The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown: 60 Years of Baseball in Vero Beach [Hardcover]

RODY L. JOHNSON (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2008

Ironically, the last year of Dodgertown will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the team's relationship with Vero Beach, a sleepy beach town a couple of hours north of Miami. Since 1948, when Branch Rickey first brought his team to a former naval air station for training (the players slept in barracks), the Dodgers have practiced fundamentals in a bucolic setting. Featuring roofless dugouts, a grassy berm surrounding the outfield, and intimate seating for 6,400, Holman Stadium has been home to the Dodgers longer than even famed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

 

Granted special access to the team's archives and personal interviews with players, management, and staff, Rody Johnson offers a fascinating and remarkable history of the sometimes rocky relationship between the city and the team. Beginning with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1946 and ending with the close of spring training in 2007, The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown traces the changes in baseball and society for more than a half century. It is a story of community, passion, and the beauty of an American sport.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A history of the most hallowed spring training site in baseball

 

"There is no spring training site quite like Dodgertown. Rody Johnson was there from the beginning, so he's able to take us on an entertaining trip down through its long and colorful history."--Fay Vincent, former commissioner, Major League Baseball

 

"The definitive history of the most unique spring training complex in the land."--Joshua R. Pahigian, author of Spring Training Handbook

 

"Dodgertown," says Sports Illustrated, "did not invent spring training. It only perfected it." But following in the ill-fated path of Ebbets Field and Brooklyn, Dodgertown and Vero Beach will lose the team to Glendale, Arizona, after the 2008 season.

 

Ironically, the last year of Dodgertown will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the team's relationship with Vero Beach, a sleepy beach town a couple of hours north of Miami. Since 1948, when Branch Rickey first brought his team to a former naval air station for training (the players slept in barracks), the Dodgers have practiced fundamentals in a bucolic setting. Featuring roofless dugouts, a grassy berm surrounding the outfield, and intimate seating for 6,400, Holman Stadium has been home to the Dodgers longer than even famed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

 

Granted special access to the team's archives and personal interviews with players, management, and staff, Rody Johnson offers a fascinating and remarkable history of the sometimes rocky relationship between the city and the team. Beginning with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1946 and ending with the close of spring training in 2007, The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown traces the changes in baseball and society for more than a half century. It is a story of community, passion, and the beauty of an American sport.

About the Author

Rody Johnson, a life-long Dodger fan and a long-time Vero Beach resident, is the author of Different Battles and In Their Footsteps.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (March 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081303194X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813031941
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I'd Been There, February 25, 2008

By 

Wirt Winebrenner (Lewisburg, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown: 60 Years of Baseball in Vero Beach (Hardcover)

At exactly the stroke of midnight last night, I read the last page of Dodgertown and laid the book aside. It was a wonderful read. I was sorry it ended.

The book is a winner in so many ways. Obviously, a tremendous amount of research went into it. But at the same time, it wears its research well, never becoming a tome. Knowing virtually nothing about Vero, the Dodgers, or the history of baseball, I kept learning on each page, while growing familiar with the place, the people, and the wonderful mystique of spring training. I really felt I was there.

And so, I was saddened, I mean really moved and at times angry, during those final chapters when everything seemed to fall apart. Your own last pages indicate that you, and probably others, have philosophically come to grips with the passing of the good old days, but for a reader like me, new to it all, it's terribly difficult to let go. I kept wanting to go back to the O'Malley days. I felt personal loss in that I'll probably never be able to experience the special nature of Dodgertown. Oh, sure - another team may come in. For a while it even looked as though it might be the Orioles. But even if the Os' had moved to Vero, the camp wouldn't have been the same.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Story, March 6, 2008

By 

Tom Wilcox (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown: 60 Years of Baseball in Vero Beach (Hardcover)

Clearly a labor of love, this book tells not only Dodgertown's story, but baseball's and America's. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys forays into the cultural and economic evolution of the game. While baseball's players and facilities may have undergone dramatic changes through the years, Johnson's love of the sport clearly has not. A masterful work.

Tom

P.S. I also recommend "Spring Training Handbook" which goes to similar lengths to detail baseball's history in Florida.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An engrossing history., May 6, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown: 60 Years of Baseball in Vero Beach (Hardcover)

THE RISE AND FALL OF DODGERTOWN: 60 YEARS OF BASEBALL IN VERO BEACH is a specialty item for baseball collections and Vero Beach area residents who enjoy game history. It charts the history of the Dodgers, who have been coming to Vero Beach every spring since 1948, and it tells of an entire culture and community which sprang up around the rise of 'Dodgertown'. Baseball fans will find this an engrossing history.