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| dodger spring training 2023: History of the National League 1901-2023 Brian Aldridge, 2023-11-24 Page through a year-by-year journey through MLB’s oldest league and this is what you will get… End-of-year standings that include teams who placed 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. League notes highlighting rule changes, trends, trades, suspensions, and winning/losing streaks. Noteworthy games: high scores, batting fetes, records set End-of-the-year awards: Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP, those entering the Hall of Fame, and World Series outcomes. What NL team has won the most Series championships? Who’s 2nd? All NL teams – past and present, are here, including the Boston Braves, Montreal Expos, and the Houston Astros. Which NL team changed their name to the Bees? A few years later, another became the Blue Jays! Both returned to their former selves a few years later. Follow the dynasties (the St. Louis Cardinals, New York/San Francisco Giants, and the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), or legends like Wagner, Dean, or Musial; Jackie Robinson, Mays, Koufax, Bench, and Seaver. Those who soon followed were Gwynn, Maddux, Bonds, Walker and Larkin. Current stars like Joey Votto, Clayton Kershaw, Kris Bryant, Max Scherzer, Jacob de Grom, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Fernando Tatis are also included. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Dodgers in the Hall of Fame Raymond P. Sinibaldi, Kerry Keene, David Hickey, 2023-05-08 Among the most successful franchises in the long and glorious history of baseball, the Dodgers have captured 25 pennants and have been crowned world champions seven times; only five teams in history have claimed more World Series titles. The Dodgers are baseball's most transformative franchise. In 1947, Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball and America. They built Dodgertown in 1948; became the first major-league team to own a plane; and spurred the move west in 1958, where Sandy Koufax redefined pitching dominance. Herein lies the story of the men who have worn Dodger blue on their way to becoming baseball immortals, forever enshrined in Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Penguin Power Ron Cey, Ken Gurnick, 2023-06-13 Mention The Penguin to any Dodgers fan and you're sure to evoke not just memories of the beloved third baseman Ron Cey, but also of the glory years of modern Dodgers baseball, a rollicking run through the '70s and '80s highlighted by the loquacious Tommy Lasorda, Fernandomania, a historic infield anchored by Cey, and an unforgettable 1981 World Series title. In Penguin Power: Dodger Blue, Hollywood Lights, and a One-in-a-Million Big League Journey, The Penguin Ron Cey and veteran Dodgers scribe Ken Gurnick take fans on an amazing ride from Cey's formative years in the Pacific Northwest through his stardom on and off the field in Los Angeles and beyond. As part of the longest running infield in MLB history, six-time All Star and 1981 co-World Series MVP Cey joined Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Bill Russell to help the Dodgers triumph after years of postseason heartbreak, and bring the first World Series back to Los Angeles since Sandy Koufax and the Boys of Summer of 1965. Featuring charming stories from Cey's time in a memorable clubhouse alongside Dodger legends Lasorda, Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela, with Vin Scully and Jaime JarrÍn in the booth, as well as tales of the life of a star during a magical time in Los Angeles, Penguin Power is a must-read for fans of an unforgettable era of Dodgers baseball. |
| dodger spring training 2023: History of the Chicago Cubs 1901-2023 Brian Aldridge, 2023-11-24 Lovers of history, baseball, and most certainly the Chicago Cubs, get to follow the north siders on this year-by-year journey that starts in 1901. Long before Bryant to Baez to Rizzo was the legendary double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. That dominant 1906-1910 team won two World Series (1907, 1908) but the franchise had to wait 108 years to claim another. Who’s Hippo Vaughn? Possibly the best lefty pitcher the Cubs ever had. Who’s Hack Wilson? His MLB RBI record still stands. And what’s with Babe Ruth’s Called Shot, the 1938 Homer in the Gloamin’, or the story behind a 4-legged goat? Who was the Cubs 1st MVP, 1st Rookie of the Year, or Cy Young Award winner? Follow Sammy Sosa in the famous home run race in 1998, and papa Joe Maddon’s crew as they brought home the long-awaited trophy in 2016. It’s all here. Yearly Standings also includes how the Cubs compared with others in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. The club’s top pitchers and hitters, a list of rookies, and those obtained in a trade. Club news and dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) League news, listing of other league games, and year-end awards. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Daybreak at Chavez Ravine Erik Sherman, 2023-05 Fernando Valenzuela was only twenty years old when Tom Lasorda chose him as the Dodgers’ opening-day starting pitcher in 1981. Born in the remote Mexican town of Etchohuaquila, the left-hander had moved to the United States less than two years before. He became an instant icon, and his superlative rookie season produced Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards—and a World Series victory over the Yankees. Forty years later, there hasn’t been a player since who created as many Dodgers fans. After the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in the late 1950s, relations were badly strained between the organization and the Latin world. Mexican Americans had been evicted from their homes in Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles—some forcibly—for well below market value so the city could sell the land to team owner Walter O’Malley for a new stadium. For a generation of working-class Mexican Americans, the Dodgers became a source of great anguish over the next two decades. However, that