The quest: Name "The Most Obscure but Memorable Los Angeles Dodger."

The level of response was memorable and hardly obscure: a total of 216 nominees.

And now, the real challenge comes - to determine a winner. What Los Angeles Dodger holds the perfect balance of anonymity and fame? Who pulled the greatest disappearing act? Which forgotten Dodger is most deeply and intimately recalled?

Who is the guy that you haven't thought of that you think the most of?

The key is balance. He can't be too memorable - goodbye, Terry Forster - or too obscure - goodbye, Fred Kipp. He can't be too recent - Bruce Aven - or too ancient - Randy Jackson. He can't have been a folk hero whose name comes up every year, like Dick Nen, nor someone you see asking trivia questions at Dodger Stadium every game, like Jim Gott.

He can't have virtually the same last name - Greg Gagne - as the most famous current Dodger. He can't be the brother of a famous Dodger - Dave Sax, Chris Gwynn. He can't have been an infamous disappointment - Greg Brock, Dave Goltz. He can't have had a real career with another team - Enos Cabell, Sid Bream.

And he certainly can't be my favorite Dodger of all time, R.J. Reynolds.

He should be a folk hero whose folk heroism went unrewarded.

I've given this a great deal of brain-churning thought over the past week. I have struggled. I have chosen and unchosen. And I have the answer - the definitive answer. The Most Obscure but Memorable Los Angeles Dodger is:

Mike Ramsey. Not the other Mike Ramsey. This Mike Ramsey.

Michael James Ramsey came out of nowhere to win the Dodger starting job in center field in 1987. When the regular season began, he stroked 10 hits in his first 28 at-bats. Then it started to come apart. He tried to hang in there with a batting average in the low .200s, but by late May, the Dodgers gave up and traded for John Shelby.

Ramsey was sent back to the minors. He came up in September, only to be used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement. The season ended, and with it, the major-league career of Mike Ramsey. He never made it back.

So that's how Ramsey became a finalist - someone who had hopes pinned to him like Eeyore's tail, wagging for a brief moment, only to fall off and disappear into the soil and grass of summers gone by.

The clincher for Ramsey is that only two years earlier, the Dodgers had another player named Mike Ramsey - Michael Jeffrey Ramsey. This First Mike Ramsey was more obscure and less memorable than The Second Mike Ramsey. And yet, both exist. So while The Second Mike Ramsey was memorable, it is also true that by virtue of his brief April/May career and his need to be distinguished from The First Mike Ramsey (as Bob Timmermann did in nominating the pair as "The White Mike Ramsey and The Black White Ramsey"), he retains his core obscurity. He holds the balance between being and nothingness.

The Second Mike Ramsey is, in short, The Most Obscure but Memorable Los Angeles Dodger.

Honestly, I think it's a real honor.

The Complete List of Nominees
Don Aase
Joe Amalfitano
Dave Anderson
Jamie Arnold
Billy Ashley
Ken Aspromonte
Rick Auerbach
Bruce Aven
Bob Bailey
Bob Bailor
James Baldwin
Jim Barbieri
Billy Bean
Joe Beckwith
Todd Benzinger
Steve Bilko
Henry Blanco
Hiram Bocachica
Tim Bogar
Brian Bohanon
Pedro Borbon
Rafael Bournigal
Jeff Branson
Sid Bream
Tom Brennan
Tony Brewer
Greg Brock
Jerry Brooks
Ralph Bryant
Mike Busch
Enos Cabell
Dick Calmus
Chris Cannizzaro
Bobby Castillo
Gino Cimoli
Rocky Colavito
Dennis Cook
Brent Cookson
Wes Covington
Tripp Cromer
Don Crow
George Culver
Kal Daniels
Bobby Darwin
Vic Davalillo
Tommy Dean
Don Demeter
Chris Donnels
John Duffie
Joey Eischen
Jim Eisenreich
Kevin Elster
Cecil Espy
Jim Fairey
Al Ferrara
Mike Fetters
Jack Fimple
Darren Fletcher
Chad Fonville
Terry Forster
Alan Foster
Len Gabrielson
Greg Gagne
Mike Garman
Phil Garner
Bob Giallombardo
Shawn Gilbert
Dave Goltz
Jose Gonzalez
Ed Goodson
Tom Gorman
Jim Gott
Billy Grabarkewitz
Dick Gray
Derrell Griffith
Jerry Grote
Chris Gwynn
John Hale
Jeff Hamilton
Gerry Hannahs
Greg Hansell
Mike Harkey
Mike Hartley
Brad Havens
Danny Heep
Rickey Henderson
Shawn Hillegas
Brian Holton
Gail Hopkins
Ricky Horton
Thomas Howard
Ken Howell
Trenidad Hubbard
Mike Huff
Ron Hunt
Tommy Hutton
Garey Ingram
Randy Jackson
Stan Javier
Brian Johnson
Von Joshua
Mike Judd
Mike Kekich
Fred Kipp
Wayne Kirby
Andy Kosco
Bill Krueger
Lee Lacy
Tito Landrum
Rudy Law
Leron Lee
Dennis Lewellyn
Bob Lillis
Nelson Liriano
Luis Lopez
Matt Luke
Barry Lyons
Jim Lyttle
Bill Madlock
Candy Maldonado
Juan Marichal
Mike Marshall (OF)
Onan Masaoka
Len Matuszek
Ken McMullen
Mike Metcalfe
Pete Mikkelsen
Trever Miller
Lemmie Miller
Bobby Mitchell
Dave Mlicki
Joe Moeller
Wally Moon
Jose Morales
Charlie Neal
Dick Nen
Jim Neidlinger
Al Oliver
Gregg Olson
Jesse Orosco
Jorge Orta
Rick Parker
Angel Pena
Jack Perconte
Boog Powell
Dennis Powell
Paul Ray Powell
Ted Power
John Purdin
Eddie Pye
Scott Radinsky
The Black Mike Ramsey
The White Mike Ramsey
Doug Rau
Lance Rautzhan
Jeff Reboulet
Jody Reed
Phil Regan
Rip Repulski
Gilberto Reyes
Al Reyes
R.J. Reynolds
Rick Rhoden
Pete Richert
German Rivera
Rich Rodas
Mel Rojas
Vicente Romo
Dick Rowe
Olmedo Saenz
Juan Samuel
F.P. Santangelo
Ted Savage
Jack Savage
Dave Sax
Rudy Seanez
Ray Searage
Larry See
Mike Sharperson
Larry Sherry
Norm Sherry
Craig Shipley
Bart Shirley
Steve Shirley
Joe Simpson
Duke Sims
Bill Skowron
Cory Snyder
Eddie Solomon
Dick Stuart
Franklin Stubbs
Rick Sutcliffe
Alex Tavaras
Derrel Thomas
Brian Traxler
Alex Trevino
Rick Trlicek
Hector Valle
Sandy Vance
Ed Vande Berg
Stan Wall
Dave Walsh
Gary Wayne
Mitch Webster
Gary Weiss
John Werhas
Myron White
Terry Whitfield
Reggie Williams
Eddie Williams
Steve Wilson
Tack Wilson
Bob Wilson
Tracy Woodson
Ricky Wright
Geoff Zahn