The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball
by Glenn Stout, Richard A. Johnson
Book Summary Information
Author: Glenn Stout, Richard A. JohnsonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09-17
ISBN: 0618213554
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780618213559
- Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
- Notes:
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball
Book Review: Shameful Allegations of Bigotry
Summary: 3 Stars
Shameful Allegations of Bigotry
Glenn Stout's book is chock-full of unsubstantiated allegations of bigotry against key Dodger personnel. While dealing justly with the prohibition of blacks from the majors and the regrettable Campanis episode, he goes too far in accusing others of racism and anti-Semitism in the following instances:
1. Mr. O'Malley supposedly bought the Dodgers, in part, to prevent a Jew from owning a major league team. This is stated without any supporting evidence. It is particularly outlandish, because Mr. O'Malley later moved the team and his entire family across the country, built a stadium from scratch and ran the team for decades. It is not likely he would have done all this just so he could (in part) prevent a Jew from owning the team.
2. Alston supposedly wouldn't pitch Koufax early in his career because Koufax was Jewish. Again, this is stated with no evidence to back it up. The only evidence available actually contradicts this supposition, as a few years later, Alston practically worked Koufax to death over the course of several seasons.
3. While attacking white racism again blacks (sometimes justly) he repeatedly uses the phrase "lily-white" to describe certain teams. Would he ever describe a basketball team, for example, as being "jet black?" Why couldn't he write that these teams were "all-white?" No insults there. Just a factual description.
4. He accused the commissioner of being racist for declaring that Maury Wills (who was black) should have an asterisk after his record for most stolen bases in a season, because he had more games in which to get those steals, than did the old record holder Ty Cobb (who was white). Again, there is no supporting evidence. And in fact, a year or two earlier, the commissioner made the exact same ruling about the homerun record regarding Maris and Ruth, who were both white.
5. Stout also claims, again without any evidence, that the Dodgers kept switching Pedro Guerrero's field position, because they didn't know how to play an Hispanic player.
Stout also made a factual error about the famous comment by Guerrero that he hoped the other team wouldn't hit the ball to him or Steve Sax, because of their poor fielding. One of the great Dodger stories, yet Guerrero made that comment to Lasorda during a team meeting, not to a sportswriter, like Stout writes.
He also often portrays Mr. O'Malley, Alston and Lasorda as being doofuses. This is strange considering all these men accomplished. For starters, take all of the pennants and world championships they won.
But there is much good here, too. All of the above amounts to about five pages out of about 400. The rest of the book is superbly written. All eras of team history are covered, as are all of the key personnel, from the front office all the way down to us fans. Stout's writing style is entertaining: very engaging with many clever turns of phrase. If you are a true Dodger, and if you can stomach the stuff mentioned above, you will love this book. I wish I could give it 5 stars, but I will go with three.
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