True Blue: The Dramatic History of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Told by the Men Who Lived It - Softcover

Delsohn, Steve

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380806150 ISBN 13: 9780380806157

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2002

Synopsis

In 1957 the Dodgers broke the hearts of blue-collar Brooklyn for the embrace of booming Los Angeles. Thus began a new era for the fabled Bums, whose exploits inside - and outside - the white lines have intrigued generations of baseball fans.

Based on scores of fresh and exuberant interviews, True Blue brings you into the dugout and the locker room, capturing the nearly half-century of clutch performances, World Series triumphs, blown pennant races, clubhouse brawls, contract disputes, stunning trades, and turbulent managerial changes - all with a startling insider's perspective.

In their own candid and provocative words, a who's who of Dodger legends and stars such as Duke Snider, Maury Wills, John Roseboro, Don Sutton, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Reggie Smith, Tommy Lasorda, Bill Russell, Dusty Baker, Kirk Gibson, Steve Sax, and Eric Karros recall their years with the Dodgers. Also providing their unique commentary are a number of noted opponents, writers, and broadcasters, including Willie Mays, Sparky Anderson, Pete Hamill, Roger Kahn, Tim McCarver, and Bob Costas.

Their voices, woven into a rich and fast-paced narrative, bring to life the rise and shocking retirement of Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson's dramatic 1988 World Series home run, the controversial trade of Mike Piazza, and so much more. It is the vivid story of how the Dodgers became one of the great successes in major league history, winning nine National League pennants and five World Series championships.

A fascinating and colorful history of a team, an era, and baseball itself, True Blue is must reading for any baseball fan.

About this title

About the Author:

Steve Delsohn has written several acclaimed books about sports, including the New York Times bestseller Out of Bounds with NFL great Jim Brown. He is the author of two previous oral histories, The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives and Talking Irish: The Oral History of Notre Dame Football. Delsohn is also a correspondent for ESPN television. A native of Chicago, he now lives in Thousand Oaks, California, with his wife and three daughters.

From Publishers Weekly:

Delsohn traces the storied Dodgers, arguably the greatest franchise in National League history, from the time they left Brooklyn in 1957 to the present. He includes highlights, like Sandy Koufax's victory over the Yankees in the '63 World Series and Kirk Gibson's dramatic home run that turned the '88 Series, and low points ranging from the infamous Roseboro/Marichal brawl to the public feud between Mike Piazza and the Dodger ownership in 1998. Most of the book is devoted to quotations from Dodgers and their associates--from Duke Snider to Bob Costas and Fred Claire. The author comments briefly on, for instance, Darryl Strawberry's switch from the Mets to the Dodgers, then lets the people who experienced it personally do the talking. Offering pieces of his interviews to the reader exactly as he heard them, Delsohn's presence at times is hardly felt. Though the presentation of firsthand accounts precludes any kind of coherent narrative, this structure affords the reader a sense of immediacy and intimacy with colorful personalities like Mike Marshall and Tommy Lasorda. Moreover, Delsohn's style allows him to maintain a natural impartiality: in all cases where disagreements persist, he quotes men on each side of the issue, leaving the reader free to form an opinion. 16 b&w photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)Forecast: This is an obvious sale to baseball fans in L.A. and, peripherally, to admirers of the late Brooklyn Dodgers, but Delsohn hasn't exactly picked the team of today--or of tomorrow--to profile. Expect modest sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0380806150
• ISBN 13: 9780380806157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320