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

Rating:
Summary: Top of the line sports writing
Review: A little while ago, I gave 5 stars to a book called "The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told." While I stand by that rating, that book still pales in comparison to this one.

The Dodgers have a rich history and with the exception of the Yankees, are probably the most successful and stories baseball franchise. This oral history gives a behind the scenes look at the incidents that shaped L.A. Dodger history.

Every big event from 1958-2000 is covered, from the move to Los Angeles to Koufax's retirement to the Big Blue Wrecking Crew to Kirk Gibson's famous home run to the selling of the team to Fox. Delsohn does a good job at allowing both sides to speak about controversial issues and allows the reader to use his or her own judgment as to where the truth lies.

For any fan of baseball, I recommend this book. For any fan of the Dodgers, I would say this is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Top of the line sports writing
Review: A little while ago, I gave 5 stars to a book called "The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told." While I stand by that rating, that book still pales in comparison to this one.

The Dodgers have a rich history and with the exception of the Yankees, are probably the most successful and stories baseball franchise. This oral history gives a behind the scenes look at the incidents that shaped L.A. Dodger history.

Every big event from 1958-2000 is covered, from the move to Los Angeles to Koufax's retirement to the Big Blue Wrecking Crew to Kirk Gibson's famous home run to the selling of the team to Fox. Delsohn does a good job at allowing both sides to speak about controversial issues and allows the reader to use his or her own judgment as to where the truth lies.

For any fan of baseball, I recommend this book. For any fan of the Dodgers, I would say this is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Follow-Up To "Bums"
Review: Because the saga of the Brooklyn Dodgers has long captivated authors, there's been a general reluctance to address the history of the team after Walter O'Malley broke the spirit of a city forever when he moved the team to Los Angeles. Books like Roger Kahn's "The Boys Of Summer" and Peter Golenbock's "Bums" convey the feeling that the story of the Dodgers ended so unhappily with the move to LA that why would you want to read about what happened next.

Steve Delsohn's "True Blue" rectifies the absence of significant books about the history of the LA Dodgers by using the oral history approach Golenbock used for "Bums." The end result is a generally fascinating overview of the team's history from a wide variety of players, coaches, writers etc. Delsohn only uses those he actually interviewed, avoiding the technique used by Golenbock of borrowing older quotes from those who are now dead to fill in other gaps of the story.

The book succeeds in conveying the general story of the team since it came to LA, especially in detailing the behind-the-scenes struggles of the team (the uneasiness caused by Leo Durocher's presence as a coach during the early 60s, the question of whether Walter Alston was forced out after 1976, the more turbulent problems since the sale to Fox). If you want to know the behind-the-scenes history of the team, you will be impressed. If you want some indepth attention given to the significant games that took place in LA Dodger history, then that's where you're going to be in for a letdown, because there is almost little or no discussion of the major games of the historic seasons and the postseason games except in the most cursory fashion. This is what keeps the book from five stars to me.

Rating:
Summary: Good read; need a copyeditor?
Review: I agree with the previous reviews, lots of good juicy dirt here, stuff that you never heard about in the press, particularly about Koufax/Drysdale's holdout, and the Fox fiasco. I was a bit shocked at the seemingly sloppy attention to detail at times; for instance, Delsohn comments that Walter Alston took over a 1954 Dodger team from Chuck Dresson that had won the previous three straight NL pennants (anyone ever hear of a guy named Bobby Thomsom in 1951?) In another section, he remarks that Duke Snider was sold to a Mets team that lost 102 games in their inaugural year (acutally it was 120, perhaps a typo). I found a couple of other statistical goofs also, but all in all , a terrific read, and I liked having the people involved tell their stories. Four stars, if you're a diehard Dodger Blue Crew member like me, buy this book! I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to hate this book!
Review: I am a transplanted Cub fan living in LA and am forced to endure the antics of the Dodgers. With the exception of Vin Scully. the preeminent baseball announcer, I can truly say I loathe the Dodgers, yet I really enjoyed this book.It really plays out like a soap opera and I really like how the personalities involved get to tell their side of the story. I found it interesting to read about the early days of the LA Dodgers when Leo Durocher was undermining Walter Alston, the holdout of Drysdale and Koufax, the events leading up to Maury Wills being traded. I also enjoyed reading about the team of the 70's and how the players really felt about Steve Garvey. Some pretty juicy stuff is revealed throughout this book and the reader is privvy to all of it. I just wonder if the author ever approached Mr Scully for his take on things.This book is a welcome addition to my sports library.

Rating:
Summary: Brief Vignettes from Interviews about Squabbles and Success
Review: I have been a Dodger fan since 1955. While I lived in Southern California, I attended most home games. What surprised me was how little this book added to my knowledge about the team. Most sections just repeated in less detail what had been written in the Los Angeles Times, said in the television coverage at the time, or reported by Vin Scully on the radio.

The book's main eye-opener is that Walter Alston, who seemed so quiet and gentlemanly in public, had such a terrific temper in private. He was fully capable of challenging players to a fight, and knocking down doors to make a point. I thought that those sections were the main reason to read the book for long-time fans.

The key weakness of the book was that it emphasized the front office, managerial, and player squabbles. Every team has these, and they don't add very much to my enjoyment of baseball.

On the important things, you simply don't get enough. Specialized books on Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, for example, provide much more and more interesting information than you will find here about the key events in their careers.

