Customer Reviews

Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

The writers Pete Hamill and Jack Newfield one night decided each would make a list of the three most evil people in history. When they compared the results, both lists had the same names: Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and the former owner of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Walter Francis O'Malley.

Non-baseball fans would no doubt be puzzled by O'Malley's inclusion on the list. But any lover of the game, especially a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, understood the hatred of O'Malley, who had taken the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. In the half-century since, O'Malley has been branded a greedy villain who did more than move a franchise. He was the man who tore the heart out of Brooklyn.

Efforts by O'Malley's descendants and others to rehabilitate his reputation reach their zenith with Michael D'Antonio's new biography of O'Malley, which was produced with the full cooperation of O'Malley's children. I have read extensively in the field of baseball history, especially New York baseball history, and have encountered a lot about O'Malley, but always as a secondary character. It this volume, he takes front and center. I learned a lot about the man I didn't know before, especially his life before he began doing legal work for the Dodgers.

The O'Malley who emerges in these pages isn't a saint, but he fares far better than he does in most baseball literature. The idea that New York power broker Robert Moses was the true villain in the loss of the Dodgers isn't new--books by Neil Sullivan and Michael Shapiro also support that thesis--but it receives reinforcement here. O'Malley earns plaudits for his vision in bringing baseball to the west coast, for building a ballpark that's still considered one of the best, for supporting the player's early unionization efforts; and for his leadership of the game through times of turmoil. If O'Malley was guilty of anything, D'Antonio seems to conclude, it was destroying the myth that professional baseball was a sport, not a business (and in his view that's not entirely a bad thing).

O'Malley finally earned a plaque in the baseball Hall of Fame last year. Hamill still wasn't convinced that he deserved absolution, and this volume isn't likely to win him over either. But other fans may be persuaded to rethink their distaste for O'Malley.--William C. Hall

No one ever beat Robert Moses but Walter O'Malley was certainly a winner in the contest that pushed him out of his beloved Brooklyn. I was a Brooklyn Dodger fan as a kid. The book was slow in capturing me, but it did happen in chapter six which recapped the 1951 pennant race. From that point I was totally involved. D'Antonio was very kind to O'Malley and the O'Malley family. Perhaps, too kind. This is certainly a book worth reading if you are interested in baseball history. You get a glimpse into the politics of New York and the incomparable Robert Moses. Moses is a subject of study all to himself. See THE POWER BROKER by Robert A. Caro.

I have always felt that the true test for a writer is to take us beyond what we think we know about a subject, and reveal something that makes it more than a story and something more real. Michael D'Antonio has achieved this feat with FOREVER BLUE. Whatever you thought you knew about the players involved, the book takes you into dimensions that make the story more about people and how actions can set in motion a course that would have ripple effects for years to come. Bravo!

This is the first comprehensive biography of Walter O'Malley. It also covers the transition of the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Having the support and assistance of Mr. O'Malley's children, the author was able to research a number of primary source documents and has presented a much more objective bio of Walter O'Malley than has been shared in previous books that tended to be written for the grieving fans of Brooklyn, at Mr. O'Malley's expense (and simply unfair). Well written and I look forward to reading it again. Very entertaining writing. Enjoy.

Walter O'Malley's name is often damned in Brooklyn for supposedly stealing the heart and soul of the the borough and moving the Dodgers to Los Angels for more money. As Michale D'Anotonio proves in this well written history, O'Malley did everything in his power to stay in New York but was resisted at every turn by the powers that be. That, combined with a crumbling ball field and lack of fan support resulted in his move to L.A.

The book clearly demonstrates that the villain was someone who has a long record of being a villain and putting his own interests above the common good. That would be Robert Moses. The same man who destroyed thousands of homes and built parks and beaches for whites while destroying minority neighborhoods was also the driving force to keep the Dodgers out of any special deals because he didn't care for O'Malley,

The book does a great job of showing how savvy O'Malley was and how, unlike many of his owners, he basically treated his players with respect. No one can forget how he drove baseball's integration and that unlike a lot of other rich owners, he ran his team as a business and made it clear that being a Dodger was something to be proud of. He also never lost touch with his humanity which makes him all the more of an interesting person.

This is a great read for all baseball fans!

As most are aware, this book continues the ongoing rehabilitation of O'Malley, mostly at the expense of Robert Moses, who gets the blame for the Dodger move to LA. There's not anything earth-shatteringly original here, which is surprising since D'Antonio was fortunate enough to have access to the vast (and private) O'Malley archive. Had D'Antonio made greater use of this archive (he does use it, but not to the extent necessary) instead of merely recycling a good deal of info from prior secondary sources on the Dodgers and O'Malley, this would have been a much better and more interesting book. Otherwise, it's just okay.

This book is truly a masterpiece. It is a combination of a Walter O'malley biography, a baseball history book and a profile of Brooklyn in the 1930's thru the 1950's.
As a Brooklyn native and a big baseball fan, I appreciated this book from all aspects mentioned above. The reader gets to see baseball as a culture and a way of life. In Brooklyn, baseball was apparently not just a game.

A lot has been said in general about the controversy surrounding the move of the dodgers from Brooklyn to LA. Therefore, many people may react emotionally when reading this book. Nevertheless, putting all emotions aside, I highly recommend this book to ANY and EVERY baseball fan across the country. You will get an inside look of some of the most passionate people ever involved in the National Pastime. These are the people that shaped baseball and professional sports to what we have and enjoy today.

This book is a MUST READ!

Every book that I have ever read on the subject of the Dodgers moving to LA has always overlooked one thing. Why would the city of LA give a baseball team over 300 acres of land plus over $4 million dollars for road access? They basically bribed O'Malley to come to LA. I"ve not aware of to many politicians giving away anything for nothing.Would anybody be surprised if the politicians from LA received the contracts to build the Dodgers Stadium? This subject was not mentioned in this book, nor in any other book written on the subject of the Dodgers moving to LA.I realize the Dodgers moved out of Brooklyn many years ago and most people probably don"t care anymore, but i still think a book such as this should of found out who got the contracts to build Dodgers Stadium.
As far as that nonsense that O'Malley did not want to play inside a stadium that was owned by the government. If the city of LA would not of bribed him like they did, the Dodgers would still be in New York today, having played in Shea Stadium all these years.

I bought this for my dad for Father's Day. He & my mom were both from Brooklyn...
Mom apparently was the bigger Dodger fan, while dad I think dis-owned the Dodgers for leaving for L.A. and he became a die-hard Yankee fan. But this is a great book, I read an excerpt from Sports Illustrated & decided to get the book as a gift for dad.

Well researched account of the Dodgers move from Brooklyn, this should set the record straight on the battle Walter O'Malley had with the city of New York, more specifically Robert Moses. Good read for the true baseball fan.