by Mark Langill
For the past century, the collection of Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League Most Valuable Player award has ranged from pitchers to position players.
Now the unconventional Shohei Ohtani adds “designated hitter” to the list of honorees following his unanimous selection by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday.
Ohtani, who didn’t pitch in 2024 while recovering from elbow surgery, becomes the 13th Dodger and the 15th overall to win the award. Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella won the NL MVP three times in 1951, 1953 and 1955.
Ohtani, the Major League’s first 50/50 player with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, is also the first National Leaguer to win the award as a designated hitter. The American League first adopted the designated hitter in 1973. The National League added the DH in 2022.
Here is a look at the previous Dodgers to win a league MVP award.
Jake Daubert (1913) — The first baseman enjoyed the inaugural season at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. At age 29, Daubert slashed .350/.405/.423/.829 with two home runs and 52 RBI in 139 games. Winning the batting title also brought Daubert the “Chalmers Award,” an early version of the league MVP in which the prize was an automobile.
Daubert was a two-time NL batting champion who compiled a .305 average in 1,213 games with Brooklyn from 1910 to 1918.
Dazzy Vance (1924) — The right-handed pitcher battled arm trouble early in his career and was a minor league journeyman at age 29 in 1920 while pitching for the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern League.
During a fateful poker game with his teammates, Vance banged his arm on the table while collecting the pot. He felt intense pain in his elbow and a doctor soon diagnosed a previous undiscovered condition. Surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow launched Vance onto a Hall of Fame career. He led the NL in strikeouts for seven consecutive seasons with Brooklyn from 1922 to 1928.
In 1924, Vance was 28–6 with a 2.16 ERA. He finished ahead of Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals, 74–62, in the MVP balloting. Hornsby batted .424, the highest average of the Modern Era.
Dolph Camilli (1941) — The first baseman was part of Larry MacPhail’s master plan to revive the Dodgers after second-division status in the five seasons prior to MacPhail’s arrival as team president in 1938.
The Dodgers acquired Camilli from the cash-strapped Philadelphia Phillies for $45,000. Camilli drove in at least 100 runs in four of his next five seasons. In 1941, when Brooklyn won its first pennant since 1920, Camilli set career highs in home runs (34) and RBI (120) while batting .285 in 156 games.
The Dodgers tried to trade Camilli to the rival New York Giants in July 1943. He refused to report and instead managed the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League.
His son Doug Camilli was a reserve Dodger catcher from 1960–64.
Jackie Robinson (1949) — Two years after making history in his Rookie of the Year season as the first African American of the 20th century to play in the Major Leagues, Robinson was at the peak of his career at age 30.
He won the batting title and slashed .342/432/.528/.960 in 156 games with 16 home runs and 124 RBI and 37 stolen bases as the Dodgers won the NL pennant by one game over St. Louis.
After the 1949 season, Robinson portrayed himself in a movie of his life, “The Jackie Robinson Story,” co-starring Ruby Dee as his wife, Rachel Robinson.
Roy Campanella (1951, 1953, 1955) — The Hall of Fame catcher matched his American League contemporary — Yankees’ catcher Yogi Berra, who won three AL MVP awards between 1951 and 1955. In each of his MVP seasons, Campanella batted at least .300 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI.
Campanella reached career highs in 1953 with 41 home runs and 142 RBI.
In 1955, Campanella edged teammate Duke Snider for the award. Each received eight first-place votes from the 24 voters. but Campanella had the edge in total points (226–221).
Don Newcombe 1956 — The right-hander won a career-high 27 games as the Dodgers repeated as NL champions by one game over Milwaukee. In 38 games (36 starts), Newcombe compiled a 3.06 ERA with five shutouts and 18 complete games. Newcombe also won the inaugural Cy Young Memorial Award, which between 1956 and 1966 was given to one pitcher among the two leagues.
Newcombe’s teammate, pitcher Sal Maglie, finished second in both the Cy Young Award and MVP balloting. The Dodgers acquired the 39-year-old Maglie off waivers from Cleveland on May 15 and he went 13–5 with a 2.89 ERA in 28 games, including a no-hitter in the final week of the regular season.
