Boys of Summer is one of the most iconic and beloved books in baseball history. Written by Roger Kahn, it captures the Brooklyn Dodgers and their run up to their World Series title in 1955. Amongst the players discussed in the book are Dodgers players who are synonymous with the franchise itself. Many are identifiable by their great nicknames, “Pee Wee”, “The Reading Rifle”, “The Duke of Flatbush”, and “Campy” to name a few.
These icons of the Dodgers franchise populate this lineup. As with all of the teams that at the end of this list, there are so many legends that didn’t even make the team, so you know this lineup is as legendary as it gets.
For this team we had to make two exceptions to our rule about players playing in the current city of the team. Up to now, we’ve only included players who played for the team in it’s current form, like playing for the Atlanta Braves instead of the Milwaukee Braves. But we couldn’t have a Dodgers team without Jackie Robinson, who retired before the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Robinson’s number is retired by every team in the MLB, so he’s worthy of this exception.
The other exception is Roy Campanella, who was paralyzed in a car accident during the offseason that the Dodgers were moving to LA. Campanella worked for the Dodgers organization for years afterwards and is indelibly tied to the history of the franchise.
You can find many of these cards on the Beckett Marketplace: Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson (1983 reprint), Pee Wee Reese, Dusty Baker, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.
