The Dodgers Move West

by Neil J. Sullivan

Softcover, 252 pages, 5-1/4" x 8"
Copyright 1987, Published 1989
Oxford University Press

From the back of the book:
For many New Yorkers, the removal of the Brooklyn Dodgers - perhaps the most popular baseball team of all time - to Los Angeles in 1957 remains one of the most traumatic events since World War II. Neil J. Sullivan's controversial reassessment of a story that has reached almost mythic proportions in its many retellings shifts responsibility for the move onto the local governmental maneuverings that occurred on both sides of the continent. Set against a backdrop of sporting passion and rivalry, and appearing over thirty years after the Dodgers' last season in Brooklyn, this engrossing book offers new insights into the power straggles existing in the nation's two largest cities.

"A scholarly work that analyzes in dispassionate detail the real rea­sons why the Brooklyn Dodgers were uprooted in 1957 and moved three thousand miles to Los Angeles."            Sports Illustrated

"Sullivan's examination of the details of [the Brooklyn Dodgers' move West] is outstanding."            The Sporting News

"Clearly expands our understanding of this significant sporting de­velopment, and Sullivan should be praised for his courageous at­tempt to swim against the currents of popular sentiment." Journal of Sport History

"[An] exciting study.... [Sullivan] has a sure grasp of city politics and a lucid understanding of power struggles. For the intelligent fan who wants more than popcorn T.V. baseball." The Book Reader

About the Author:
Neil J. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Public Administration at Baruch College, City University of New York.

Table of contents
1. Brooklyn's Place in the New York Game
2. Postwar Challenges and the Beginning of the O'Malley Era
3. Robert Moses and the Atlantic-Flatbush Proposal
4. An Elusive Championship
5. Los Angeles: An Overture from the Coast
6. New York: Endgame in Brooklyn
7. Proposition B
8. Due Process and Another Championship
9. Was the Move Justified?
Appendix A: The Chavez Ravine Agreement
Appendix B: The Dodgers' Record in Los Angeles
Notes
Index