In his book, City of Dreams; Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles, Jerald Podair traces the tumultuous journey of Walter O’Malley in his quest to build his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers their own home on the East Coast. When politics and personalities would not relent, this determined entrepreneur made the decision to go west. Despite securing verbal and written agreements by the City of Los Angeles, O’Malley endured one delay after another, putting his dream very much in doubt. However, O’Malley refused to give up and, with the help of some Hollywood stars, liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans, and a play-by-play announcer who would become an icon, Dodger Stadium was built. This not only gave Los Angeles a modern sports venue, but it transformed the city landscape itself.


City of Dreams vividly recounts the struggle to build Dodger Stadium as Los Angeles becomes divided along political and racial lines, as well as the competing visions of the residents in the interest of their city. The compelling narrative describes every battle over housing, money, business, and identity as a baseball stadium gets built and the municipality is forced to make difficult decisions to move this incredible enterprise forward. Podair examines the value of sports and argues that it can exceed the cost of a massive structure and transform a city itself, bringing it into the modern era. City of Dreams is a tribute to the tenacity of one man, Walter O’Malley, and to the metropolis the Dodgers now call home. If you are a baseball fan or interested in the way business and sports intersect, City of Dreams; Dodger Stadium and the Birth of Modern Los Angeles is for you.


I was given a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I was not familiar with any of this history so I found this an interesting history. The author has done a lot of research. The is an exhaustive book about Baseball, The Dodgers, The City of LA and the politics of using public land and funds for private ventures. The text is accompanied with lots of photographs. Anyone interested in this history will enjoy this well written book. Enjoy

When the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles following the 1957 baseball season, little did anyone predict the long protracted process it would take for owner Walter O’Malley to construct Dodger Stadium. That process, with all of the political battles and conflicting visions of what type of city Los Angeles would be with the new ballpark, is captured in this well-written and balanced book by Jerald Podair.

Every step of the process from the announcement that the Dodgers were moving to Los Angeles to the opening of Dodger Stadium in 1962 is covered from many points of view. All of the various disputes that O’Malley encountered from citizens, local politicians or other officials are discussed in a manner that presents all sides of the argument fairly and offers some facts to dispute some myths, such as stating that despite the popular belief, it was not Walter O’Malley that ordered the eviction of residents from Chavez Ravine to make way for the ballpark.

Information that is new to the reader may be surprising, such as the amount of rent that the team had to pay the organization that ran the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as that was the location for the team from 1958 to 1961. The court battles for Proposition B, the case by a family who wanted to keep its residence in Chavez Ravine and the dispute over building the roads to provide access to the ballpark are just a few of the topics covered in great detail in this book. These details are key to presenting this balanced picture of these events and because of them, it is a book that must be read slowly and carefully in order to absorb all of the information.

Readers who are interested in learning about the building of Dodger Stadium, as well as the team, the city of Los Angeles or even just a glimpse into the political conversations at the time will enjoy this book.

I wish to thank Princeton University Press for providing an advance review copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jerald Podair in City of Dreams recounts the story of how Dodger Stadium was built from the failed negotiations with Robert Mosses to save the Brooklyn Dodgers to the political, legal, and moral wrangling that occurred once the team opted to move to the West Coast and down to opening day. But City of Dreams is much more than a “baseball story” It’s a story about two competing visions for the City of Los Angeles-one a modern city with a bustling downtown and another a more neighborhood centric city with a number of neighborhood businesses and residents.

The issue of Dodger Stadium got tied into the unique political structure of Los Angeles at the time and created some strange alliances that go way beyond the traditional liberal-conservative divide. But Podair is able to make the emotions and passions of the main characters leap from the page as this figure fights to get the stadium approved, while another champions the little guy, it really creates these three dimensional figures in a rhetorical war over the future of Los Angeles. Dodger Stadium was the battleground to determine the future direction of a city, rather than just a baseball stadium.