Episode 6: Nine Reasons

The Dodgers of the 1960s were perhaps the most significant baseball team of all time, boasting the best pitcher, the best baserunner, and the best announcer in the sport, as well as its most influential owner and most popular stadium. Episode 6 of Fadeaway dissects the nine distinct achievements that made this Dodgers club the most influential franchise in the history of baseball. Hear about the exploits of Sandy Koufax, the motivations driving Maury Wills, how Vin Scully bonded with the Los Angeles community, the ways in which Walter O'Malley lorded over the sport as baseball's most powerful owner, and much more. This episode consists of nine "mini-sodes" which you can listen to either one by one, or all at once. Special guests include three Dodgers players as well as Michael Leahy, author of The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1965, the most famous brawl in baseball history began when Giants batter Juan Marichal repeatedly clubbed catcher John Roseboro over the head with a bat.

Listen to Vin Scully's legendary call of Sandy Koufax's  perfect game against the Cubs in 1965.

Watch Game 7 of the 1965 World Series, in which Sandy Koufax defeated Minnesota while throwing nothing but fastballs.

Danny Kaye's classic "The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song" told the story of a fictional game between the Dodgers and Giants in 1962.

EPISODE BOX SCORE

INTERVIEWS

Ron Fairly

John Kennedy

Michael Leahy

Wes Parker

BOOKS

D’Antonio, Michael. Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.

Leahy, Michael. The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harper, 2016.

McKelvey, G. Richard. For It’s One, Two, Three, Four Strikes You’re Out at the Owners’ Ball Game: Players Versus Management in Baseball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001.

Plaut, David. Chasing October: The Dodgers-Giants Pennant Race of 1962. Diamond Communications, 1994.

Roseboro, John, with Bill Libby. Glory Days With the Dodgers and Other Days With Others. New York: Atheneum, 1978. 

Sullivan, Dean. Late Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1945-1972. University of Nebraska Press, 2002.

ARTICLES

Baxter, Kevin. “Orphans of the Ravine.” Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2008.

Carlson, Jen. “Behold, the 1950s Baseball Dome That Would Have Kept The Dodgers In Brooklyn.” Published online by Gothamist, October 20, 2015. 

Creamer, Robert. “The Transistor Kid.” Sports Illustrated, May 4, 1964.

Enders, Eric. “Revisiting the Volatile Season of ’65.” Published online by Sports on Earth, October 18, 2015. 

Goldstein, Richard. “Marvin Miller, Union Leader Who Changed Baseball, Dies at 95.” The New York Times