The Biggest Dodger of them all!

[Fuzzy Bear]

Who was the greatest player in the history of the Dodgers?

This is not quite a gimme!

If you have another player in mind, please mention him in your post. I would not pick any of these players, but Gil Hodges, Dazzy Vance, and Babe Herman could be considered; I could only input 10 choices.

[sweaver]

For reasons that go far beyond the field of play, Jackie Robinson. This is a story not told in Win Shares, but in the application of one man's courage.

[Ytown Tribe fan]

Originally posted by sweaver
For reasons that go far beyond the field of play, Jackie Robinson. This is a story not told in Win Shares, but in the application of one man's courage.

:) Well said!

[Skip]

1. Fuzzy, I deleted your duplicate poll option for Reese.

2. Choosing Robinson is easy and right for all the obvious reasons.

3. If I must choose specifically as a player, and discount the color barrier stuff, I have much more difficulty making a choice. It almost becomes none of the above or a search for better candidates. Perhaps this is a more interesting question than the nearly certain Robinson landslide this poll will generate.

[JamesI]

Picking based on baseball only, I take Koufax. Jackie easily wins for affect on society.

[pwdennis]

Jackie Robinson. Beyond the obvious symbolic value of this selection, if JR had been allowed to get to the majors at age 22 , even Win Shares would have likely picked him as the greatest Dodger of all time

[Duque]

Robinson
Snider
Koufax

Purely baseball - the three are all pretty close. Actually, if not for external factors and Robinson's monumental importance to the game, I might have said Snider.

Anyone who appears in a commercial with Alf, Hulk Hogan, or Terry Bradshaw does not merit consideration.

[Gosfgiants]

Originally posted by Duque
Anyone who appears in a commercial with Alf, Hulk Hogan, or Terry Bradshaw does not merit consideration.

Especially if he's on the Mets :D

[LeGrandOrange]

The Dodgers are the most unique franchise in baseball because there are umptillion different guys that can get this honor. The biggest Dodger could be a manager, general manager, or a broadcaster. The biggest Dodger could be well known for one play or one moment. Ask 100 old-time Brookliners and 100 Los Angelans (is that the right term?) this question and you probably get like 150 answers, if not more.

As a result, I'm not going to vote in this poll, because there are too many I can think of that are deservant.

[pathogan]

Originally posted by sweaver
For reasons that go far beyond the field of play, Jackie Robinson. This is a story not told in Win Shares, but in the application of one man's courage.

[KCBOOMER]

This is a tough one because of so many fairly evenly matched careers. I think the numbers say that it was Snider but who do we think of when we think of the Dodgers: Jackie Robinson.

[gyb13]

Snider
Koufax
Robinson
Wheat

[WiredTiger]

Originally posted by Duque

Anyone who appears in a commercial with Alf, Hulk Hogan, or Terry Bradshaw does not merit consideration. I think Emmitt Smith should be barred from the Football HOF for exactly the same reason.

I picked Jackie. It was close on pure baseball merit. But Jackie brought more to the game than just baseball talent and he is the pick.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I picked Zack Wheat, because he had the longest career of any Dodger greats. Many of the greatest Dodgers has somewhat short careers, for one reason or another.

But Koufax and Robinson, for peak value and character achievements are certainly picks I considered, and could well be persuaded to go with on a different day.

I rate all three of these guys ahead of Snyder, Drysdale, and even Campy.