Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

This book really captures the spirit of Dodgertown and the special bond that grew and splintered between the community of Vero Beach and the Dodgers there. This book is packed with pictures and stories of Dodger greats, past and present. It's a shame they had to leave it, Spring Training will never be the same. But at least it's captured in prose!

This is a fascinating story, well researched by the author and laced with historic pictures. The book is full of anecdotes that vividly evoke the sixty years of Dodgertown and much more. Fay Vincent got it right: "It's a story that deserved telling. Rody has told it--and told it well."