retired number. Not until 2022 when Gil Hodges finally made the hall and they retired #14, much to the chagrin of Kike Hernandez. The last one retired was another non-Hall of Famer, Fernando Valenzuela, whose number 34 was retired in August of 2023. 10 players and 2 managers.  

                                  There is a very good chance that Kershaw’s #22 will be retired 5 years after he retires. He is pretty much a lock for the hall. Two broadcasters are honored in the Ring of Honor, Scully and Jarin. In 2019, the Dodgers started “Legends of Dodger Baseball”. The events were marked with a plaque and photo on a wall in Dodger Stadium and the fans got in on the whole thing with bobbleheads of the players honored. Last year they began awarding the player with a blue jacket with LA on the breast pocket. 

                               The first three were, Don Newcombe, Steve Garvey and Fernando in 2019. Next up in 2022, Kirk Gibson and Maury Wills. In 2023 they inducted Manny Mota and Orel Hershiser. In 24 it was Dusty Baker. This year the honoree was the Penguin, Ron Cey. There is always a nice ceremony pre-game on the day the player is honored. Teammates make speeches, and there are always a lot of fans cheering on their heroes.

                            Sometimes, like this year, a former teammate will take little shots of humor at the inductee. Mike Scioscia did that to Cey this year. Getting a bobblehead is a pretty big deal these days. Some fans have huge collections. I have over 100 myself. I was always irked that in 2018, the publicity department felt it necessary to replace Jim Gilliam’s bobblehead with a Manny Machado. Gilliam has still not been so honored, a travesty in my eyes. I never thought of Manny Machado as a Dodger. 

                        The other person on the Ring of Honor is Walter O’Malley. It was a big deal at the stadium the day that happened. Kershaw will most likely end up there, I would think Ohtani, Betts and Freeman too. Probably long after I am gone. But I have been lucky. With the exception of Jackie, Campy and Pee Wee, I saw all of the others play in person. Being a Dodger fan is a great thing.