
The Last Innocents
The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers
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Narrated by:
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Joe Barrett
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By:
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Michael Leahy
About this listen
Legendary Dodgers Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Dick Tracewski, and Tommy Davis encapsulated 1960s America: white and black, Jewish and Christian, wealthy and working class, pro-Vietnam and anti-war, golden boy and seasoned veteran. The Last Innocents is a thoughtful, technicolor portrait of these seven players - friends, mentors, confidants, rivals, and allies - and their storied team that offers an intriguing look at a sport and a nation in transition.
Michael Leahy places these men's lives within the political and social maelstrom that was the era when the conformity of the 1950s gave way to demands for equality and rights. Increasingly frustrated over a lack of real bargaining power and an oppressive management who meddled in their personal affairs, the players shared an uneasy relationship with the team's front office. This contention mirrored the discord and uncertainty generated by myriad changes rocking the nation: the civil rights movement, political assassinations, and growing hostility to the escalation of the Vietnam War.
©2016 Michael Leahy (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Not what I was expecting... at all
- By keith on 04-16-17
By: Jeff Silverman
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Gehrig & the Babe
- The Friendship and the Feud
- By: Tony Castro
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Gehrig & The Babe: The Friendship and the Feud is the emotionally gripping, electrifying account of the relationship of legendary New York Yankee icons Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth and the tragic behind-the-scenes fight that bitterly tore them apart until Gehrig was dying of a horrific disease. Written by historian and best-selling author Tony Castro, this critically acclaimed book tells their remarkable story that has often been lost between the pages of individual biographies of the American icons.
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Outstanding biography of two of baseball’s immortals.
- By Rachel Falk on 03-23-25
By: Tony Castro
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The Bad Guys Won
- A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform - and Maybe the Best
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Jeff Pearlman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.
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Maybe 3.5
- By Lifeisshort on 02-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
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The Year of the Pitcher
- Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age
- By: Sridhar Pappu
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The Year of the Pitcher is the story of the remarkable 1968 baseball season, which culminated in one of the greatest World Series contests ever, with the Detroit Tigers coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Cardinals in Game Seven of the World Series. In 1968, two remarkable pitchers would dominate the game as well as the broadsheets. One was black, the other white. Bob Gibson, together with the St. Louis Cardinals, embodied an entire generation's hope for integration at a heated moment in American history. Denny McLain, his adversary, was a crass self-promoter.
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Misleading Title
- By Paul on 01-25-19
By: Sridhar Pappu
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Season of '42
- Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball's Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War
- By: Jack Cavanaugh
- Narrated by: Robert C. Brewster
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Big league baseball would seem to have been a hard sell in 1942. World War II was not going well for the United States in the Pacific and not much better in Europe. Moreover, the country was in drastically short supply of ships, planes, submarines, torpedoes, and other war materials, and Uncle Sam needed men, millions of them, including those from 21 through 35 years of age who had been ordered to register for the draft, the age range of most big league baseball players.
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Great story, narration is like fingernails on a chalkboard!
- By S. Ryan on 10-23-19
By: Jack Cavanaugh
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Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic
- Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's
- By: Jason Turbow
- Narrated by: Jason Turbow
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The Oakland A's of the early 1970s were the most transformative team in baseball history. Never before had an entire organization so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its outlandish behavior and business decisions - or with its indisputable winning record: five straight division titles and three straight championships. The high drama that played out on the field was exceeded only by the drama in the clubhouse and front office.
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Great insight, funny story on the A's!
- By Jay T on 08-05-21
By: Jason Turbow
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The Teammates
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Tate Donovan
- Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The Teammates is the profoundly moving story of four great baseball players who have made the passage from sports icons - when they were young and seemingly indestructible - to men dealing with the vulnerabilities of growing older. At the core of the audiobook is the friendship of these four very different men - Boston Red Sox teammates Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Ted Williams - who remained close for more than 60 years.
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The clarity of the story
- By Robert Phillips on 08-13-24
By: David Halberstam
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The Boys of Summer
- The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field, Covering the Jackie Robinson Dodgers, and What's Happened to Everybody Since
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a story about young men who learned to play baseball during the 1930s and 1940s, and then went on to play for one of the most exciting major-league ball clubs ever fielded, the team that broke the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. It is a story by and about a sportswriter who grew up near Ebbets Field, and who had the good fortune in the 1950s to cover the Dodgers for the Herald Tribune. This is the story about what happened to the team when their glory days were behind them.
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Classic book!
- By Christopher Arthur on 11-19-17
By: Roger Kahn
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Ball Four
- The Final Pitch
- By: Jim Bouton
- Narrated by: Jim Bouton
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
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Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
- By Byron on 08-09-12
By: Jim Bouton
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October 1964
- By: David Halberstam
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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David Halberstam, an avid sports writer with an investigative reporter’s tenacity, superbly details the end of the 15-year reign of the New York Yankees in October 1964. That October found the Yankees going head-to-head with the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series pennant. Expertly weaving the narrative threads of both teams’ seasons, Halberstam brings the major personalities on the field - from switch-hitter Mickey Mantle to pitcher Bob Gibson - to life. Using the teams’ subcultures, Halberstam also analyzes the cultural shifts of the '60s.