bitterness toward the Dodgers vanished during the 1981 season when Valenzuela attracted the fan base the Dodgers had tried in vain to reach for years. El Toro, as he was called, captured the imagination of the baseball world. A hero in Mexico, a legend in Los Angeles, and a phenomenon throughout the United States, Valenzuela did more to change that tense political environment than anyone in the history of baseball. A new fan base flooded Dodger Stadium and ballparks around the United States whenever Valenzuela pitched in a phenomenon that quickly became known as Fernandomania, which continued throughout a Dodger career that included six straight All-Star game appearances. Daybreak at Chavez Ravine retells Valenzuela’s arrival and permanent influence on Dodgers history while bringing redemption to the organization’s controversial beginnings in LA. Through new interviews with players, coaches, broadcasters, and media, Erik Sherman reveals a new side of this intensely private man and brings fresh insight to the ways he transformed the Dodgers and started a phenomenon that radically altered the country’s cultural and sporting landscape. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Gibby John Gibbons, Greg Oliver, 2023-04-04 A captivating and candid memoir from one of the most beloved and colorful figures in Toronto Blue Jays history John Gibbons is one of the most beloved figures in Toronto Blue Jays history. Over 11 years and two separate managerial stints with the team, he endeared himself to fans with his folksy manner and his frequent battles with umpires: “Here comes Gibby!” Winning helped too. Under Gibbons’s management, the Jays made the American League Championship Series in 2015, ending a 22-year playoff drought; then they did it again in 2016. Along the way the team defied odds, won over a nation, and with one iconic flip of a bat produced one of the most iconic moments in MLB history. Now, in his memoir, Gibby shares the story: an on-field career that didn’t pan out, but a managing career that did … eventually. Raised in a military family, he played his first competitive baseball in Newfoundland and Labrador, and, with the family now in San Antonio, Texas, Gibby, a catcher, developed into a first-round draft pick of the New York Mets. While Gibbons only played 18 major league games, he did earn a World Series ring as the 1986 Mets bullpen catcher and knew all the characters from that team, including Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, and Gary Carter. In 1990, Gibby began his journey as a coach and manager. An old teammate, J.P. Ricciardi, hired him to work with the Jays, and he moved his way up the ranks and into the hearts of baseball fans. |
| dodger spring training 2023: If These Walls Could Talk: Los Angeles Dodgers Houston Mitchell, 2023-05-09 Now revised and updated for 2023! Since moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers have had an eventful— and frequently successful— history. From playing in the 100,000-seat Coliseum to seven World Series titles, from Fernandomania to Mannywood, and from Sandy Koufax to Clayton Kershaw, the Boys in Blue have long been a team to watch. This history of the Dodgers provides a closer look at the great moments and the lowlights that have made them one of the seminal teams in the major leagues. Through multiple interviews conducted with current and former players, readers will meet the athletes, coaches, and management and share in their moments of triumph and defeat. The author recalls key moments in Dodgers history such as the building and breakup of the Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey infield, the sad decline of Steve Howe, the amazing comeback at the tail-end of the 1980 season, and the Frank McCourt saga. If These Walls Could Talk: Los Angeles Dodgers brings the storied history of the team come to life. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Suds Series J. Daniel, 2023-03-15 In Suds Series, J. Daniel takes readers back forty years, telling a story that is part baseball history, part urban history, and part U.S. cultural history, the narrative weaving together the development of the Midwest cities of St. Louis and Milwaukee through their engagement with beer and baseball. As the National and American League champions squared off for the 1982 Fall Classic, the St. Louis Cardinals, owned by Anheuser-Busch, took on the Milwaukee Brewers, so named by owner Bud Selig in homage to the city’s baseball and brewing past. Even nominal baseball fans will enjoy reading about legendary players, teams, and personalities that emerged in the 1982 season: the year Ricky Henderson stole 130 bases; Reggie Jackson led the league in home runs; and Cal Ripken Jr. began his remarkable playing streak. Readers will also enjoy the cultural references, including the Pac-Man craze, a chart-topping album by Rush, and the “Light Beer Wars” waged by Anheuser-Busch and the Miller Brewing Company through a series of humorous TV commercials featuring well-loved professional sports figures. |
| dodger spring training 2023: History of the Chicago Cubs 1967-2023 Brian Aldridge, 2023-11-24 Want to start in 1967? Okay! Led by 4 future Hall of Famers, Leo Durocher’s Cubbies brought north side fans thrills, joy, but also deep heartache. Before their well-documented fall to the NY Mets, the faithful watched the team rise to first, observe Billy Williams continue his consecutive-game streak, the formation of the Bleacher Bums, and Ken Holtzman’s no-hitter. But read on! In 1970, Ernie Banks hit a historic HR; two pitchers (one a rookie) tossed no-hitters in 1972; in 1976, a Cubs CF rescued the burning of the American flag; another Cub led the league in HRs in 1977, and in 1979, a strong wind at Wrigley before the Cubs/Phillies game made the final 23-22 score not much of a surprise. Then, 2 years later, after owning the club 65 years, the Wrigley family sold the club to the Tribune Company. What followed was a new, exciting era that emerged, featuring a young 3B Dallas Green “stole” in a trade (he later moved to 2B). Yes, this book includes the 2016 Championship team, but along the way, find the 5 Cy Young Award winners, the 4 Rookies of the Year, and the 4 MVP winners. This is what you will get… § Yearly Standings, including those teams who placed 1st in Batting, Pitching, and Fielding. § Top Cub pitchers and hitters, a list of rookies, and those they obtained in a trade. § Club news plus dozens of noteworthy games (the winning or losing pitcher and batting stars) § League news, a list of other league games, and year-end awards. