Dodgers Dugout: The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 24: Kirk Gibson

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Today, we begin the countdown of the top 25 Dodgers of all time as selected by the readers of this newsletter.

Readers voted in droves, submitting 15,212 ballots by email, Twitter and Facebook. Voters were asked for their top 10 Dodgers in order from 1 to 10, with first place receiving 12 points, second place nine points, third place eight, all the way down to one point for 10th place.

The last time we did this was in 2018, and there were some changes in the rankings.

So, without further ado:

The 25 greatest Dodgers, No. 24: KIRK GIBSON (2,327 points)
2018 rank: 22nd

Fifty years from now, some people who don’t know any better will look at the numbers and wonder how Kirk Gibson is considered among the greatest Dodgers. He only played for three years for the team, hitting .264 with 42 homers.

But consider….

Heading into the 1988 season, the Dodgers were coming off two bad seasons and had a lot of players with reputations for not always giving 100% on the field. General Manager Fred Claire changed all that when he signed Gibson to a three-year deal.

During spring training, teammate Jesse Orosco thought it would be funny to smear lamp black inside Gibson’s cap before a game. Gibson took his cap off and his forehead was covered with it. A lot of players laughed. Not Gibson. He told manager Tommy Lasorda to call the team in for a meeting, where he told the team he could tell why they were a bunch of losers and said he was here to win games. He said if you need someone to defend you after you hit a batter, I’ll be right there by your side, but that it’s time to get serious about winning.

“I did what I had to do to get my point across, and that’s that,” Gibson said in 1988. “Basically, I don’t want to be a part of their fun and comedy act. I’m not a radical guy. I go by the rules. This other bull is foreign to me. I like to have a good time, but a good time to me is winning.”

The Dodgers listened. They dominated the division, led by Gibson.

And then came Game 1 of the World Series. You can watch what happened here.

And that’s why Kirk Gibson is one of the 25 greatest Dodgers of all time.

Previously

No. 25: Eric Gagne

Tony Gonsolin update

Tony Gonsolin will need Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2024 season, the Dodgers announced on Monday.

“We knew he was dealing with some elbow issues, but there was a point where he felt like he could pitch and get major league hitters out … until he couldn’t,” Dave Roberts said. “Talking to the doctors, we just felt that it was time. I guess at some point it was inevitable.”

Why keep pitching him when they knew for several weeks that he had some elbow issues?

“He didn’t tear it further,” Roberts said. “He was pitching, and it was asymptomatic. He felt like he could keep pitching, and to be quite honest, he can still pitch right now. But it just wasn’t productive.

“Pitchers always have some damage or tears. Some guys can pitch through it, and Tony did. There was nothing an MRI showed after his last start that was worse, that caused the surgery. We thought this was a potential [outcome] from the middle of the season.”

And finally

Don Drysdale calls Kirk Gibson’s home run. Watch and listen here.