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an excellent baseball book
- By Joe H on 12-31-18
By: David Halberstam
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The Glory of Their Times
- The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
- By: Lawrence S. Ritter
- Narrated by: Lawrence S. Ritter, Fred Snodgrass, Sam Crawford, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
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Baseball's Golden Age comes alive through the voices of men who were there. Selected from the original tapes on which Lawrence S. Ritter based his classic book of baseball history, The Glory of Their Times is a collection of wonderful tales that paint a vivid and evocative picture of a lively young America and the giants who starred on her ballfields, legends like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and many others.
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A Game Winning, Grand Slam!!!
- By Richard on 09-28-05
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The Soul of Baseball
- A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The Soul of Baseball is as much the story of Buck O'Neil as it is the story of baseball. Driven by a relentless optimism and his two great passions - for America's pastime and for jazz, America's music - O'Neil played solely for love. In an era when greedy, steroid-enhanced athletes have come to characterize professional ball, Posnanski offers a salve for the damaged spirit: the uplifting life lessons of a truly extraordinary man who never missed an opportunity to enjoy and love life.
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Buck O’Neil fan!!
- By scott on 04-24-20
By: Joe Posnanski
What listeners say about The Last Innocents
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-20-18
Excellent
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story captures the story of the Dodgers and the country in the 1960s. I also really enjoyed the narration.
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- J.B.
- 11-16-22
If I wasn’t already a Dodger fan. I would be now!
Great accounting of the turbulent 60s and how the great Los Angeles Dodgers dealt with the changing world. The best books provide insight and reveal previously unknown information. This book checks those boxes.
As a longtime Dodger fan, I knew the names and some of the stories, but now I know even more, and with a greater understanding and appreciation.
Sandy Koufax, we already know and love. But the details about Wes Parker and Maury Wills were so revealing, and humanizing! They’re heroes now, 60 years later.
And then there is narrator Joe Barrett. I’m sure not everyone appreciates his unique voice and delivery, but give the man a chance and he’ll become a favorite. He is just so good! For me at least, if he’s reading it, I’ll listen.
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- David Siders
- 05-07-18
Lend It An Ear
To all septuagenarians, baseball enthusiasts, and Dodger fanatics, I urge you to turn your ears to this masterpiece.
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- Matthew Tsien
- 08-07-18
Insights Into the Sixties Dynasty
Loved this engrossing narrative of the many key players in the 1960's Dynastic L.A. Dodgers
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- James
- 01-30-23
Great listen!
Other than being a sports fan, I had no attachment to the subject matter, but could not wait to get back to this book. I cared about the subjects the book centered on.
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- John Snetsinger
- 01-16-21
The Way It Really Was
This is a terrific book that focuses on the appealing Major League Baseball team in Los Angles during the 1960s. They had great fan appeal in a city in the early stages of welcoming a winning major league team that moved to the 'City of Angels' in 1958. They not only had a great winning record, but they also had the single greatest pitcher of the decade, perhaps the greatest star in the history of baseball, one Sandy Koufax. Other great stars included Maury Wills and Don Drysdale. The team broke all previous attendance records, announcer Vin Scully cultivated a fan following in the millions throughout southern California. The ownership reaped millions upon millions of dollars, yet in the period before free agency, players were forever 'owned' by the team that signed them, so the players had no option but to accept the contract offered them by the ownership. Sadly, the gap between players who wanted to be paid a reasonable salary and ownership having complete control in that the players had to accept low salaries that they were offered by ownership. As the team performed well on the field, players were, in some cases, just getting by. Villains include owner Walter O'Malley, general managers 'Buzzy' Bavasi and Al Campanis and Fresco Thompson.
This is a great read for fans who love baseball, particularly in the 1960s and who identified with the Dodgers or remember the great teams of that decade when MLB was THE national sport in America.
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- Steve Adams
- 02-05-20
Great baseball history expertly narrated
Michael Leahy does a fantastic job in compiling his history of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the tumultuous 60's. Joe Barret's fantastic and subtle narration of Leahy's gripping history of the Dodgers the stories of players like Koufax, Wills, and Wes Parker were compelling, to say the least. If you enjoy Roger Khan and David Halberstrams baseball books, you will love this.
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- PJ
- 05-24-17
Reliving my youth
I was a tall kid that just started playing Little League. I could catch a ball so my coach placed me at first base. I watched Wes Parker play every chance I got. TV, listened to Vin Scully on my transistor and followed the team. This book brought those precious memories flooding back. Koufax, Drysdale, Wills, Toborg and so many others. Historic events and the Los Angeles Dodgers, what could be better?
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jerry Miller
- 10-31-24
Those were the days
It was a great to listen to the story of the Dodgers I grew up with. Hearing the names and their life story mostly I knew nothing about. Having been a Dodger fan all my life I would highly recommend this book.
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