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Beisbol on the Air Jorge Iber, 2023-12-21 Both the U.S. population and Major League Baseball rosters have seen dramatic demographic changes over the past 50 years. The nation and the sport are becoming multilingual, with Spanish the unofficial second language. Today, 21 of 30 MLB teams broadcast at least some games in Spanish. Filling a gap in the literature of baseball, this collection of new essays examines the history of the game in Spanish, from the earliest locutores who called the plays for Latin American audiences to the League's expansion into cities with large Latino populations--Los Angeles, Houston and Miami to name a few--that made talented sportscasters for the fanaticos a business necessity. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Brothers in Arms Jon Weisman, Joe Davis, 2018-05-15 The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, with enduring legacies both on and off the diamond. Chief among the hallmarks of the organization is an unparalleled pitching dominance; Dodger blue and white brings to mind brilliance on the mound and the Cy Young Awards that followed. In Brothers in Arms: Koufax, Kershaw, and the Dodgers' Extraordinary Pitching Tradition, acclaimed Dodgers writer Jon Weisman explores the organization's rich pitching history, from Koufax and Drysdale to Valenzuela and Hershiser, to the sublime Clayton Kershaw. Weisman delves deep into this lineage of excellence, interviewing both the legends that toed the rubber and the teammates, coaches, and personalities that witnessed their genius. |
| dodger spring training 2023: When Baseball Was Still Topps Phil Coffin, 2023-12-14 Card by card--all 572 of the '59 Topps set--this book contemplates the lives and times of mid-20th century baseball. That season was in the heart of a period of turmoil: milestones in integration, franchise shifts to the West Coast, a potential rival league, the major leagues' expansion, and labor issues that included paying young prospects not to play. The cards help tell the players' stories, too. The slugger who had a date with Marilyn Monroe (no, not Joe DiMaggio), and the minor leaguer better known than Marilyn. The nephew of a Black Sox player, and the target of a bribery attempt. The lefty catcher. The pitcher from Mayberry. The only player to pinch-hit for Ted Williams. Strikeout kings and wildmen. Religious stalwarts and hell raisers. The stripper's husband. The coolest socks in baseball. Ballplayers who were also basketball players--including the NBA's No. 1 pick one year. Satchel's Six Rules and Twig's Six Rules. Coot, Rip, Turk, Puddin' Head, Whammy, The Rope and Captain Midnight. Pick any card, and you'll find another engaging tale about baseball. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Forgotten African American Firsts Hans Ostrom, J. David Macey Jr., 2023-03-16 This book introduces students to African-American innovators and their contributions to art, entertainment, sports, politics, religion, business, and popular culture. While the achievements of such individuals as Barack Obama, Toni Morrison, and Thurgood Marshall are well known, many accomplished African Americans have been largely forgotten or deliberately erased from the historical record in America. This volume introduces students to those African Americans whose successes in entertainment, business, sports, politics, and other fields remain poorly understood. Dr. Charles Drew, whose pioneering research on blood transfusions saved thousands of lives during World War II; Mae Jemison, an engineer who in 1992 became the first African American woman to travel in outer space; and Ethel Waters, the first African American to star in her own television show, are among those chronicled in Forgotten African American Firsts. With nearly 150 entries across 17 categories, this book has been carefully curated to showcase the inspiring stories of African Americans whose hard work, courage, and talent have led the course of history in the United States and around the world. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Tombstone Whispers: John A. Wood, 2023-03-19 Following up on Professor Wood’s 2016 Beyond the Ballpark: The Honorable, Immoral, and Eccentric Lives of Baseball Legends, which was listed in Sport’s Collector Digest’s top forty baseball books of 2016, he examines twenty-five additional legends. Included are such notables as the lovable Yogi Berra, Stan Musial, and Gil Hodges, the feisty Billy Martin, the complex Ted Williams, the tragic Shoeless Joe Jackson, the delightful Pepper Martin, and the crook Hal Chase. Wood tracks down how these players acted away from the ballpark, and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. The author also includes his pictures of all the gravesites, except for two who were not interred. There is much funny and sad stuff here. |
