New Giants or old Dodgers: Who's better? This 'who's better?' matchup is anybody's game - unless Koufax is on the mound

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The Sporting Green's brain trust threw an interesting pitch my way, and I had to step out of the box for a moment. Given that the Giants are a throwback team, dominating the National League without any significant home-run power, how do they compare to the modern-day gold standard in that department - the Los Angeles Dodgers of the mid-60s?

I'd love to say, "Hey, I'm too young for this stuff," but those Dodgers teams were a staple of my youth. Growing up in Southern California, I spent a good part of my teenage years watching them dismantle the opposition with pitching, defense and fundamental intelligence.

And here's the beauty of baseball: The comparison absolutely can be made, especially now that the so-called Steroid Era is (for the most part) behind us.

People talk constantly about how baseball has changed, but it really hasn't. There were just as many great athletes playing the game back then. The most formidable power pitchers threw in the upper 90s and beyond, just like now. There are more options at a pitcher's disposal today, thanks to the evolution of the slider, the cutter and the split-fingered fastball, and the steady procession of relief pitchers gives a lineup much more to think about. But the experience and the game's dynamics are exactly the same.

So how would a best-of-seven series play out between these Giants and those Dodgers? Give me Sandy Koufax in the opener. Then it's an open question.

Some of the parallels are quite remarkable. Since World War II, only three National League teams have won two World Series in a three-year period: the Giants, the Dodgers (1963 and '65) and the Cincinnati Reds (1975-76). Los Angeles and San Francisco each built glittering new ballparks, played to big houses on a nightly basis and became model franchises.

The managers, Bruce Bochy and the stoic Walter Alston, match up well in temperament and leadership, each with a lot more fire and personality than meets the eye. Just as L.A. general manager Buzzie Bavasi presided over exceptional scouting, draft-day expertise and a system-wide style of playing the game, Brian Sabean is finally getting proper recognition for his stewardship of the Giants.

Pitcher Sandy Koufax, left, and catcher John Roseboro celebrate on the field in Los Angeles, Ca., Oct. 6,1963, after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 2-1 to take the 1963 World Series in four straight games. (AP Photo) less Pitcher Sandy Koufax, left, and catcher John Roseboro celebrate on the field in Los Angeles, Ca., Oct. 6,1963, after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 2-1 to take the 1963 World Series in four ... more Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close New Giants or old Dodgers: Who's better? 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The 1965 Dodgers hit 78 home runs, by far the worst in either league; this year's Giants met a similar fate at 103. At least there were some unforgettable power displays this year, notably from Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval. In all those years watching the Dodgers, I remember exactly two home runs: a Tommy Davis shot that shockingly beat the great Bob Gibson 1-0 and Frank Howard's blast into the rarely-reached second deck down the left-field line at Dodger Stadium off Whitey Ford in Game 4 of the '63 World Series.

(Howard, a mountain of a man with gargantuan power, was a part-time player with the Dodgers and didn't hit his stride until he was traded to the Washington Senators, twice leading the American League in homers.)

Cutting to the heart of things - manufacturing runs - we got a heady dose this year from the top of the order (Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro), with contributions from Gregor Blanco and Brandon Crawford, among others. That doesn't quite compare to the Dodgers' Maury Wills, who led the National League in stolen bases for six straight years (including seasons of 104 and 94) and the sage No. 2 hitter Jim Gilliam, although Scutaro's work this season truly defined the art. Those Dodgers were a 1-0 or 2-1 victory, the winning run coming across as Wills walked, stole second, took third on a Gilliam bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Comparisons of the No. 3 hitter are downright hilarious: Pablo Sandoval, forever targeting the banquet, and the ultra-cool Willie Davis, the fastest man I ever saw going from first to third. Davis fit the Dodgers' style perfectly, but Sandoval is a better pure hitter, ostensibly on the rise if he manages his life properly.

The cornerstone hitters, Posey and Tommy Davis, are visions of a hitting coach's dream. Posey's early-career impact needs no explanation, and Davis, before his gruesome ankle injury in '65, ranked with any clutch hitter in history (he drove in 153 runs in '62, primarily on bullet singles).

Once fans become aware that runs will be the product of two or three hits strung together, there will be exasperation. Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt and Crawford, meet Ron Fairly, John Roseboro and Wes Parker. But the runs did get scored, and here's a glaring discrepancy between the eras: The Giants are an infinitely superior organization to every team in their division, at least until the Dodgers clear the $6 trillion mark and get it right. Those Dodgers had to contend with the Mays-McCovey-Cepeda-Marichal Giants, the Braves with Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, the Reds with Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson - and that doesn't even get around to Roberto Clemente or the Gibson-led Cardinals.

I'd say the bullpens are equal, if radically different. Only one, solid closer was required in the '60s, and the Dodgers had a gem in Ron Perranoski. The Giants, with or without Brian Wilson, define that aspect of the game today.

So it comes down to the starting rotations. I saw nearly all of Koufax's great performances, either in person or on television, and within the time frame we're discussing, he was the best who ever lived. He took the mound at Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the '63 World Series and set a strikeout record. He pitched a shutout on two days' rest in Game 7 of the '65 Series in Minnesota. He had the best fastball and the best curve, to the point where he needn't bother to throw off-speed. So just forget about Justin Verlander, Roger Clemens or anyone else; Koufax was the best.

Right behind Koufax there was Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, a sidearming right-hander and as nasty as they come. The Dodgers had solid No. 3 starters on those two World Series teams (Johnny Podres, then Claude Osteen), but they never approached the depth of this year's San Francisco rotation, or the fact that any one of three guys - Cain, Vogelsong, Bumgarner - could be considered the ace, with a two-time Cy Young winner (Tim Lincecum) a sudden, unbeatable weapon in relief.

I can't pick a winner in good conscience. Could go either way. Just know that those Dodgers were about to build on something. In a single year (1968), they drafted Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Buckner, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson and Bobby Valentine, said at the time to be the best of them all. They proved to be a feared, respected team for years to come. That's a real-world standard the Giants hope to match.