(View entire post here)
Michael D'Antonio is our guest blogger during the week of March 23rd. If you have any questions for Michael D'Antonio, add a comment to any of his posts.
Here is more information about Forever Blue:
If ever there was a figure who 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 been unable to stop arguing about him—until now.
Using never-before-seen documents and candid interviews with O’Malley’s players, associates, and relatives, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Michael D’Antonio finally reveals this complex sportsman and industry pioneer. Born into Tammany Hall connections, O’Malley used political contacts to grow wealthy during the Great Depression, and then maneuvered to take control of the formerly downtrodden Dodgers. After his defeat in a war of wills with the famed power broker, Robert Moses, O’Malley uprooted the borough’s team and transplanted them to Los Angeles. Once in Los Angeles, O’Malley overcame opponents of his stadium and helped define the city. Other owners came to regard him as their guide—almost an unofficial commissioner—and he worked behind the scenes to usher in the age of the players’ union and free agency.
Filled with new revelations about O’Malley’s battle with Moses, his pioneering business strategies, and his relationship with Jackie Robinson, Forever Blue is a uniquely intimate portrait of a man who changed America’s pastime forever. His fascinating story is fundamental to the history of sports, business, and the American West.
About Michael D'Antonio:
Michael D'Antonio is the author of many acclaimed books, including Atomic Harvest, Tin Cup Dreams, Mosquito, The State Boys Rebellion, and Hershey. 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.
Michael D'Antonio - author
$25.95 - Add to Cart
Book: Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 368 pages | ISBN 9781594488566 | 19 Mar 2009 | Riverhead | 18 - AND UP
Michael D'Antonio, 
Forever Blue, 
Riverhead, 
Penguin Books
Forever Blue
Just wanted to let Michael D'Antonio know that I thoroughly enjoyed "Forever Blue". I have been a Dodger fan ever since the early 50's. On pages 119-120 of this book, I finally found out how I became a Dodger fan. As a kid living in Pittsburgh, I listened to the Dodgers on the radio (the Pirates were awful). The play-by-play, re-created, was done by Johnny Most (later with the Boston Celtics), not Red Barber or Vin Scully. All these years, I couldn't figure out how the Dodgers were broadcasting in Western PA. Now I know. It was a separate Dodger Network.