| dodger spring training 2023: 42 Today Michael G. Long, 2023-02-28 Explores Jackie Robinson’s compelling and complicated legacy Before the United States Supreme Court ruled against segregation in public schools, and before Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, Jackie Robinson walked onto the diamond on April 15, 1947, as first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers, making history as the first African American to integrate Major League Baseball in the twentieth century. Today a national icon, Robinson was a complicated man who navigated an even more complicated world that both celebrated and despised him. Many are familiar with Robinson as a baseball hero. Few, however, know of the inner turmoil that came with his historic status. Featuring piercing essays from a range of distinguished sportswriters, cultural critics, and scholars, this book explores Robinson’s perspectives and legacies on civil rights, sports, faith, youth, and nonviolence, while providing rare glimpses into the struggles and strength of one of the nation’s most athletically gifted and politically significant citizens. Featuring a foreword by celebrated directors and producers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon, this volume recasts Jackie Robinson’s legacy and establishes how he set a precedent for future civil rights activism, from Black Lives Matter to Colin Kaepernick. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Naming Gotham Rebecca Bratspies, 2023-01-23 The Van Wyck, the Major Deegan, the Jackie Robinson, the Hutch, the Merritt, FDR Drive, or the Henry Hudson...you might drive them regularly, without really noticing that those road names are, well, names. But, who were these people? New York City's many roads, bridges, neighborhoods and institutions bear the names of a colorful assortment of people from key periods in the city's history. Learning about the people iconic Gotham landmarks are named for is a unique window into the history of the greatest city in the world. Author Rebecca Bratspies takes readers on a place-based, intimate, historical journey on a human scale. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Baseball Steven P. Gietschier, 2023-07 Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years explores the history of organized baseball during the middle of the twentieth century, examining the sport on and off the field and contextualizing its development as both sport and business within the broader contours of American history. Steven P. Gietschier begins with the Great Depression, looking at how those years of economic turmoil shaped the sport and how baseball responded. Gietschier covers a then-burgeoning group of owners, players, and key figures—among them Branch Rickey, Larry MacPhail, Hank Greenberg, Ford Frick, and several others—whose stories figure prominently in baseball’s past and some of whom are still prominent in its collective consciousness. Combining narrative and analysis, Gietschier tells the game’s history across more than three decades while simultaneously exploring its politics and economics, including, for example, how the game confronted and barely survived the United States’ entry into World War II; how owners controlled their labor supply—the players; and how the business of baseball interacted with the federal government. He reveals how baseball handled the return to peacetime and the defining postwar decade, including the integration of the game, the demise of the Negro Leagues, the emergence of television, and the first efforts to move franchises and expand into new markets. Gietschier considers much of the work done by biographers, scholars, and baseball researchers to inform a new and current history of baseball in one of its more important and transformational periods. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Major League Baseball Players of the 1970s Bill Ballew, 2023-08-02 In the 1970s, after a decade of stagnant fan interest that seemed to signal the demise of Major League Baseball, the game saw growth and change. In 1972, the players became the first in professional sports to go on strike. Four years later, contractual changes allowed those with six years in the majors to become free agents, leading to an unprecedented increase in salaries. Developments in the play of the game included new ballparks with faster fields and artificial turf, and the introduction of the designated hitter in 1973. Eminent personalities emerged from the dugout, including many African Americans and Latinos. Focusing on the stars who debuted from 1970 through 1979, this book covers the highs and lows of more than 1,300 players who gave fans the most exciting decade baseball has ever seen. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Last Miracle Ed Kranepool, Gary Kaschak, 2023-08-01 No origin story of the New York Mets is complete without Ed Kranepool. The lefty first baseman known as Steady Eddie made his major-league debut at age 17 during the team's inaugural season and would eventually depart, nearly two decades later, with his name written throughout the franchise's record books. In this definitive autobiography, Kranepool shares a remarkable life story, including early years playing stickball in the streets of the Bronx, the growing pains the Mets endured as an expansion club, his offseasons working as a New York stockbroker, and of course the miracle 1969 season that ended in an unforgettable World Series victory. He also opens up about the personal miracle which came 50 years after that famous championship: a lifesaving kidney transplant made possible by a Mets fan donor. A month after the surgery, Kranepool threw out the first pitch at Citi Field and boldly offered his services as a pinch hitter. Affable, open, and brimming with knowledge of the game, this thoroughly New York tale will delight baseball fans in Queens and beyond. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Year Without a World Series Robert C. Cottrell, 2023-09-06 The 1994 Major League Baseball season promised to be memorable. Long-standing batting and pitching standards were threatened, including the revered single-season home run record. The Montreal Expos and New York Yankees were delivering remarkable campaigns. In August, acting commissioner Bud Selig called a halt to the season amid the League's latest labor dispute. The shutdown led to a lockout as well as cancellation of more than 900 regular season games, the scheduled expanded rounds of playoffs, and that year's World Series. Like all labor struggles, it was fundamentally about control--of salaries, of players' ability to decide their own fates, and of the game itself. This book chronicles Major League Baseball's turbulent '94 season and its ripple effects. It highlights earlier labor struggles and the roles performed by individuals from John Montgomery Ward, David Fultz and Robert Murphy to Marvin Miller, Andy Messersmith, Jim Catfish Hunter and Donald Fehr. Also examined are the ballplayers' own organizations, from the Players League of the early 1890s to the still potent Major League Baseball Players Association doing battle with team owners and their representatives. