List of Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers

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The Los Angeles Dodgers started playing Major League Baseball in Los Angeles in 1958, after moving from Brooklyn. [cite web|title=Los Angeles Dodgers History and Encyclopedia|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/|publisher=Baseball-Reference|accessdate=2008-09-21] The first Opening Day for the Dodgers in Los Angeles was played in San Francisco against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958.cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LAD/opening.shtml|title=Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starters and Results|publisher=Baseball-Reference|accessdate=2008-09-21] California native Don Drysdale was the Dodgers Opening Day starting pitcher that day, in a game the Dodgers lost 8–0.

Drysdale would make 7 Opening Day starts for the Dodgers in the 1950s and 1960s. 7 Opening Day starts remains the Los Angeles Dodgers record. Fellow Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton shares the this record with 7 Opening Day starts accumulated during the 1970s. Other Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers with at least 4 Opening Day starts are Fernando Valenzuela, who made 6 such starts in the 1980s, Ramon Martinez, who made 5 such starts in the 1990s, and Orel Hershiser, who made 4 Opening Day starts from 1987 through 1994. Sandy Koufax, often considered the Dodgers greatest pitcher ever, only made one Opening Day start in 1964.

Drysdale also holds the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most wins as an Opening Day starter, with 5 wins against 2 losses. Sutton has 4 wins and 2 losses, and one no decision. A no decision is only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.

Sandy Koufax (1964), Chan Ho Park (2001) and Brad Penny (2008) are the only Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers never to lose an Opening Day start, all having one won their only Opening Day start. Fernando Valenzuela, Ramon Martinez and Derek Lowe share the Los Angeles Dodgers record for most Opening Day losses, with 3.

Dodger starting pitchers won both of their Opening Day starts in their first home ballpark in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. They have an Opening Day record in their current home park, Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, of 9 wins, 10 losses and 5 no decisions. That gives the Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers a total home record of 11 wins, 10 losses and 5 non decisions. Their record in Opening Day road record of 9 wins, 14 losses and 2 no decisions, for a total Opening Day record in Los Angeles of 20 wins, 24 losses and 7 no decisions.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series in 1959, 1962, 1965, 1981 and 1988. Don Drysdale (1959 and 1965), Johnny Podres (1962) and Fernando Valenzuela (1981 and 1988) were the Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers those years. The starting pitcher won the Opening Day game in 1965 and 1981, but lost in 1959, 1962 and 1988.

Key

Pitchers

References