What makes the Dodgers special are those moments when they rise to greatness as scrappers, and the book takes on many of those happy memories: Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series, Maury Wills stealing every base that wasn't nailed down, Sandy Koufax pitching on two days rest to win the 1965 World Series, and Mike Marshall's iron arm in 1974. I would have liked longer sections on these parts of Dodger history.

I was glad that the book looked at the moments when the fabled franchise faltered, such as with the Al Campanis interview on Nightline, the purchase by Fox and subsequent managerial merry-go-round, and the 1962 collapse. Recovery from such lows is an important part of a franchise's greatness.

Having read this book, I'm still proud to be a Dodger fan, even though I'm not proud of everything the Dodgers have ever done. On the other hand, I will look forward to reading a better oral history of the team when someone writes it.

For young fans of the Dodgers or people who don't know the team, this book will be a four or five star effort because more of this material will be new.

After you read this book, I suggest that you think about what first attracted your interest to a baseball team. How did the team hold your interest after that? What does that tell you about yourself?

Conduct yourself with grace and courage!

Rating:
Summary: Quick read, not for real historians
Review: I read True Blue in a day while on my summer vacation last year. It contains interview snipets with most of the big names in Los Angeles Dodgers history, but lacks the depth and insight a more sophisticated fan would require. From a sociological perspective, Delsohn missed one of the most important aspects of Dodger baseball from the 1970s- the presence of Glenn Burke, inventor of the "High Five," who became baseball's first acknowledged homosexual, and the Rick Monday American flag rescuing incident. In addition, other Dodger stars are basically ignored if they were not in the middle of some major event.

Rating:
Summary: Very good oral history- a must for Dodger fans
Review: I really enjoyed reliving some of the great stories surrounding the Dodger franchise while reading this book. The interviews focus on the behind the scenes controversies as well as the on the field exploits of Dodger teams of the 50's through the 2000 season. For a Dodger fan much of the material is familiar but the book provides a chance to hear the players and front office guys tell their versions in their own words.
The Yankees may be the Bronx Zoo and the all-time leaders in colorful characters but the Dodgers certainly are not far behind in that category.
I highly recommend this to baseball lovers and particularly to Dodger fans. I learned some new things about the team and I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about Dodger history.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't Quite Make It To The Playoffs
Review: In 1958, I was ten-years-old and living in Los Angeles when the Dodgers hit town, and I've been a life-long fan ever since. So it was with great anticipation that I dove into "True Blue," by Steve Delsohn, as it is sub-titled "The Dramatic History of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Told by the Men Who Lived It," and I thought to myself, what could be better than hearing the inside scoop from the horse's mouth, so to speak? It was a question that was soon answered, and I also realized that as interesting as this book was, it simply wasn't the book I wanted it to be.

Delsohn tells the story through the comments of those who were either a part of the organization at one time or another, or close to it in some regard, like the sportswriters who have covered the team since their move to L.A. Delsohn conducted 124 interviews in all, from which he gleaned the insights provided here. And while it's interesting to hear in their own words the reflections of such luminaries as Duke Snider, Maury Wills, Mike Marshall, Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey, Eric Karros and Tommy Lasorda, the bulk of the comments seem to come from the writers, like Dodger Historian Tot Holmes, ESPN correspondent Chris Mortensen, L.A. Times columnist Ross Newhan, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN's magazine, Mark Heisler of the "Times," Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated and author Roger Kahn among others.

All of which, again, makes for an interesting read, but what the book lacks is depth. Beginning with a brief background of Walter O'Malley's origins with the Brooklyn Dodgers and some insight into how and why the team ended up in Los Angeles, Delsohn then moves from 1958 on through the 2000 season, decade by decade. And it's a quick read that leaves you wanting for more. He touches upon the highlights of each era, especially the historic moments on the field and off, like the rise of Sandy Koufax into one of the premier pitchers in the game, to the unprecedented joint hold-out (the first in baseball history) by Koufax and Don Drysdale at the beginning of the 1966 season. He also chronicles the `70s infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey, who would stay together for eight seasons, keeping an existing infield intact longer than any other in history. Then there was the phenomenal Fernando Valenzuela and "Fernando mania" in 1981. The infamous Al Campanis affair, which erupted after the longtime General Manager of the Dodgers appeared on a segment of "Nightline" is covered as well. All the championships, the near misses and seasons that misfired altogether, the careers of managers Walt Alston and Tommy Lasorda and all the ups and downs of the team, including the tumultuous exit of Mike Piazza in 1998 are covered.

Other elements, however, that are such a part of the Dodgers illustrious history are neglected, like the story of Hideo Nomo, who is mentioned only in passing. And while the interviews that make up this book do give a sense of intimacy to the story, it nevertheless leaves you with the feeling that there is so much more that hasn't been brought to light. So, as a historical document, "True Blue" comes up short, and in the final analysis it comes across as more of a coffee-table book; interesting enough to browse through from time to time, but ultimately unsatisfying.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific trip down memory lane.
Review: This is a very enjoyable, very engaging book that is well-organized, well-written, and just plain fun. It's a great trip down memory lane, reading again about the thoughts of the players I watched growing up and recollecting and reliving the events of those years. The bottom line on this book is that if you are a Dodger fan, it is must reading. Thank you, Mr. Delsohn, for a great time!