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Baseball Codes Jason Turbow, Michael Duca, 2010-03-09 An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments. Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining. At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field. With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Once More Around the Park Roger Angell, 2023-01-24 This essay collection covers more than forty years of history, fandom, and insider analysis from “the best baseball writer of our time—maybe ever” (Newsweek) The celebrated baseball chronicler has selected his favorite pieces from the last forty years to create Once More Around the Park, a definitive volume of his most memorable work. Here are the extraordinary games Roger Angell has witnessed and written about, as well as compelling insights that deepen our love and understanding of the sport. This book includes such timeless essays as “The Interior Stadium,” on the complex attractions of baseball; “In the Country,” on a friendship that began with a fan letter and took Angell far from the big stadiums and big money; “The Arms Talks,” on contemporary pitching strategy and the arrival of the split-finger delivery; and many others. Angell’s conversations with past and present players and managers, scouts and coaches, rookies and Hall of Famers enhance his expertise and critical appreciation, defining him as “baseball’s most eloquent analyst” (The New York Times Book Review). |
| dodger spring training 2023: Sports Illustrated The World Series The Editors of Sports Illustrated, 2023-10-17 From its inception, Sports Illustrated has chronicled baseball's greatest spectacle: the World Series. Now, SI celebrates the grandeur and spirit of the Fall Classic with a deluxe commemorative book featuring the magazine's iconic photography alongside classic stories from legendary writers. Along with overviews of notable teams and championships, this new volume includes stats, facts, and anecdotes spanning World Series history. The nostalgic past meets the electric present in this ultimate examination of baseball's storied event. Bringing MLB history to life by diving into the legendary SI archives, Sports Illustrated The World Series is essential for every baseball fan's collection. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Boy Who Knew Too Much Cathy Byrd, 2017-03-21 The compelling and heartwarming story of a young baseball prodigy who began sharing vivid memories of being famed American baseball player Lou Gehrig. At the tender age of two, baseball prodigy Christian Haupt began sharing vivid memories of being a baseball player in the 1920s and '30s. From riding cross-country on trains, to his fierce rivalry with Babe Ruth, Christian described historical facts about the life of American hero and baseball legend Lou Gehrig that he could not have possibly known at the time. Distraught by her son's uncanny revelations, Christian's mother, Cathy, embarked on a sacred journey of discovery that would shake her beliefs to the core and forever change her views on life and death. In this compelling and heartwarming memoir, Cathy Byrd shares her remarkable experiences, the lessons she learned as she searched to find answers to this great mystery, and a story of healing in the lives of these intertwined souls. The Boy Who Knew Too Much will inspire even the greatest skeptics to consider the possibility that love never dies. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Why We Love Baseball Joe Posnanski, 2023-09-05 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year National Sports Media Association Sports Book of the Year An NPR Book of the Day #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters. But these are also moments raw with the humanity of the game, the unheralded heroes, the mesmerizing mistakes drenched in pine tar, and every story, from the immortal to the obscure, is told from a unique perspective. Whether of a real fan who witnessed it, or the pitcher who gave up the home run, the umpire, the coach, the opposing player—these are fresh takes on moments so powerful they almost feel like myth. Posnanski’s previous book, The Baseball 100, portrayed the heroes and pioneers of the sport, and now, with his trademark wit, encyclopedic knowledge, and acute observations, he gets at the real heart of the game. From nineteenth-century pitchers’ duels to breaking the sport’s color line in the ’40s, all the way to the greatest trick play of the last decade and the slide home that became a meme, Posnanski’s illuminating take allows us to rediscover the sport we love—and thought we knew. Why We Love Baseball is an epic that ends too soon, a one-of-a-kind love letter to the sport that has us thrilled, torn, inspired, and always wanting more. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Called Up Zak Ford, 2023-10-27 To reach the majors, a ballplayer must not only possess natural ability and world-class skills but must also overcome nearly insurmountable odds. The journey is not possible without extreme dedication. Along the way mentors play a large role, and circumstances must align. For an elite few, years of effort and perseverance culminate with putting on a big league uniform. Drawing on original interviews with more than 100 players who debuted between 1961 and 2018, this collection presents their first-person stories of how they were called up to play Major League Baseball. