Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
If ever a figure changed the game of baseball, it was Walter O'Malley. Criticized in New York and beloved in Los Angeles, O'Malley is one of the most controversial owners in the history of American sports. He remade the major leagues and altered the course of history in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles when he moved the Dodgers to California. But while many New York critics attacked him, O'Malley looked to the future, declining to argue his case. As a result, fans across the nation have never stopped arguing about him--until now. Using never-before-seen documents and candid interviews with players, associates, and relatives, writer Michael D'Antonio reveals this complex sportsman and industry pioneer. Filled with new revelations about O'Malley's battle with New York power broker Robert Moses, his pioneering business strategies, and his relationship with Jackie Robinson, this is an intimate portrait of a man who changed America's pastime forever.--From publisher description.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Previews available in: English
Showing 3 featured editions. View all 3 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2
Forever blue: the true story of Walter O'Malley, baseball's most controversial owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles
2009, Riverhead Books
in English
1594488568 9781594488566
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
3
Forever blue: the true story of Walter O'Malley, baseball's most controversial owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles
2009, Riverhead Books
in English
1594488568 9781594488566
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Source records
Library of Congress MARC recordLibrary of Congress MARC record
Library of Congress MARC record
Library of Congress MARC record
Library of Congress MARC record
marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary MARC record
Internet Archive item record
Library of Congress MARC record
Better World Books record
marc_columbia MARC record
harvard_bibliographic_metadata record
Work Description
In this revisionist version of the Dodgers' exodus from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, viewed by many as a journey from Eden to Sodom, the Prime Mover emerges as less like Satan and more like Mosesvisionary, flawed and ultimately justified.D'Antonio, who has written on aspects of cultural history from chocolate bars (Hershey, 2006) to spirituality (Heaven on Earth, 1992), enjoyed unlimited access to the huge archive of Walter O'Malley's papers and has extracted numerous goodies. None, however, is more revealing that what must now be considered unquestionable fact. O'Malley (190379) labored assiduously to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn, but was stymied at every juncture by Robert Moses, New York's de facto czar of construction. D'Antonio interviewed myriad surviving participants in the story, players included, to uncover other uncomfortable facts. Even during the Dodgers' late-'40s/early-'50s glory years, attendance at Ebbets Field was declining for many reasons: lack of parking, white flight to the suburbs, the rise of television. Meanwhile, large cities across the country craved major- league baseball franchises. Los Angeles and San Francisco were respectively courting the Dodgers and Giants, though Milwaukee scooped them both by acquiring the Braves from Boston. When O'Malley saw L.A.'s offer, and realized that there was slim hope for help in Brooklyn, he decamped and transferred the franchise to the West Coast. There, as the author notes, it has flourished spectacularly in one of baseball's greatest stadiums. D'Antonio spices his forays into baseball business with plenty of baseball folklore. There are several pages on Bobby Thompson's mythic home run, many on the advent and reign of Jackie Robinson. He sometimes has difficulty with balance, offering only a few swift sentences on Roy Campanella's career-ending accident, for example. Readers may also wish for more about O'Malley's private life. We see the franchise owner as a consummate politician, a true mover-and-shaker, but we get few glimpses of his Dodger-blue soul.First-rate cultural history from a writer who touches almost all bases.
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created December 12, 2008
- 16 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
November 30, 2023 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
December 26, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
December 17, 2022 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
December 20, 2020 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
December 12, 2008 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from Library of Congress MARC record |