Dodgerland

The 197778 Los Angeles Dodgers came close. Their tough lineup of young and ambitious players squared off with the New York Yankees in consecutive World Series. The Dodgers run was a long time in the making after years of struggle and featured many homegrown players who went on to noteworthy or Hall of Fame careers, including Don Sutton, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Steve Yeager. Dodgerland is the story of those memorable teams as Chavez Ravine began to change, baseball was about to enter a new era, and American culture experienced a shift to the me era. Part journalism, part social history, and part straight sportswriting, Dodgerland is told through the lives of four men, each representing different aspects of this L.A. story. Tom Lasorda, the vocal manager of the Dodgers, gives an up-close view of the teams struggles and triumphs; Tom Fallon, a suburban small-business owner, witnesses the Dodgers season and the changes to California's landscapephysical, social, political, and economic; Tom Wolfe, a chronicler of Californias ever-changing culture, views the events of 197778 from his Manhattan writers loft; and Tom Bradley, Los Angeless mayor and the regions most dominant political figure of the time, gives a glimpse of the wider political, demographic, and economic forces that affected the state at the time. The boys in blue drew baseballs focus in those two seasons, but the intertwining narratives tell a larger story about California, late 1970s America, and great promise unrealized.