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Wendell Smith Reader Wendell Smith, 2023-04-03 With the world's eyes on Jackie Robinson, there were not many who noticed the sportswriter who traveled by the baseball star's side in 1946-47. Wendell Smith was a pioneer not only in writing, but in broadcast media as well, with a career that spanned 1937-1972 and included more than 1,500 written pieces. After an extensive biographical sketch, this work presents a collection of Smith's writings. Chapters are organized to present him as one who chronicled Black history, traveled extensively, challenged racism, noted progress in racial relations, criticized friends, praised enemies, and bid farewell to notable figures who passed before him. Black athletes covered in his writings include Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Ernie Banks, and many more. When necessary, the editor provides commentary to provide context or illustrate key points. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Do You Believe in Magic? David Krell, 2023-03-08 A unique and dynamic look at a pivotal year in American history and culture. There were seismic shifts taking place in 1966. The Supreme Court’s Miranda warnings decision. A World Series upset. Jacqueline Susann’s salacious best seller Valley of the Dolls. The television debut of Batman. Five successful missions in NASA’s Project Gemini. It was truly a momentous year in America. In Do You Believe in Magic? Baseball and America in the Groundbreaking Year of 1966, David Krell goes beyond the headlines to reveal the importance of this underappreciated year in history. Using the baseball season as a unifying thread, Krell also examines the Space Race, television, film, politics, music, and more, revealing that innovation was the common theme during this extraordinary time. With a vivid narrative, archival photos, exclusive interviews, and contemporary news accounts, Do You Believe in Magic? presents the powerful stories and impactful moments from a fascinating year that transformed America forever. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Tris Speaker Timothy M. Gay, 2023-04 This biography of Tris Speaker is the first to tell the full story of Speaker's turbulent life and to document in sharp detail the grit and glory of his pivotal role in baseball's dead-ball era. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Mallparks Michael T. Friedman, 2023-07-15 In Mallparks, Michael T. Friedman observes that as cathedrals represented power relations in medieval towns and skyscrapers epitomized those within industrial cities, sports stadiums exemplify urban American consumption at the turn of the twenty-first century. Grounded in Henri Lefebvre and George Ritzer's spatial theories in their analyses of consumption spaces, Mallparks examines how the designers of this generation of baseball stadiums follow the principles of theme park and shopping mall design to create highly effective and efficient consumption sites. In his exploration of these contemporary cathedrals of sport and consumption, Friedman discusses the history of stadium design, the amenities and aesthetics of stadium spaces, and the intentions and conceptions of architects, team officials, and civic leaders. He grounds his analysis in case studies of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore; Fenway Park in Boston; Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles; Nationals Park in Washington, DC; Target Field in Minneapolis; and Truist Park in Atlanta. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Magic: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson Roland Lazenby, 2023-10-24 The definitive biography of the basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, from the highly respected, career sportswriter and author of Michael Jordan: The Life. Magic Johnson is one of the most beloved, and at times controversial, athletes in history. His iconic smile lifted the dowdy sport of American professional basketball from a second-tier sport with low ratings into the global spotlight—a transformation driven by Magic’s ability to eviscerate opponents with a playing style that featured his grand sense of fun. He was a master entertainer who directed the Los Angeles “Showtime” Lakers to the heights of both glory and epic excess, all of it driven by his mind-blowing no-look passes and personal charm. Then, in 1991, at the height of his charismatic power, Johnson shocked the world with a startling cautionary tale about sexually transmitted disease that pushed public awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Then out came his confession of unprotected sex with hundreds of women each year, followed by his retirement, an attempted return, and a proper farewell on the iconic 1992 Olympic Dream Team. Longtime biographer Roland Lazenby spent years tracking the unlikely ascension of Johnson—an immensely popular public figure who was instantly scandalized but who then turned to his legendary will to rise again as a successful entrepreneur with another level of hard-won success. In Lazenby’s portrayal, Johnson’s tale becomes bigger than that of one man. It is a generational saga spanning parts of three centuries that reveals a great deal, not just about his unique basketball journey but about America itself. Through hundreds of interviews with Johnson’s coaches, representatives past and present, teammates, opponents, friends, and loved ones, as well as key conversations with Johnson himself over the years, Lazenby has produced the first truly definitive study, both dark and light, of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr.—the revolutionary player, the icon, the man. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The 50 Greatest Players in Braves History Robert W. Cohen, 2023-04-01 The 50 Greatest Players in Braves History examines the careers of the 50 men who made the greatest impact on one of Major League Baseball’s oldest and most iconic franchises. Using as measuring sticks the degree to which they impacted the fortunes of the team, the extent to which they added to the Braves legacy—in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta—and the levels of statistical compilation and overall dominance they attained while wearing a Braves uniform, The 50 Greatest Players in Braves History ranks, from 1 to 50, the top 50 players in team history. Quotes from opposing players and former teammates are provided along the way, as are summaries of each player’s greatest season, most memorable performances, and most notable achievements. