Description
Book SynopsisCall it the forgotten rivalry. The Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers may not share geographical boundaries, and today they don't even play in the same division, but for a period of time in the 1970s Dodgers vs. Reds was the best rivalry in Major League Baseball. They boasted the biggest names of the gameJohnny Bench, Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, Don Sutton, and Ron Cey, to name a fewand appeared in the World Series seven out of nine years.In Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue: Baseball''s Greatest Forgotten Rivalry, Tom Van Riper provides a fresh look at these two powerhouse teams and the circumstances that made them so pivotal. Van Riper delves into the players, managers, executives, and broadcasters from the rivalry whose impact on baseball continued beyond the 1970sincluding the first recipient of Tommy John surgery (Tommy John himself), the all-time hit king turned gambling pariah (Pete Rose), and two young announcers who would soon go on to national prominence (Al Michaels and V
Trade ReviewWith a rich history that includes a storied rivalry with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, author Tom Van Riper looked beyond traditional history to dive into the 1970s matchups between the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers in Cincinnati Red and Dodger Blue: Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Rivalry. * Dodger Blue *
[An] essential summer read if you’re a sucker for baseball history. * New York Post *
Reds fans will certainly enjoy Riper’s dissection of the subject and fully grasp the thesis of the book, articulated in his concluding statement about all the great talent on both teams: 'With that kind of talent supplementing a slew of Hall of Fame-calibre players and three Hall of Fame managers, you’ve got a rivalry for the ages –a rivalry that ought to be remembered more than it is.' * Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Prologue Chapter 1: The Right Matchup at the Right Time Chapter 2: The Pariah Chapter 3: Making Draft History and Medical History Chapter 4: Building the Machine Chapter 5: It Begins Chapter 6: The Three Kings Chapter 7: Greatness Recognized and Greatness Snubbed Chapter 8: Monsters of the Mound Chapter 9: Packing Them In Chapter 10: Four Infielders and a Scapegoat Chapter 11: Showdown Chapter 12: How Great Were They? Chapter 13: Sparking an Evolution Chapter 14: Late Bloomer Chapter 15: They Shall Be Free Chapter 16: A Giant Loss Chapter 17: Grinding toward the Wire Chapter 18: The Winners Chapter 19: Frustration Chapter 20: Onward . . . Epilogue Notes Bibliography
