Top 5 best LA Dodgers Opening Day wins
The LA Dodgers are one of the most successful franchises in MLB history. From their days in Brooklyn to the present day in Los Angeles, the Dodgers have amassed a tally of seven World Series titles and 24 National League pennants.
With the start of the season just around the corner, we take a look back at the Blue Crew's best Opening Day wins.
#5. April 1, 2013: LA Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants
No one was fooled by this superb performance from Clayton Kershaw against their division rivals and then-reigning champions San Francisco Giants in this Opening Day match. Kershaw shut out the Giants, needing only 94 pitches to end the game at 4-0. That wasn't even the best part of it as he also scored the go-ahead home run to break the tie in the bottom of the eighth inning.
#4. March 28, 2013: LA Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks
The LA Dodgers went on full Home Run Derby mode on Opening Day 2013. They crushed eight home runs in a shellacking of the Arizona Diamondbacks and ended the game, 12-5. Joc Pederson opened the proceedings and finished the game with two home runs. Kike Hernandez finished with the same number as well. Austin Barnes, Corey Seager, Max Muncy, and Cody Bellinger all had one home run each. It also set the record for the LA Dodgers for having the most players with a home run on Opening Day in the live-ball era (since 1920).
#3. April 8, 1996 - LA Dodgers vs Atlanta Braves
Eager to prove they have a penchant for beating reigning world champions on Opening Day, it was a duel at Chavez Ravine as Los Angeles Dodgers' Japanese Baseball Hall of Famer Hideo Nomo faced Atlanta Braves' National Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in a tight affair as the former outdueled the latter. Nomo had a complete game and only allowed three hits while giving up five walks and striking out. His counterpart, on the other hand, pitched seven innings with a statline of 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, and 9SO. The game ended at 1-0 with Raul Mondesi's RBI being the only one scored in the game.
#2. April 18, 1958: LA Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants
It was a moment for the history books as the then-Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and became the LA Dodgers. They faced off against their intercity rivals from New York, who also happened to relocate to the West Coast in the same year, the renamed San Francisco Giants. They beat the Giants in a close affair, 6-5, in front of a then-Opening Day record crowd of 78,672 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
#1. April 14, 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers vs Boston Braves
No person has left more impact in baseball, and arguably in American sports history that reverberates up to this day, than Jackie Robinson. The Hall of Famer broke boundaries and inspired generations of young men to do what they thought was a pipe dream, a possibility.
It was on April 14, 1947, in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, that Jackie Robinson made his Major League debut against the Boston Braves. The Dodgers beat the Braves 6-5. Robinson finshed the game with just a solitary run that day but the effect of his debut sent shockwaves and ripples througout the sporting world and is still commemorated to this day.