The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse (39 page)

Hanley Ramirez is hit by a pitch in the first inning of Game 1 of the 2013 NLCS. Ramirez, the Dodgers’ best hitter, suffered a broken rib on the play, all but ending the club’s World Series hopes.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez pose with posters that Cardinal fans created to make fun of them before Game 6 of the 2013 NLCS at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Dodgers would lose 9–0 and be eliminated hours later.
(Molly Knight)

Ned Colletti (left) and Don Mattingly address the media after the Dodgers were eliminated two wins shy of the World Series in 2013. After the club failed to mention that his option for 2014 had vested a week earlier, a frustrated Mattingly told reporters he did not want to manage a team where he was not wanted.
(AP Photo: Nick Ut)

Clayton Kershaw celebrates his first career no-hitter against the Rockies on June 18, 2014. He struck out fifteen and walked none, missing a perfect game only because of an error.
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp celebrate after Kemp hit an RBI single to beat the Braves on July 30, 2014. The all-star outfielders had a tumultuous relationship in their two seasons as teammates.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Clayton Kershaw (left) and A. J. Ellis celebrate the Dodgers’ clinching the NL West for the second straight season after beating the Giants on September 24, 2014. San Francisco would enter the playoffs as a wild card and go on to win the World Series.
(Molly Knight)

Clayton Kershaw reacts to giving up a three-run home run to Matt Adams in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the 2014 NLDS. The Cardinals would win the game 3–2, and eliminate the Dodgers. It was the second time in two years St. Louis beat Kershaw to end the Dodgers’ season.
(Jeff Curry,
USA Today
Sports)

Andrew Friedman (right) speaks with ESPN reporter Mark Saxon in the Dodgers’ dugout before a game versus the Padres in San Diego on April 24, 2015.
(Molly Knight)

T
his 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.