This is a book for baseball fans of a certain age � Dodgers fans � ages 10 to 110. There is history, there are issues of the day, there is commentary and there is humor.
�Off Base with Howard Cole: The First 25 Years� is a collection of the author�s columns covering the first 25 years of the millennium. From before the depressing dregs of the Frank McCourt administration to the pure joy of back-to-back World Series championships.
While the published works were written during the last 25 years, also prominent is material about the entirety of the Dodgers� time in Los Angeles, by a writer who remembers almost all of it, established like the club, in 1958. Eras and ERAs, if you will; perspective about and references to franchise history going all the way back to the 1884 Brooklyn Atlantics.
Robinson (Jackie and Frank) and Davis (Tommy, Willie and Joe). Skippers (Alston, Lasorda, Torre, Mattingly and Roberts), and shortstops (Reese, Wills, Russell, Seager and Betts). Manfred, Muncy and Murray (Jim). Rose, Rodriguez (Alex) and Bonds (Barry). MVPs Cody and Campy, Koufax and Kershaw, and, of course, Ohtani, who stands in a category of one. Pennant races (dozens) and World Series championships (nine in particular). Vin Scully and plenty of him.
You�ll find 254 pages of smart, compelling Internet baseball writing, essentially for as long as it�s been a thing.
About the author
Howard Cole is a veteran journalist and Los Angeles native whose sports writing has appeared at The Orange County Register, LA Weekly, Forbes, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, The Voice of San Diego and The Bakersfield Californian, et al. His general interest work has been published at The Guardian, Jewish Journal, Prevention and Westways. He is also the Founding Director (Emeritus) of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
Editorial reviews
�If you love baseball, if you love the Dodgers especially, then you�ll love this book. �Off Base with Howard Cole: The First 25 Years� is a charming, fun and sometimes melancholy tour in the life of a ballclub, but also of a fan. I can�t wait for �The Second 25 Years.��
- Tim Brown, two-time New York Times bestselling author.
�Howard Cole has compiled a collection of absolute gems that encompass the full range of emotions, controversy, and glory in the game of baseball over the last twenty-five years. It�s the perfect companion for any baseball fan. An absolute joy!�
- Erik Sherman, New York Times best-selling author of ten books on baseball.
�Howard Cole and Internet coverage of sports, in many ways, grew up together. This collection of essays not only provides an exciting historical snapshot of the last quarter-century, it does so with Howard�s insights, attention to detail and, of course, his indelible wit.�
- Jonathan Mayo, reporter, MLB Pipeline and author, Smart, Wrong, and Lucky: The Origin Stories of Baseball's Unexpected Stars.
�These first drafts of history need to be preserved as context. They capture reaction, contemplation, assessment and, ultimately, what�s next? Then we find out. Sports writing starts from a love of the game, then a better understanding of it, then the reality of how it�s a business and entertainment vehicle, and one can be a professional sceptic. Before you become too cynical, you circle back to the roots of it all because you still care, and want generations after us to care and have a foundation of why it matters. That�s what Howard has done. Thanks for preserving these essays with 25 years of perspective to see what remains relevant and important, and even surprises you as something perhaps forgotten but now cherished. It�s always a good default to wonder �What Would Vin Scully Say?� To know that Trevor Bauer ain�t walking back through that door. And always pluralize RBIs.�
- Tom Hoffarth, author, Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully.
