Miracle in Chavez Ravine: The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988

by William F. McNeil

After winning the 1981 World Series and raising the expectations of management and fans, the Los Angeles Dodgers followed up with six years of disappointing finishes. By the time they ended the 1987 season 17 games behind the hated Giants, general manager Fred Claire had seen enough. Over the winter Claire radically restructured the team, bringing in fiery players like outfielder Kirk Gibson, closer Jay Howell and shortstop Alfredo Griffin to spark the team out of complacency. Led by Gibson and pitcher Orel Hershiser, the upstart Dodgers outlasted Houston in a race for the NL West title and edged a star-studded Mets team in the league championship series. But their best, most dramatic moments came in the World Series, when the Dodgers shocked everyone by bashing the A's of McGwire and Canseco in five games. In the first book-length history of the 1988 Dodgers, author Bill McNeil covers the story from all angles.

Genres: Baseball

216 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2008

Reviews

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the nostalgia this book brought for me as it's about my favorite sports team ever - the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers. I was 10 years old when the team won the World Series, about to turn 11. I loved watching the players such as Orel Hershiser, Kirk Gibson, Steve Sax, Mickey Hatcher, Franklin Stubbs, Jay Howell, Mike Marshall, Alfredo Griffin, John Shelby, Tim Belcher, Mike Scioscia, Rick Dempsey, John Tudor, Mike Davis, Alejandro Pena and many many more and this author brought me back to watching them. However, there are many errors in this book. The All-star game that year was in Cinci, not Cleveland. Names are often misspelled - Dave Henderson is often called Rickey Henderson, but Rickey was not with the team until 1989. Bob Knepper is called Al Knepper - things like that. I feel like this book cover is a little misleading too. Half the book is about the Dodgers from 1981-1987, which I found useful, but I wouldn't have spent about 30 percent of the book on it. Once the book got going on the 1988 season, it was hard to put down and it was written well with very good research. Really brought me back to being a 10-year-old in those seats. This book is really closer to a 3.5 but I'm such a fan of this team I gave the author a 4. Basically if you're a Dodger fan, this book is a 4, if not, it's more like a 3. Glad I read.

[Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Dodgers fan the Miracle in Chavez Ravine: The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 was a very interesting detailed book on how the Dodgers came back from their six years of losses and disappointment after winning the world series in 1981. The author described the position Fred Claire the general manager at the time was in and how he reconstructed the whole Dodger team to deal with the conflict. The author did miss some things in the 1981-1987 era but the information on the 1988 world series was on point. What made the book stand out to me was that the author briefly went through each Dodger star and their come up that helped bring the Dodgers back from the disappointment they fell in. Another thing that satisfied me was that in the novel it described the excitement and noise that the Dodgers were making in the 1988 world series. The right information was put into the book for someone who doesn’t know much about baseball, author Bill McNeil did an amazing job covering this amazing story about the Los Angeles Dodgers.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only an interesting read if you are a Los Angeles Dodger fan, which I am! However, the cover, which reads The Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988, is pretty misleading. The first 1/3 of this short book is about the club from 1981 to 1987! And the book only gives 1 and 1/2 pages to the greatest moment from '88 - the Gibson HR! Seriously? Also, the author repeatedly calls the Dodgers the "The Big Blue Machine". I have never read, nor heard, anyone, ever, call them that. The Reds team of that era was called "The Big Red Machine", but the author must know something I don't. And speaking of the Reds, they stopped playing at Crosley Field in 1970, so the Dodgers did not play there in 1988. But, I did enjoy reading it, as it reminded me of my favorite baseball team from my childhood. But like I said, for Dodger fans only!