They Bled Blue

The wildly entertaining narrative of the outrageous 1981 Dodgers from the award-winning author of Dynastic, Fantastic, Bombastic and The Baseball CodesThey Bled Blue is the rollicking yarn of the Los Angeles Dodgers' crazy 1981 season, a watershed campaign that cemented the team's place and reputation as fitting thoroughly within the surrounding LA culture. That it culminated in an unlikely World Series win — during a split season demarcated by a strike, no less — is not even the most interesting thing about this team. The Dodgers were led by the garrulous Tommy Lasorda, as much cheerleader as manager, whose office hosted a regular stream of Hollywood royalty. They had Steve Garvey, the first baseman with the movie-star good looks, whose seemingly impenetrable All-American façade was in the first stages of what would soon be total implosion. Garvey was teamed with Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, and Bill Russell in the most durable...