Bums No More!: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers [Paperback]

Stewart Wolpin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

In all of sports history, there has rarely been a bond like the one that linked the Brooklyn Dodgers with their fans. Bums No More! is a brilliant account of the Dodgers' World Series victory--the year they finally beat the Yankees. More than a baseball book, in this nostalgic tribute for Brooklynites and baseball fans everywhere, over 125 photos capture the camaraderie and fervor of an entire borough.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

During the early 1950s, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees were pitted against each other several times in the World Series, with the Bronx Bombers always emerging victorious. The pattern was broken in 1955, however, when the Brooklyn team won its first and only world championship in seven hold-your-breath games. Although many books have been written about that legendary season, Wolpin, an ex-sportswriter for the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger, captures as few authors have the significance of the Dodgers to their home borough, whose residents felt the equal of Manhattan as long as they had "Dem Bums." Wolpin catches this sense of bonding principally by sprinkling his text with quotes from fans who recall their individual joy and the borough's collective frenzy when their team won. So it doesn't seem like hyperbole when Wolpin equates the departure of the Dodgers after the 1957 season with the death of the borough. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

After seven appearances in the World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers won their first and only world title in 1955. Wolpin's photo-packed volume celebrates the 40th anniversary of the championship season. For regional and sports history collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312150725
• ISBN-13: 978-0312150723
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,287,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic in the history of baseball, February 3, 2005

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bums No More!: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (Hardcover)

In 2004, the Boston Red Sox finally broke their long standing curse and won the World Series. In 1955, a similar event occurred. The Brooklyn Dodgers, who had won many more pennants than the Red Sox, finally defeated their longtime nemesis, the New York Yankees, in the World Series. It was a time of enormous rejoicing in Brooklyn, but in many ways it was the last hurrah. Changing demographic patterns had led to a consistent decline in attendance at Ebbets field, and in a few years, they were the Los Angeles Dodgers. Furthermore, Ebbets field had been leveled, so both aspects of the team in Brooklyn were nothing but memories.

This book is an account of that wonderful season, where all of the memories of previous defeats were erased. It starts with a recapitulation of the failures, the greatest of which was the collapse in 1951, where the Dodgers led the Giants by 13 ½ games in the early part of August. They ended the season in a tie and in the third playoff game, Bobby Thompson hit a home run to send the Dodgers home for the winter.

It is also an account of how the Brooklyn people felt about the Dodgers. When I watched the fine Ken Burns video on baseball, some of the interviews were with people who grew up in Brooklyn and worshipped the Dodgers. This book captures the passion that those people felt for their team, and how in many ways, it was also America's team. When Jackie Robinson became the first black to play in the major leagues, it was for the Dodgers. For years after the color barrier was broken, the Dodgers continued to lead in having black players, so blacks all over the country considered the Dodgers to be their team.

There are some events in baseball that will stand forever, and the Red Sox victory in 2004 will be one of them. However, given the number of times they had played in the World Series and lost, the Dodger victory in 1955 probably surpasses the Red Sox in terms of breaking the pattern of failure. This is especially true when you factor in the fact that it was truly a climax, as shortly after, the Brooklyn Dodgers and their stadium were no more. But, it was truly a joy ride while it lasted, and this book is a wonderful description of an extraordinary season. It is a classic in the history of baseball.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a GREAT book!!!, March 29, 2004

By 

Mercedes E. Lucin (danville, california United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bums No More!: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (Paperback)

i read this book cover to cover and it just arrived yesterday.
i could not put it down. being to young to actualy have any rememberance of the acual event, this book takes you and puts you there, giving you a great feeling of what it must have been like, for the fans & the players. i have read bums, boys of summer, the last good season & this book here. they are all great and i would have to give this book 5 stars..it is a little on the expensive side now that it is out of print and in such high demand but it is definitley worth every penny.
i have added this to my collection and it is a perfect complement to my magazine "who's a bum" the 40th anniversary of the 1955 brooklyn dodgers"..you get that magazine and this book and you got it all!! BUY IT IF YOU CAN!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Boys of Summer it ain't, October 17, 2011

By 

Jacob Huelstrunk (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bums No More: The Championship Season of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (Kindle Edition)

Too short and nothing new. Anyone interested enough in the Dodgers to purchase this book probably already knows everything the book has to say. You get a short history of the Dodgers, a synopsis of the '55 season and a play by play of the Series. A good third of the book, at least the Kindle edition, is taken up by an appendix giving a game by game rehash of the 1955 season in table form. This after devoting several chapters to the same topic. Of all the statistics, box scores and Jamesian analysis of baseball I've ever seen, this table is among the most useless.