Meet the Dodgers W herever you go in the world chances are that you won’t wwoon’tt have to look too hard to find a fan of the Los Angeles es Dodgers There are millions in California and millions more around the globe All have one thing in common they proudly bleed Dodger blue People love the Dodgers for different reasons The team is known for giving young players a chance to become stars and for giving older players a second chance The Dodgers were the last baseball team to play in Brooklyn New York and the first to play in Southern California This book tells the story of the Dodgers They have won won championships on the East Coast and the West Coast They have had amazing victories and heartbreaking defeats And most important their players have changed the face of baseball James Loney and Matt Kemp return to the dugout after a home run The Dodgers gave these young players a chance and both became stars 5
Glory Days F or more than half of their history the Dodgers were based in Brooklyn New York People were accustomed to watching good baseball there long before the team played its first game In fact the best clubs and players had been meeting in Brooklyn starting in the 1850s When the Dodgers first took the field in 1884 fans expected this tradition to continue The team went through several names in its first few seasons including the Atlantics and Grays They eventually were nicknamed the Dodgers in honor of Brooklyn’s pedestrians who had to dodge the trolleys that crisscrossed the city’s avenues and streets In 1888 the team was renamed the Bridegrooms after several of its players had weddings The Bridegrooms were members 6
of the American Association AA In 1890 they decided to join the rival National League NL They won the pennant in their first year in the league Brooklyn’s stars included Willie Keeler Joe Kelley Hughie Jennings Bill Dahlen Fielder Jones Brickyard Kennedy and Joe McGinnity The team’s owner was Charles Ebbets who started his career as a peanut vendor and ticket-taker In 1913 Ebbets built a baseball palace for the Dodgers and named it Ebbets Field By this time fans were calling the team the Robins in honor of Wilbert Robinson Brooklyn’s popular manager Uncle Robbie led the club to the pennant in 1916 and 1920 Brooklyn struggled during the 1920s and 1930s before rising to the top of the NL in 1941 Known as the Dodgers once again the team starred Pete Reiser Dolph Camilli Kirby Higbe and Whit Wyatt From 1947 to 1956 the Dodgers were the best team LEFT Wilbert Robinson managed the Dodgers to two pennants ABOVE Dolph Camilli led the NL in home runs in 1941 7
