“Our Bums”

Baseball fans may know the story of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but they don’t know the whole story. With a foreword by Branch Barrett Rickey (grandson of Branch Rickey), this book fills the void in Dodgers scholarship, exploring their impact on popular culture and revealing lesser-known details of the team’s history. Personal stories are included from the fans who embraced Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Erskine, Roy Campanella and other icons of Ebbets Field. Drawing on archival documents, contemporary press accounts and fan interviews, the author brings to life the magic of the Dodgers, chronicling in detail the genesis, glory and demise of the team that changed baseball—and America.

David Krell is a noted baseball historian who brings a passion for the cultural aspects of the national pastime to his writing. He’s the author of several books and a regular speaker at baseball conferences.

David Krell

Foreword by Branch Rickey III

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 18 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7799-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1973-6
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Branch Rickey III 1
Preface 3
Prologue: “He sure hit the hell out of that one” 9
1st Inning: One Borough Under Blue 13
2nd Inning: “No grander name on earth than Brooklyn” 26
3rd Inning: Red, White, and Dodger Blue 42
4th Inning: “Democracy has finally invaded baseball” 66
5th Inning: Silencing the Lip 84
6th Inning: “I guess we weren’t meant to win it” 102
7th Inning: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the champions of the world!” 120
8th Inning: From Happy to Hollywood 142
9th Inning: A Ravine of Gold 166
Epilogue: Vincit Qui Patitur 187
Chapter Notes 193
Bibliography 205
Index 217

• “Impossible to stop reading…and savoring…Krell’s writing is poetic”—Nine
• “The team’s history, marks on the city and many references in popular culture during that time are told in this interesting book by David Krell. This book is one that anyone who has fond memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers…will have to add to his or her baseball library”—The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books.