Book Review: Tales from Dodgers Dugout

Book Review: Carl Erskine’s Tales From The Dodgers Dugout “Extra Innings”
by Carl Erskine
Sports Publishing
2004
p. 219

Several books in the Tales from the Dugout series have already been reviewed for At Home Plate. The Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals, Angels, Giants and the Braves bullpen have been covered.

This is an expanded and updated version of Carl Erskine’s Tales from the Dodgers Dugout and in truth it’s a knockout. Erskine pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1948 and moved with the team to Los Angeles in 57 where he pitched his last two season before retiring at the end of the 1959 season. He was with the Dodgers during their greatest era when they gathered 7 National League Pennants and 2 World Championships - one in Brooklyn and one in LA.

He played with many of the game’s heroes and legends - including Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe, Sandy Koufax, Gil Hodges and more – in addition to playing against teams like the legendary Yankees and of course the hated New York Giants.

This book is filled with those tales and anecdotes in short, easy to read pieces each reflecting a moment of baseball history. This book was a refreshingly different look at the boys of summer; it wasn’t so much full of baseball lore but also of snapshots in time and of the personalities beyond the uniforms and statistics. It talks about being Brooklyn’s “royalty” and some of the fans that supported the team, baseball on the dawn of the television era, good friends, laughter and of course baseball.

My knowledge of the Brooklyn Dodgers comes from books that I have read, stories told by my mother (a Brooklynite herself) and other old fans of the team that used to play at Ebbets field. It’s a team that perhaps more so than any other has been captured and recaptured by writers as part of the golden age of baseball yet this book has opened new veins and made the team even more real to me than it was in the past.

If you’ve never read one of the Tales from the Dugout books (and we’ve reviewed many of them here at At Home Plate) you are in for a treat with this one. I’ve often thought that I’d found my favorite book in the series and that they couldn’t make a better one in the series - and then the people at Sports Publishing throw me a curve like this and totally blow me away with another book that is this good.

The book is filled with colorful characters and poignant moments as well as the personal thoughts and recollections of this great pitcher including his two no hitters and moments from most of his best games. It’s a book well worth reading and while the author would hate to find himself so deep into a count I’m going to give this one 3 balls out of a possible four and tell you that even a die hard Giants fan would have a hard time disliking this book or the man that wrote it.

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Our Rating System is based on a four ball system as follows:
One Ball: Average. It has something to say but is nothing special.
Two Balls: Something men usually have - also means its a cut above average, and worth reading/owning.
Three balls: Stands out from its peers and is highly recommended.
Four Balls: More than just what two men have when hanging out together, it means it is an exceptional book that truly earns a walk - straight to the local book store to get a copy.