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Home Run King Dan Schlossberg, 2024-05-14 In the fifty years that have passed since Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run and supplanted Babe Ruth as baseball's home run king, his legend and legacy have only grown. Humble and modest to a fault, he always insisted that he didn't want people to forget Babe Ruth but only to remember Henry Aaron. Though he never had the benefit of playing in the media spotlight of New York or Los Angeles, he remains the career leader in total bases, runs batted in, and All-Star selections; shares records for home runs by brothers (with Tommie Aaron) and by teammates (with Eddie Mathews); and is remembered with respect and admiration for his outspoken advocacy of civil rights for all minorities. Written by a lifelong Braves fan who became a sportswriter, this book traces Aaron's odyssey from the segregated south to the baseball world revolutionized by Jackie Robinson, who became an early an important ally against bigotry and prejudice. It reveals how the New York Giants nearly beat the Boston Braves in signing Aaron, when the young slugger caught his first break, and why he changed his hitting style after the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. Though he never won a Triple Crown or hit for the cycle, he won virtually every major honor, including an MVP award, a World Series ring, and a berth in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But he should have won more, as the author contends he was often taken for granted by voters (nine of whom left him off their Cooperstown ballots!). Turn these pages to find out what home run Aaron considered his greatest, what pitcher proved his easiest mark, and what managers he liked or disliked the most. Even the disappointments are included -- his team's move south, its inability to establish a dynasty, and his quests to become a manager, general manager, or even Commissioner of Baseball. This is also a book of personal tragedy: the death of a child, a difficult divorce, and the stunning loss of the 43-year-old brother-in-law who became the first black GM. Not to mention the deluge of hate mail as it became obvious that he was approaching the most cherished record in sports. Through it all, Henry Louis Aaron kept his composure, preferring to let his bat do the talking. He lacked the notoriety of Willie, Mickey & the Duke but he just might have been the best player in baseball history. He's certainly in the conversation. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Late Innings Roger Angell, 2023-01-24 The acclaimed New Yorker sportswriter examines the inner working of professional baseball, in these essays from the spring of 1977 to the summer of 1981. Late Innings takes fans far beyond the stadium view of the field and into the substrata of baseball as it is experienced by the people who make it happen. Celebrated as one of the game’s finest chroniclers, Roger Angell shares his commentary on the money, fame, power, traditions, and social aspects of baseball during the late seventies and early eighties. Covering monumental events such as Reggie Jackson’s three World Series home runs and the bitter ordeal of the 1981 players’ strike, Angell offers a timeless perspective on the world of baseball to be enjoyed by fans of all ages. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Game Time Roger Angell, 2023-01-24 “Baseball’s most eloquent analyst” demonstrates why he has “long since attained the status of national treasure,” in this classic essay collection (The New York Times Book Review). Roger Angell's famous explorations of the summer game are built on acute observation and joyful participation, conveyed in a prose style as admired and envied as Ted Williams’s swing. Here is Angell on Fenway Park in September, on Bob Gibson brooding in retirement, on Tom Seaver in mid-windup, on the abysmal early and recent Mets, on a scout at work in backcountry Kentucky, on Pete Rose and Willie Mays and Pedro Martinez, on the astounding Barry Bonds at Pac Bell Park, and more. With twenty-nine essays divided between spring, summer, and fall, Game Time carries readers through the arc of the season with refreshed understanding and pleasure. With an introduction by Richard Ford, this collection represents Angell’s best writings, from spring training in 1962 to the explosive World Series of 2002. A New York Times Notable Book |
| dodger spring training 2023: A Season in the Sun Roger Kahn, 2000-01-01 In 1976 Roger Kahn spent an entire baseball season, from spring training through the World Series, with players of every stripe and competence. The result is this book, in which Kahn reports on a small college team?s successes and hopes, a young New England ball club, a failing major league franchise, and a group of heroes on the national stage. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Cactus League Emily Nemens, 2020-02-04 Named a Best Book of 2020 by NPR and Lit Hub. A Los Angeles Times Bestseller. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice In The Cactus League [Emily Nemens] provides her readers with what amounts to a miniature, self-enclosed world that is funny and poignant and lovingly observed. --Charles McGrath, The New York Times Book Review An explosive, character-driven odyssey through the world of baseball Jason Goodyear is the star outfielder for the Los Angeles Lions, stationed with the rest of his team in the punishingly hot Arizona desert for their annual spring training. Handsome, famous, and talented, Goodyear is nonetheless coming apart at the seams. And the coaches, writers, wives, girlfriends, petty criminals, and diehard fans following his every move are eager to find out why—as they hide secrets of their own. Humming with the energy of a ballpark before the first pitch, Emily Nemens's The Cactus League unravels the tightly connected web of people behind a seemingly linear game. Narrated by a sportscaster, Goodyear’s story is interspersed with tales of Michael Taylor, a batting coach trying to stay relevant; Tamara Rowland, a resourceful spring-training paramour, looking for one last catch; Herb Allison, a legendary sports agent grappling with his decline; and a plethora of other richly drawn characters, all striving to be seen as the season approaches. It’s a journey that, like the Arizona desert, brims with both possibility and destruction. Anchored by an expert knowledge of baseball’s inner workings, Emily Nemens's The Cactus League is a propulsive and deeply human debut that captures a strange desert world that is both exciting and unforgiving, where the most crucial games are the ones played off the field. |
