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A Look at Double-Digit LA Dodger Winning Streaks

As you may have heard the Dodgers are working on a nine-game winning streak.  They have only had seven longer winning streaks since moving to Los Angeles:

Longest LA Dodger Winning Streaks
Year Streak Start End
1965 13 Sep 16 Sep 30
1962 13 May 21 Jun 1
1976 12 Apr 24 May 7
2006 11 Jul 28 Aug 8
1993 11 May 17 May 29
2003 10 May 14 May 25
1980 10 Apr 20 Apr 30

1965 - 13 Straight

Started streak:  3rd place, 4½ games back
Ended Streak:  1st place, 2 games up

This was the most important and most timely of LA Dodger winning streaks, as it came in the final two and a half weeks of the season.  One week after Sandy Koufax's perfect game, the Dodgers had lost three straight.  Don Drysdale won four games, and Koufax won three during the streak, as the Dodgers finished the season 15-1 and beat the Twins to win the World Series.

1962 - 13 Straight

Started streak:  2nd place, 4½ games back
Ended Streak:  1st place, tied

The Dodgers were 23-15 to start the season, but still 4½ games behind the Giants before the streak, but ended the streak tied with their archrivals, the same spot they would end up after 162 games as well.  During the streak, eventual league MVP Maury Wills hit two home runs and stole nine bases.

1976 - 12 Straight

Started streak:  6th place, 4½ games back
Ended Streak:  1st place, 1½ games up

The Dodgers got hot after a 3-9 start, and were able to ride a 23-4 stretch into first place for most of May.  However, the Big Red Machine caught them on May 29, and the rest was history.  The second game of the winning streak was April 25, during which then Cubs outfielder Rick Monday famously stopped two protesters trying to burn the American flag on the field.

2006 - 11 Straight

Started streak:  5th place, 7 games back
Ended Streak:  2nd place, ½ game back

The Dodgers were eight games under .500, sitting in last place in a tightly bunched division, when they got hot.  This was just before the trade deadline, and in the span of four days during the streak, the Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux, Wilson Betemit, and Julio Lugo.  The highlight of the 11-game streak was Maddux's debut as a Dodger, with six no-hit innings in rainy Cincinnati.  The streak ended with a loss to the Rockies, but the Dodgers followed that with six more wins, giving them a franchise best 17 wins in 18 games.

1993 - 11 Straight

Started streak:  5th place, tied, 9 games back
Ended Streak:  3rd place, tied, 5½ game back

Nine different pitchers picked up wins during the 11-game streak, including the brothers Martinez, Ramon and Pedro (who picked up major league win number two), but the Dodgers never got closer than within five games of first place behind the 104-win Braves and 103-win Giants.

2003 - 10 Straight

Started streak:  2nd place, 6 games back
Ended Streak:  2nd place, ½ game back

This streak was unique in that the Dodger starting pitcher picked up the win in every single game.  Even more amazing was that Eric Gagne, in the midst of his 55-for-55, Cy Young winning season, saved six straight games in the middle of the streak.  He saved all three games in sweeps against the Marlins and Rockies, with an off day in between the two series.  Over those six games, Eric Gagne faced 19 batters, allowed just one single, and struck out 14 batters.

1980 - 10 Straight

Started streak:  4th place, 6 games back
Ended Streak:  3rd place, 1 game back

The Dodgers allowed three runs or less in each game of this streak, the longest such winning streak in LA Dodger history.  The current streak of nine games is second to the 1980 streak.  Newly signed free agent Dave Goltz pitched two shutouts during the streak, in his third and fourth starts as a Dodger.

Will the 2010 Dodgers join the double-digit win streak club tonight?  A nation turns its lonely eyes to Ramon Ortiz...