This book was a labor of love. My family has been in Los Angeles for five generations, and I grew up in the Top Deck at Dodger Stadium. I’d like to thank my parents for taking me to a zillion baseball games when I was little, and for allowing me to stay after my own Little League games to keep score at my friends’ games, even though it was impossibly dorky and time-consuming. I’d also like to acknowledge my sister, Sarah, who came along to most of these outings and grew to love baseball as well.
As I sit here trying to come up with my list of people to thank I am overwhelmed. So many humans have helped me professionally, spiritually, and emotionally that I feel like I could write another book just to acknowledge them all. But here goes.
To my family: Toni Heyler, Beverly LeVato, Mary, Mike and Gini Frauenthal, Bryce Stowell, Lisa and Stephen Patton, Kathy and John Hollister, Christian and Locke Luhnow, Carolyn Knight, Janice Knight, Ginny Knight, Margaret Scott, the Kellys, the Blakemores, the Farias, Albert, Janiece, and Andrew Phillip, Gary, Sheri, Camden, Whitney, and Chandler Richards, and my grandfathers David Heyler, Joe LeVato, and Vick Knight . . . Thank you for raising me and for keeping me in check.
To my friends who stood by me, encouraged me to write this book, and/or handed me writing jobs or whiskey: Anne Hubert, Allie Ganz, Jessica Kumai Scott, Danielle Evans, Ali Calamari, Rahael Seifu, Tammy and Mark Murray, and everyone else in the Nerd Herd. Casey Newton, Dan Murtaugh, Tom, John, and Margaret Allen; Jordan Brenner, Shags, Karolyn Gehrig, Nicole Horton, Elyse Pasquale, Bill Magee, Gloria Hawa, Nikki Brien, Pete Olshansky, Jackie Sindrich, Angel Amitrano, Joy Hamabe, Worthy Havens, Rick Albano, Tanya Guzman, Natalie Montoya, Matthew Tolnick, Ethan Schiffres, Justin Givens, Ani Raymond, Ryan Ridings, Jorge Arangure, Matt Gelb, Chris Jones, Seth Wickersham, Alison Overholt, Matt Meyers, Gary Belsky, Hugo Lindgren, Jon Kelly, J. B. Morris, Jon Scher, Ed McGregor, Otto Strong, Scott Burton, Chad Millman, Jenn Holmes, Neil Fine, Ryan Hockensmith, Sue Hovey, Gary Hoenig, Anna Katherine Clemmons, Stacey Pressman, Mark Giles, Troy Cox, Liz Padilla, Erik Malinowski, Bruce Arthur, Old Hoss Radbourn, Jeff Passan, Jay Jaffe, Wendy Thurm, Jerry Crasnick, Joe Lemire, Jayson Stark, Jonah Keri, Michael Boor, Rachel, Ben, Marjie, Caryn Rose, Amanda Rykoff, Alyson Footer, Ken Rosenthal, Jon Heyman, Bob Nightengale, Michelle Beadle, Chris Tunno, Jeff Luhnow, Lana Berry, Lauren Bush, Phil Crandall, Neil Janowitz, Tim Kavanagh, Chris Diedrich, Ramsey Ezaki, Hiro Iwanaga, Jaison Robinson, Naveen Kabir, Patty Compton, Rachel Moore, Srinivas Panguluri, Vamsi Adusumilli, Brooke Sloane, Lindsay Sloane, Suzanne Wrubel, Alyssa Roenigk, Lindsay Berra, Jon Wank, Lee Berman, Dan Reilly, Adrian Perry, and everyone from the Welcome Back Jim Thome and OMG Girls Leagues.
Thank you to Bev, Mary, and Mike for always being my home away from home. To Lisa for teaching me about crosswords, and to Toni and Dave Heyler for the gift of a great education.
I drew from the work of many other reporters in writing this book, and you can find their cited works in my notes section. But this book would not have been possible without the hard work of those on the Dodgers beat, including: Ken Gurnick, Bill Shaikin, Mark Saxon, Tim Brown, Dylan Hernandez, Bill Plaschke, Eric Stephen, Pedro Moura, J. P. Hoornstra, Mike Petriello, Chad Moriyama, Ramona Shelburne, Jill Painter Lopez, Bill Plunkett, Jon Weisman, Tony Jackson, Josh Suchon, Beto Duran, Roberto Baly, Arash Markazi, Diamond Leung, Steve Dilbeck, Dustin Nosler, Josh Fisher, Steve Mason, and John Ireland.
I also drew from the exceptional work of Derrick Goold and Jenifer Langosch in writing about the Cardinals, and Gordon Edes for my Red Sox musings.
Thank you to Marjie Blevins and Robin Oliver for looking out for me in high school, and for encouraging me to find my voice.
Thank you to Perry Passaro, Tara Brach, and Neda Shafaghi for keeping me happy and healthy.
Thank you to every journalist who has ever asked a good question. You know who you are.
Bill Francis at the Hall of Fame fact-checked this book. He is a true American hero.
Special thanks to Mason, Jori, Dan, and everyone from the Norton School of the Occasionally Employed for allowing me to sit on your porch to write the first four chapters of this book.
To all the Dodger players, family members, and staff who helped in my reporting of this book, and in everything I have written about the club over the years, including (in alphabetical order): Nancy Bea, Steve Brener, Yvonne Carrasco, Jon Chapper, Carl Crawford, A. J. Ellis, Cindy Ellis, Mark Ellis, Andre Ethier, Tim Federowicz, Adrian Gonzalez, Dee Gordon, Zack Greinke, Jerry Hairston, Orel Hershiser, Trey Hillman, Rick Honeycutt, J. P. Howell, Kenley Jansen, Jaime Jarrin, Stan Kasten, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Davey Lopes, Don Mattingly, Preston Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Rick Monday, Mitch Poole, Nick Punto, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Rawitch, Paco Rodriguez, Lon Rosen, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Skip Schumaker, Vin Scully, Charley Steiner, Josh Tucker, Juan Uribe, Tim Wallach, Mark Walter, Logan White, and Pepe Yniguez. Many more people helped with the reporting of this book who insisted on remaining anonymous. I can’t name them, but I extend my deepest gratitude.
There are five people who midwifed me through this process and encouraged me when I thought all was lost. They are: Nick Piecoro, Keith Law, Tyler Kepner, Buster Olney, and Stephen Rodrick. My sanity would not have been possible without them, and this book certainly would not have been.
I want to thank my mother, Mandy, and my sister, Sarah, for providing the support I needed to finish this book, including mountains of Bagel Bites. You gals are the best.
I would like to thank my editor, Bob Bender, his assistant, Johanna Li, and my agents, Jared Levine and David McCormick. David: you encouraged me to start this crazy project, and then sold my collection of notes to Simon & Schuster. I cannot imagine a better fit for me. Bob: you held my hand through this process, and made this book infinitely better with your suggestions and judicious cuts. Your calmness rubbed off on me, which is no small task. I am forever in your debt for helping to make this dream come true. Any writer would be lucky to have you edit her. And to Jared: thank you for being my sounding board and my friend, as well as the captain of this ship. And thank you for loving the Dodgers.
Last but not least, thank you to Simon & Schuster for publishing this book. That was pretty awesome of you guys.