Maury Wills (1962) — The inaugural season at Dodger Stadium featured Wills running wild on the basepaths. His 104 stolen bases eclipsed the previous Major League record of 96 set by Ty Cobb of the 1915 Detroit Tigers.
Wills was a Minor League journeyman whose career turned around when he learned to switch-hit in 1958 at the suggestion of Bobby Bragan, his manager at Triple-A Spokane.
Wills played in 1,100 career minor league games with the Dodgers between 1950 and 1958. He was selected by the Tigers in the Minor League Draft after the 1958 season, but was returned to Los Angeles in Spring Training 1959 when he did not make the Tigers roster.
Wills was called up to Los Angeles three months later to replace Don Zimmer, who was trying to play with a broken toe. He made his Major League debut on June 6 at age 26 and was a member of Dodger World Series championship teams in 1959, 1963 and 1965.
In 1962, Wills slashed .299/.347/.373/.720 with six home runs, 48 RBI and 10 triples. In the MVP balloting, Wills (209 points) topped San Francisco’s Willie Mays (202) and teammate Tommy Davis (175), who won the NL batting title at .346.
Sandy Koufax (1963) — Following Wills in 1962, the Dodgers won consecutive NL MVPs for the first time when Koufax went 25–5 with a 1.88 ERA, 11 shutouts and 20 complete games, including his second career no-hitter. Koufax became the only Dodger to win a league MVP and a World Series MVP in the same season. In the final two years of his career, Koufax won the Cy Young Award and finished second in the MVP balloting behind Mays (1965) and Roberto Clemente (1966).
Steve Garvey (1974) — Like Wills, Garvey’s Dodger career was at its crossroads, and he almost joined another organization. As a scatter-armed third baseman, Garvey committed 42 errors between 1971 and 1972. While Wills learned to switch hit, Garvey switched to first base when Bill Buckner volunteered to play left field in June 1973 when outfielder Von Joshua broke a bone in his hand.
According to former manager Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers offered Garvey to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1972 season in a proposed trade for first baseman Willie Montañez. The Phillies turned down the offer.
Garvey wasn’t listed on the All-Star Game ballot in 1974, but was voted into the starting lineup as a write-in candidate and won All-Star Game MVP honors. He slashed .312/.342/.469/.811 with 21 home runs and 111 RBI in 156 games as the Dodgers reached the postseason for the first time since 1966.
Kirk Gibson (1988) — Gibson and Ohtani are the only players to win NL MVP honors in their first season with the Dodgers. Gibson set the tone in Spring Training when he angrily reacted to a prank by teammate Jesse Orosco, who smeared eye black in the lining of Gibson’s cap.
Gibson pointed to the Dodgers’ losing seasons in 1986 and 1987 and said he came to Los Angeles to win a championship. In 150 games, Gibson slashed .290/.377/.483/.860 with 25 home runs and 76 RBI and 31 stolen bases.
Although the MVP balloting doesn’t include the postseason, Gibson added to his MVP credentials with his storybook walk-off home run as a pinch-hitter in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the Athletics.
Clayton Kershaw (2014) — Kershaw and the Dodgers opened the regular season in Sydney, Australia against the San Diego Padres. After a 3–1 victory, Kershaw missed 32 games on the injured list from March 23 to May 5 due to a teres major strain. When he returned, Kershaw was dominant. Overall, he went 21–3 with a 1.77 ERA in 27 games and became the first-ever pitcher to win four consecutive MLB ERA titles while winning his second consecutive and third career Cy Young Award. Kershaw, who at age 36 in 2024 completed his 17th season, is the longest tenured pitcher in Dodger history.
Cody Bellinger (2019) — Bellinger joined Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe as the only Dodgers to win a Rookie of the Year Award and a league MVP. In 2019, Bellinger slashed .305/.406/.629/1.035 with 47 home runs and 115 RBI in 156 games. He also led the NL with 351 total bases. Bellinger, who played right field, center field and first base, became the first Dodger to win a Gold Glove Award, Silver Slugger and league MVP in the same season.
Ohtani joins select Dodger MVP club was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.