Dodgers Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! »

The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of baseball's most vibrant and beloved franchises, and everything you need to know about them is in Dodgers Essential: the clutch hitters, the dominating pitchers, and the memorable flakes. Looking for a handy reference for milestones in Dodgers history? It's here, as are the greatest moments and biggest disappointments, the biggest goats and the biggest heroes, and all the personalities that make the Dodgers such an endearing and captivating club.

Foreword   Bud "the Steamer" Furillo     ix
Acknowledgments     xiii
Introduction     xv
Trolley Dodgers     1
Wilbert Robinson Plants the Seed of a Baseball Tree That Grew in Brooklyn     6
The Lost Season     11
The "Daffiness Boys"     16
A Whole New Ballgame     23
Then the Roof Fell In     27
"He That Will Not Reason Is a Bigot"     33
Mr. Robinson     39
"I Want a Player with the Guts Not to Fight Back!"     45
The Good Samaritan     50
Breaking into the Big Leagues     54
"Wait Till Next Year"     60
The Lords of Flatbush     65
The Creeping Terror     70
"The Shot Heard 'Round the World"     75
Still "Waiting Till Next Year"     80
Finally!     84
Team Leader     89
Exodus     94
Changes     99
A Baseball Palace     104
Summer of '62     108
New York, New York     113
"Hitless Wonders"     118
The Real "Dr. K"     123
Big D     129
"The Year of the Pitcher"     133
Pride Goeth before the Fall     138
One Year at a Time     144
Rematch     149
Garv     154
Fernandomania     158
The Last Hurrah     163
Piazza     168
The Poet     173
Answers to Trivia Questions     178
Dodgers All-Time Roster     180
Notes     203