I doubt if very many Dodgers or Giants fans know the full history of the rivalry. Although I have followed the Dodgers since 1956 when they won the World Series, over a third of this book was new to me. I felt I added to my enjoyment of the Dodgers by seeing them in the perspective of the Giants. To me, baseball has always been about beating the Yankees so although the Giants have always been tough on the Dodgers (except for rare periods), I didn't really notice the rivalry . . . except on October 3rd when for so many years the Giants had the ultimate hex on the Dodgers. Reading this book made me want to read a book that just focused on the Yankees and the Dodgers. One of the highlights of my career as a baseball fan was watching the Dodgers win to clinch the World Series in Yankee Stadium in 1981.
I found the book to be a little too encyclopedic to be totally satisfying to me. I really didn't want to know all of those little facts about the early days. More time could have been spent on the personalities of the key owners, players, coaches and umpires, and the book would have been improved.
Also, I didn't really want to know as much about the Giants as I wanted to know about the Dodgers . . . so I think this book will be more attractive to Giants fans than to Dodgers fans. My impression is that the Giants have been written about much less than the Dodgers have.
But if you just want to have one book about the Giants and the Dodgers, this is surely the one to own. I don't know of any book that comes near it on this subject.
As I finished the book, I realized that we are fortunate to have talented rivals and dedicated fans. Both play a role in helping bring out the best in us. Both Dodgers and Giants fans have been blessed in this way.
