Last Call (Part II): The fans pick the greatest L.A. Dodgers of all time
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The ballots poured in, 812 of them. For a while, it was neck and neck for No. 1, until one player ran away with it at the end. You were asked to send in your choices for the 12 greatest L.A. Dodgers of all time. The player listed first received 15 points, second place 11, third place 10, all the way to 1 point for being listed in 12th on a ballot. To make the big list below, you had the be listed on at least 25 ballots.
Players listed on fewer than 25 ballots:
Jim Brewer, Brett Butler, Ron Fairly, Al Downing, Shawn Green, Mickey Hatcher, Burt Hooton, Tommy John, Jeff Kent, Paul LoDuca, Mike Marshall (the pitcher), Ramon Martinez, Andy Messersmith, Rick Monday, Ron Perranoski, John Roseboro, Steve Sax, Larry Sherry and Steve Yeager.
Now, in reverse order:
27th place: Manny Mota (46 points)
25th place (tie, 139 points): Claude Osteen, Wally Moon
24th place (209 points): Manny Ramirez
23rd place (255 points): Eric Karros
22nd place (256 points): Jim Gilliam
21st place (278 points): Dusty Baker
20th place (325 points): Wes Parker
19th place (441 points): Mike Scioscia
18th place (512 points): Duke Snider
17th place (534 points): Bill Russell
16th place (580 points): Eric Gagne
15th place (603 points): Pedro Guerrero
14th place (740 points): Kirk Gibson
13th place (742 points): Reggie Smith
12th place (974 points): Willie Davis
11th place (1,578 points): Davey Lopes
10th place (1,670 points): Tommy Davis
9th place (3,202 points): Don Sutton
8th place (3,457 points): Ron Cey
7th place (3,805 points): Fernando Valenzuela
6th place (4,036 points): Orel Hershiser
5th place (4,292 points): Steve Garvey
4th place (5,197 points): Maury Wills
3rd place (5,359 points): Mike Piazza
2nd place (6,844 points): Don Drysdale
1st place (11,716 points): Sandy Koufax. Koufax was the only player listed on every ballot.
Starting next Friday: The greatest L.A. Lakers of all time.
-- Houston Mitchell