LOS ANGELES — For a franchise like the Dodgers that has existed for well over a century, there is seemingly no shortage of team-defining moments. From Brooklyn to L.A., some of the greatest players in baseball history have worn Dodgers blue, and the club hopes that the 2020s will be remembered as its golden era.
It’s a tall task to pin down the biggest moments decade by decade, let alone in the history of the team. Nevertheless, I gave it a try. Here are the 10 greatest moments in Dodgers history:
1. Breaking the color barrier
This event not only changed franchise history but the game itself. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, going 0-for-3 with a run scored — and more importantly, opening the door for the integration of Black players into the Major Leagues.
2. Perfection from Koufax
Sandy Koufax’s peak was as ridiculous as it gets, and his run of four straight years with a no-hitter from 1962-65 culminated with a perfect game. On Sept. 9, 1965, Koufax struck out 14 Cubs — including each of his final six batters — while going 27 up, 27 down at Dodger Stadium with another franchise icon, Vin Scully, on the call.
The legendary left-hander set a Major League record with his fourth no-hitter that stood until Nolan Ryan threw his fifth in 1981. Koufax would go on to win his second of three Cy Young Awards in the penultimate season of his Hall of Fame career.
3. A limp around the bases
Knee and hamstring injuries limited Kirk Gibson to just one at-bat in the 1988 World Series, but he more than made it count with arguably the most iconic swing in franchise history. In as a pinch-hitter and down to his final strike in Game 1, Gibson took A’s closer Dennis Eckersley deep for a walk-off two-run blast.
As the ball soared into the seats in right field, Scully declared, “She is gone!” — a call as synonymous with the moment as Gibson’s slow yet triumphant trot around the bases. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in five games.
4. ‘Gibby, meet Freddie’
Thirty-six years after Gibson’s heroics, another injured Dodgers player hit a huge home run in the Fall Classic. It was Freddie Freeman, dealing with a badly sprained right ankle, launching the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history in Game 1 against the Yankees in 2024 — also setting the table for a Dodgers championship in five games.
Just as Gibson’s homer became the enduring image of the 1988 World Series, Freeman’s slam has taken on a life of its own. Broadcaster Joe Davis emulated Scully’s classic call of Gibson’s homer before tying the two historic moments together: “Gibby, meet Freddie.”
After three relatively quiet games at the plate to begin the NLCS, Ohtani’s jaw-dropping Game 4 earned him series MVP honors and sent the Dodgers back to the World Series, where they became the first team in 25 years to win back-to-back titles.
6. Mr. 3,000
While Clayton Kershaw’s 2014 no-hitter might go down as his best game, his reaching the 3,000-strikeout milestone on July 2, 2025, put his illustrious career into perspective. Kershaw needed a season-high 100 pitches to strike out three White Sox hitters, and when he finally got No. 3,000 for his final out of the night, the Dodger Stadium crowd went wild for their longtime ace whom they had watched for 18 years.
Kershaw became just the fourth left-hander to join the 20-person 3,000-strikeout club. He was only the third Major Leaguer to strike out 3,000 or more while spending his entire career with one team.
7. Fernandomania
It didn’t take Fernando Valenzuela long to go from an emergency Opening Day starter to a franchise icon. Valenzuela had gotten a look at the big league level in relief in 1980, but he was tasked with making his first Major League start to open the ‘81 season. He tossed a five-hit shutout, and thus began Fernandomania.
Valenzuela kept the momentum going with a remarkable season-opening stretch in which he went 8-0 with seven complete games, five of them shutouts. Not only was he a revelation on the mound, winning both NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award in 1981, but he was a cultural phenomenon as well, resonating with Mexican-American fans in the L.A. area.
8. Going streaking
Don Drysdale’s remarkable 58-inning scoreless streak in 1968 stood as the Major League record for 20 years, when it was broken by another Dodger: Orel Hershiser, who pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings in ’88. Fittingly, Drysdale was a Dodgers broadcaster at the time and on hand to witness Hershiser make history.
Drysdale tossed a Major League-record six consecutive shutouts during his streak. Hershiser had five straight shutouts, but he was denied a sixth after pitching 10 scoreless innings (the Dodgers went on to lose in 16) in his final start of the regular season.
9. Home cooking
Any of the nine championships in franchise history could make this list, but for symbolic purposes, we’ll go with the only one the Dodgers have clinched at home: the 1963 World Series.
The Dodgers took home their second championship since moving to L.A. at the expense of their former crosstown rivals, holding the Yankees to four runs in a four-game sweep. Koufax went the distance in Games 1 and 4 en route to being named World Series MVP.
10. Scully signs off one last time
The common thread in so many of these great moments: Scully on the mic, offering up a comment that would become inseparable from the on-field feat. After 67 years as the voice of the Dodgers, Scully retired following the 2016 season, with one final message for his longtime listeners: “And for the last time, I wish you all a very pleasant good afternoon.”
The year after his retirement, Scully was inducted into the Dodgers’ Ring of Honor. Only three non-players or managers have received that recognition: Scully, Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín and former owner Walter O’Malley.
