Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957

by John R. Nordell

No baseball summer is as memorable for me as that July when the Dodgers began a winning streak in a suddenly torrid, topsy-turvy National League pennant race. Fifty years after they played their last baseball game, the Brooklyn Dodgers are still remembered by millions of people. From 1947 to 1956, the Dodgers captured six out of ten National League pennants and they defeated the mighty New York Yankees in the 1955 World Series. The year 1957, however, is recalled mainly for the decision by Dodger president Walter O'Malley to move his team to Los Angeles the following year. In Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957, author John Nordell tells the story of the Dodgers' mid-season surge in the standings during that last year in Brooklyn. Using research from a variety of sources, Nordell recreates the excitement of following the Dodgers and their National League rivals in the daily drama of a five-team pennant race. The author also draws on his own youthful memories of that year and describes the unforgettable thrill of seeing a game at Ebbets Field. The book includes numerous photographs and a concluding chapter that discusses the outcome of the 1957 pennant race, the major factors and personalities involved in the Dodger move west, and the end of an era in baseball.

120 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2007

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957, is a Kindle ebook by John Nordell, Jr. The book is essentially a seasonal look at the box scores, with a short summary of the various games. I am a devoted Dodgers fan and love reading about the Brooklyn years. But this book, quite simply, is dull. It reads like someone, well, summarizing box scores. Without any of the numbers that give box scores their magic.

There’s not really much else for me to add. It’s the first book about the Dodgers I’m certain I’ll never re-read.

This is one of my shortest reviews ever, but I don’t have much more to say. If you want a good book on a similar subject, give a look at The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers and Their Final Pennant Race Together by Michael Shapiro.

[John Cress · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, this is a good reference book that was researched well. However, this reads like an encyclopedia entry rather than a book for leisure. I sometimes felt like I was just reading a play by play of the boxscore. For the price for 3 bucks, I can't complain though.