Sandy Koufax’s scout report card (circa 1954) courtesy of scouts.baseballhall.org

By Cary Osborne

The report on Clayton Kershaw was that his fastball was his strength and his breaking stuff should be above average down the line. Matt Kemp still had room to grow, but his bat would dictate everything for him. Mike Piazza had a long way to come. And at 18 years old, Sandy Koufax was a very good prospect — and a very good hitter.

Through the National Baseball Hall of Fame and its website honoring the work of baseball scouts — scouts.baseball.org — one can find scouting reports of all types, including some of the first reports on current Dodgers Kemp and Kershaw and Dodgers of the past, such as Koufax, Don Drysdale, Piazza and more.

One can view the scouting report dated November 6, 1952 by former Dodger executive Al Campanis on 18-year-old “Robert Clemente” — or as we know him, Roberto Clemente. The Dodgers signed Clemente on February 19, 1954.

Roberto Clemente’s scout report card from 1952, courtesy of scouts.baseballhall.org

The famous scouting report by Mel Didier on Dennis Eckersley for the 1988 World Series is also there. Kirk Gibson has credited Didier’s “likes to backdoor slider to LH hitters with 3–2 count,” for his legendary Game 1 walkoff home run.

Gib Bodet, who has been a Dodger scout since 1979 and was involved in the signings of Piazza, Eric Karros and Todd Hollandsworth, scouted Kershaw and Kemp. His report on Kershaw, dated March 11, 2006, noted that Kershaw’s curveball still needed to come around and that he was a dead ringer for current San Francisco pitching coach and 16-season big leaguer Dave Righetti at the same age.

“Big strong and very projectable,” Bodet wrote on Kershaw. “His FB is power now … His breaking stuff should be above avg, as is the case with his change …”

Scouts generally use a 20–80 grading scale in each category on reports. According to the website, the Major League average is 50. Here’s Kershaw’s evaluation: