The Best Team Money Can Buy

July 1, 2015

The Los Angeles Dodgers have not won a world series since 1988. After the sale of the team to Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Baseball Management in 2012, the newly run organization was poised to build a winning team. Sportswriter Knight (ESPN Magazine) provides an in-depth look at the 2013 Los Angeles Dodgers organization. She illustrates the roller-coaster ride of the McCourt family, who bought the Dodgers from NewsCorp in 2004 and filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and how the reorganized team came into fruition. Included are thorough explanations of the 2011-12 ownership dispute and how Major League Baseball notoriously seized control of the team from the estranged McCourt family and then sold it for more than $2 billion. Knight personalizes the narrative by relating stories of managers and players. From a heartwarming interview with pitcher Clayton Kershaw to the signing of Cuban prospect Yasiel Puig, Knight engages the reader with a compelling, well-examined book that exemplifies what occurs behind the scenes. VERDICT A must-read for fans of the Dodgers and all Los Angeles sports teams. Knight's undercover work is like none other. Dodger fanatics, this book is for you.--Gus Palas, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL

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