| dodger spring training 2023: Hardscrabble Diamonds Colin Howell, 2023-05-02 Part history, part memoir, part statistical analysis, this book tells the remarkable and largely forgotten story of how the baseball hotbed of Canada's northeastern Maritime provinces evolved into NCAA North during the 1940s and 1950s. A summer training ground for players from leading U.S. college programs, the region attracted talented players seeking higher salaries than they could get in the American minor league system. Major league organizations came to scout blue-chip prospects. In this competitive environment, only the best were able to crack the rosters of town teams in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine. A Quality of Competition Index for various northeast leagues provides major league equivalencies for selected players. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Summer Game Roger Angell, 2013-02-05 This New York Times bestseller “takes you into the heart of baseball as it was in the 1960s, conveyed with humor and insight” (Tim McCarver, The Wall Street Journal). Acclaimed New Yorker writer Roger Angell’s first book on baseball, The Summer Game, originally published in 1972, is a stunning collection of his essays on the major leagues, covering a span of ten seasons. Angell brilliantly captures the nation’s most beloved sport through the 1960s, spanning both the winning teams and the “horrendous losers,” and including famed players Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, and more. With the panache of a seasoned sportswriter and the energy of an avid baseball fan, Angell’s sports journalism is an insightful and compelling look at the great American pastime. |
| dodger spring training 2023: The Way of Baseball Shawn Green, 2012-06-05 Major League All-Star Green shares how his baseball career has taught him to live life being fully present in every moment. |
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Jun 7, 2025 · Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to call upon Scott to face the middle of the Padres' order with Los Angeles holding a 4-2 lead in the eighth. Scott looked great in firing 11 …
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Dodgers are thinking through a potential roster move over the next couple of days. https://t.co/JzG7On55ox. The Angels announced that left-hander Garrett McDaniels has been …
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Dodgers Reveal Massive Injury Update on Emmet SheehanThe Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff is getting a major shot in the arm after Emmet Sheehan’s health moves in the right direction.
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Jun 8, 2025 · Orange County Register coverage of the Los Angeles Dodgers and their players including Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, and more. Photos, video, schedules, …
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12 hours ago · As the Los Angeles Dodgers deal with a mounting list of starting pitching injuries, could a reunion at the trade deadline make sense? Two-time All-Star Walker Buehler left the …
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The official website of the Los Angeles Dodgers with the most up-to-date information on news, tickets, schedule, stadium, roster, rumors, scores, and stats.
Dodgers Nation | Los Angeles Dodgers News, Rumors, Schedule
4 days ago · Mr. Dodger on Max Muncy Says Dodgers, Padres Aren’t Rivals; Vince S on Dodgers’ Dave Roberts Provides Encouraging Updates on Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell
Los Angeles Dodgers Scores, Stats and Highlights - ESPN
Visit ESPN for Los Angeles Dodgers live scores, video highlights, and latest news. Find standings and the full 2025 season schedule.
Los Angeles Dodgers News, Scores, Status, Schedule - MLB
Jun 7, 2025 · Dodgers manager Dave Roberts elected to call upon Scott to face the middle of the Padres' order with Los Angeles holding a 4-2 lead in the eighth. Scott looked great in firing 11 …
Dodger Blue
4 days ago · While the Los Angeles Dodgers were in the midst of their road trip, civil unrest erupted miles from Dodger Stadium with protests against federal immigration enforcement. …
Los Angeles Dodgers News, Videos, Schedule, Roster, Stats
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted that playing the Padres is “fun” as the division rivals bring out the best in each other. LA won its series against San Diego 2-1 and …
Los Angeles Dodgers | Los Angeles Dodgers News, Scores, …
Dodgers are thinking through a potential roster move over the next couple of days. https://t.co/JzG7On55ox. The Angels announced that left-hander Garrett McDaniels has been …
Los Angeles Dodgers News - MLB - FOX Sports
Dodgers Reveal Massive Injury Update on Emmet SheehanThe Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff is getting a major shot in the arm after Emmet Sheehan’s health moves in the right direction.
Dodgers baseball news: The Orange County Register
Jun 8, 2025 · Orange County Register coverage of the Los Angeles Dodgers and their players including Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Yasiel Puig, and more. Photos, video, schedules, …
Dodgers predicted to reunite with Red Sox's Walker Buehler in …
12 hours ago · As the Los Angeles Dodgers deal with a mounting list of starting pitching injuries, could a reunion at the trade deadline make sense? Two-time All-Star Walker Buehler left the …
