Of all the teams in the annals of baseball, only a select few can lay claim to historic significance. One of those teams is the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, the first racially integrated Major League team of the twentieth century. The addition of Jackie Robinson to its roster changed not only baseball but also the nation. Yet Robinson was just one member of that memorable club, which included Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Pete Reiser, Duke Snider, Eddie Stanky, Arky Vaughan, and Dixie Walker. Also present was a quartet of baseball’s most unforgettable characters: co-owners Branch Rickey and Walter O’Malley, suspended manager Leo Durocher, and radio announcer Red Barber.

This book is the first to offer biographies of everyone on that incomparable team as well as accounts of the moments and events that marked the Dodgers’ 1947 season: Commissioner Happy Chandler suspending Durocher, Rickey luring his old friend Burt Shotton out of retirement to replace Durocher, and brilliant outfielder Reiser being sidelined after running into a fence. In spite of all this, the Dodgers went on to win the National League pennant over the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals. And of course, there is the biggest story of the season, where history and biography coalesce: Jackie Robinson, who overcame widespread hostility to become Rookie of the Year—and to help the Dodgers set single-game attendance records in cities around the National League.

Lyle Spatz’s many books include Dixie Walker: A Life in Baseball and (with coauthor Steve Steinberg) 1921: The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in New York, winner of the Seymour Medal (Nebraska, 2010).

"Though there have been numerous books on the Dodgers of that era and on the notable personalities, this is the first to present biographies of every member of the organization in that famous baseball year."—Margart Heilbrun, Library Journal

"The Team That Forever Changed Baseball and America: The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers is stunning in its thorough look at every player, coach and front office member of the team. After all, Robinson and Rickey had the leading roles, but they did not make history by themselves."—Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Bay Online

“The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers were all heroes to me. . . . 1947 started one of the most historic decades in baseball history. Lyle Spatz’s book captures that time which set the stage for Brooklyn’s world championship.”—Carl Erskine, pitcher who won 122 games for the Dodgers from 1948 to 1959

 

 

“What a marvelous concept for a book, and so brilliantly realized! Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey changed everything in 1947, but they did not do it alone. From Red Barber and Dixie Walker to Eddie Stanky and Clyde Sukeforth, stars and supernumeraries alike, all played a part in baseball’s greatest drama.”—John Thorn, official historian for Major League Baseball