The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team and a member of the National League West Division. The franchise was established in Brooklyn in 1883. The team had several names over the first 50 years until finally adopting the name "Dodgers" in 1932. The Dodgers made baseball history in 1947 when owner Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a contract. Robinson became the first African-American baseball player in Major League Baseball. He won the Rookie of the Year award that same year. Before the 1958 season, the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. That same year, the Giants also moved from New York to California. Bitter rivals in New York, the two franchises remain, hated opponents, today. Some of the best players in Dodgers history include Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Don Drysdale and Duke Snider.
