Overview

"Read Michael D'Antonio's posts on the Penguin Blog From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes a revealing biography of ""one of the most polarizing figures in baseball history"" (The New York Times). If ever there was a figure who changed the game of baseball, it was Walter O'Malley, owner of the Dodgers. O'Malley was one of the most controversial owners in the history of American sports, altering the course of history when he uprooted the Dodgers and transplanted them from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. While many critics attacked him, O'Malley looked to the future, declining to defend his stance. As a result, fans across the nation have never been able to stop arguing about him and his strategy-until now. Michael D'Antonio's Forever Blue is a uniquely intimate portrait of a man who changed America's pastime forever, a fascinating story fundamental to the history of sports, business, and the American West. Michael D'Antonio's newest book, A Full Cup: Sir Thomas Lipton's Extraordinary Life and His Quest for America's Cup, is now available from Riverhead Books."

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9781594484414

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aIn 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 Mosesavisionary, flawed and ultimately justified. <br> 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 (1903a79) 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 reignof 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.a<br> a Kirkus <br> First-rate cultural history from a writer who touches almost all bases. aTo comprehend baseball's grip on America, you've got to understand the dramatic tale of Walter O'Malley and the Dodgers. With meticulous reporting and elegant prose, D'Antonio brushes away the dust and brings O'Malley's story to life like never before. This is the definitive book on one of baseball's most fascinating and controversial figures.a<br> a Jonathan Eig, author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig <br> aMeticulously researched and artfully written, Forever Blue isn't merely a biography of Walter O'Malley, but a thoughtful and riveting piece of social history, told through the prism of perhaps the most controversial owner in the annals of American sport.a<br>a Wayne Coffey, author of The New York Times bestseller, The Boys of Winter

aIn 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 Mosesavisionary, 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 (1903a79) 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 reignof 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.a a Kirkus First-rate cultural history from a writer who touches almost all bases. aTo comprehend baseball's grip on America, you've got to understand the dramatic tale of Walter O'Malley and the Dodgers. With meticulous reporting and elegant prose, D'Antonio brushes away the dust and brings O'Malley's story to life like never before. This is the definitive book on one of baseball's most fascinating and controversial figures.a a Jonathan Eig, author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig aMeticulously researched and artfully written, Forever Blue isn't merely a biography of Walter O'Malley, but a thoughtful and riveting piece of social history, told through the prism of perhaps the most controversial owner in the annals of American sport.aa Wayne Coffey, author of The New York Times bestseller, The Boys of Winter

Author Information

Michael D'Antonio is the author of many acclaimed books, including Atomic Harvest, Tin Cup Dreams, Mosquito, The State Boys Rebellion, Hershey, and Forever Blue. His work has appeared in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Discover, and other publications. Among his many awards is the Pulitzer Prize, which he shared with a team of reporters for Newsday.

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