Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers

by Peter Golenbock

Book Overview

Before the team headed to Los Angeles in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers had already become part of baseball history, thanks to players such as Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella. Bums narrates the colorful history of this beloved team with recollections from the players, the writers who covered them, and fans.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399128468
• ISBN13: 9780399128462
• Release Date: October 1984
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Nicely Readable Oral History

This is a very good and quite readable oral history about the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1940-1950's. That celebrated team won several pennants, integrated baseball with Jackie Robinson, and had many colorful and talented characters. Written in the 1980's, we hear from ex-Dodgers stars like Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Ralph Branca, Pee Wee Reese, Leo Durocher, and even some fans. We see how this team played in quaint little Ebbets Field, mostly succeeding except for some heartbreaking losses in the World Series against the Yankees. But sadly, the real heartbreak came when greedy owner Walter O'Malley looked at declining attendance and fled to Los Angeles after 1957. This book should be of great interest to baseball aficionados, particularly those that remember their heroes in Ebbets Field. Readers should also enjoy THE BOYS OF SUMMER, a superb if melancholy account by Roger Kahn.

The Best

Born and raised in Brooklyn USA...Golenbock's "Bums" is the best book I've read on my dear Dodgers...The quotes from former members of the team are outstanding and offer a direct insight how the players felt about management, other players and especially the fans..I've re-read it about ten times..Great to pick up when one is a "how I miss my team" mode....Get it! You'll enjoy it and treasured it.

First-hand accounts

The strength of this book lies in the first-hand accounts given by the players, executives, and fans that made the Dodgers franchise what it was. It is around these accounts that the book is built, and there is nothing more fascinating than hearing contemporaries reminisce about Campy or the Duke. This moves the book away from journalism and makes it something deeply personal. A must-have for any fan of the game, and especially of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

golenbecks no bum

super oral history of one of baseballs most fabled franchises. great insights into the inner workings of the baseball organization and front office, as well as player interviews which reveal the real people and lives of the players and fans of "dem bums"

Detailed and stirring review of the Dodgers history

This is a wonderful book if you're a fan interested in the early days of baseball, especially the New York teams. The author captures everything around the human spirit surrounding the Dodgers, Ebbets Field, the fans that treated the team like family, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, the Giants and Yankees rivalries.