Over the past seven years, I've learned that if the Dodgers are in the World Series, I'm going to need to post about it -- and I probably can't post about anything else.
It's just difficult to get interested in a regular topic when All Of That is going on (I actually get annoyed when following along on social media during a Series game when a non-Series post slips in).
The Dodgers are in pretty good shape as of this writing. But I've seen Series 2-0 leads crumble more times than I care to remember. And to make the 1978 memories worse, the Series has moved to New York for three games. I loathe viewing games in Yankee Stadium and the Series magnifies that by about a million. Fortunately, I'll be working all through the next three games. So I can fast-forward to what I want (or ignore altogether) at a later date.
I think the Dodgers could use another World Series boost post from me though. I did this four years ago. I'm going to change it up a little bit. This time I figured out the top 35 Dodgers hitters in World Series history in terms of individual OPS (on-base plus slugging). It seems like a quick-and-easy way to select the team's greatest Fall Classic bangers.
The threshold mark for this list is at least 10 at-bats. So, unfortunately, Chuck Essegian's 3.417 OPS in the 1959 Series, which would've easily topped the list, does not qualify. Same goes for Kirk Gibson's one World Series at-bat for the Dodgers, which gives him a 5.000 OPS!
Tommy Edman's 2024 Series so far does not qualify either. He's currently at 1.625 OPS. He just needs two more at-bats, though, to make the list!
Here we go:
35. Jackie Robinson, 2B, .679 OPS (137 at-bats)
34. Pee Wee Reese, SS, .695 OPS (169 AB)
34. Pee Wee Reese, SS, .695 OPS (169 AB)
33. Roy Campanella, C, .696 (114 AB)
32. Zack Wheat, OF, .696 (46 AB)
31. Bill Buckner, OF, .700 (20 AB)
30. Carl Furillo, OF, .721 (128 AB)
29. Casey Stengel, OF, .727 (11 AB)
28. Ivy Olson, SS, .735 (41 AB)
27. Ron Cey, 3B, .735 (69 AB)
26. Logan Forsythe, 2B, .742 (18 AB)
25. Franklin Stubbs, 1B, .745 (17 AB)
24. Steve Garvey, 1B, .749 (113 AB)
23. Gil Hodges, 1B, .761 (131 AB)
23. Jim Lefebvre, 2B, .769 (27 AB)
21. Jimmy Wynn, OF, .771 (16 AB)
20. Max Muncy, 3B, .781 (59 AB)
A couple of observations before the rest of the top 20: Muncy is still active, so he could move up or down on this list over the next few days (he is trending down) ... I would have guessed Garvey would have been higher but his best postseason performances overall came in the NLCS ... Ivy Olson was a starting shortstop for the Dodgers in 1916 and 1920. ... Dodger great Logan Forsythe!!
19. Billy Cox, 3B, .804 (53 AB)
18. Joe Ferguson, C/OF, .810 (20 AB)
17. Luis Olmo, OF, .818 (11 AB)
16. Lou Johnson, OF, .818 (42 AB)
15. Corey Seager, SS, .827 (47 AB)
14. Wes Parker, 1B, .838 (47 AB)
13. Mike Marshall, 1B, .846 (13 AB)
12. Justin Turner, 3B, .849 (74 AB)
11. Tommy Davis, OF, .897 (23 AB)
More thoughts before the top 10: Luis Olmo hit a home run and knocked in two in the
limited Series time he enjoyed in 1949. ... I need to watch the 1988
World Series again, my memories of what Mike Marshall did (triple and a
homer) are hazy. ... Corey Seager's Rangers input is not counted, nor is it for any other player who made the World Series for a different team.
TOP 10
10. Steve Yeager, C, .902 (57 AB). 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981 World Series.
.298 in 21 games, 17 hits, 4 doubles, 4 home runs, 10 RBIs. Steve Yeager's appearance is not a
surprise given his 1981 performance, but it WAS a surprise at the time. I
watched many a Dodger game with Yeager batting eighth and proving why
he was there.
9. Ron Fairly, OF, .903 (40 AB). 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966 World Series. Batted .300 in 20 games, 12 hits, three doubles, two home runs, six RBIs
8. Charlie Neal, 2B, .903 (31 AB). 1956, 1959 World Series. Batted .373 in seven games. 10 hits, 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs. Neal's World Series heroics are well-known, as are those of most of the guys in the top 10.
7. Duke Snider, OF, .945 (133 AB). 1948, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959 World Series. .286 in 36 games, 38 hits, 8 2Bs, 11 home runs, 26 RBIs. Snider's Series stats are remarkable as for most guys, the more times they play in the Series, the more their stats suffer. This was not the case for Duke.
6. Joc Pederson, OF, .975 (40 AB). 2018, 2020 World Series. Batted .357 in 17 games. 11 hits, two doubles, 5 HRs, 9 RBIs. Before Pederson turned roly-poly, hooking up with every team I have a history of disliking, he was super-clutch in the Series for L.A.
5. Frank Howard, OF, 1.000 (10 AB). 1963 World Series. .300 average in three games, 3 hits, 2B, home run, 1 RBI. Howard just makes the cut and thank goodness because I couldn't possibly exclude a player that led to Topps creating a card with the heading "Sealing Yanks' Doom".
4. Bill Skowron, 1B, 1.044 (13 AB). 1963 World Series. .385 in four games. 5 hits, 1 HR, 3 RBIs. Skowron's time with the Dodgers was so brief there's no actual Topps card with him as a Dodger. Goodness, I really wish I was around for that 1963 World Series.
3. Mickey Hatcher, OF, 1.137 (19 AB). 1988 World Series. .368 in five games. 7 hits, double, 2 home runs, five RBIs. World Series winners are required to have guys like this who come out of nowhere.
2. Pedro Guerrero, OF, 1.179 (21 AB). 1981 World Series. .333 in six games. 7 hits, double, triple, two home runs, seven RBIs. Also a relative unknown at the time of the '81 World Series, this was his coming-out party.
1. David Freese, 3B, 1.333 (12 AB). 2018 World Series. .417 average in five games. Five hits, triple, home run, RBI.
How about that? The Dodgers know how to pick ex-Cardinals when it comes to the World Series.
Will this be just what the Dodgers need to jump-start them through New York (with quite questionable pitching on the way)? Who knows. I'll be hiding in my office, for once happy to be buried in work.
(UPDATE: At the conclusion of the 2024 World Series, Tommy Edman is now sixth all-time among Dodgers in the World Series with a .988 OPS and Freddie Freeman is now FIRST with a 1.364 OPS).
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