In the 1880s, a Brooklyn baseball manager plotted to steal pitching signs and alert batters with a hidden electrical wire. In 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers were robbed of a pennant via a sign-stealing scheme involving a center field office, a telescope and a button connected to the bullpen phone. In 2017, the Los Angeles Dodgers were robbed of a World Series championship via a sign-stealing system involving a TV camera, a monitor, a trash can and a bat. History has often repeated itself around the Dodgers franchise. From their beginnings as the Brooklyn Atlantics to their move from Flatbush to L.A. and into the 21st Century, the Dodgers have seen heartbreaking losses and stirring triumphs, broken the color barrier, turned the game into a true coast-to-coast sport and produced many Hall of Famers, This is their story.

“A very interesting read…With its long story arc, starting from the very beginning of the Dodgers existence, this book is a good read for anyone wanting a solid overview of the team and its history.”—The Inside Game
“The work speaks for itself—a friendly, well-composed and trusted piece of curated history worthy of its own place on the shelf among the Dodgers’ history books of yore.”—Tom Hoffarth, Farther Off the Wall blog

Jim Alexander is a sports columnist for the Southern California News Group, which includes the Los Angeles Daily News and Orange County Register, and has covered sports in Southern California for more than four decades, including the Dodgers as a beat for 12 seasons and frequent columns about them in the years since.