The Last Innocents

WINNER OF THE CASEY AWARD FOR BEST BASEBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR

It’s rare for a team to encapsulate an era as indelibly as the Los Angeles Dodgers did the 1960s. White, black, Jewish, Christian, wealthy, working-class, conservative, liberal—the Dodgers embodied the disparate cultural forces at play in an America riven by race and war.

In The Last Innocents, Michael Leahy tells the story of this mesmerizing time and extraordinary team through seven players—Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Tommy Davis, Dick Tracewski, and Lou Johnson—taking readers through the high drama of their World Series appearances, pivotal triumphs, and individual setbacks while the Dodgers reigned and baseball was king.

It is a story about what it was like to be a major leaguer when the country was turned upside down by the tumult of the civil rights movement, a series of wrenching political assassinations, and the shock waves of the Vietnam War. Even as these seven Dodgers starred in games watched by millions, they coped with anxieties and indignities their fans knew nothing about. In their dissatisfaction, they helped plant the seeds of a rebellion that would change their sport.