{"product_id":"the-last-innocents-lp-9780062466754","title":"The Last Innocents LP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for the 2017 PEN\/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom an award-winning journalist comes the riveting odyssey of seven Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s--a chronicle of a team, a game, and a nation in transition during one of the most exciting and unsettled decades in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLegendary 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. \u003cem\u003eThe Last Innocents\u003c\/em\u003e 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. Bringing into focus the high drama of their World Series appearances from 1962 to 1972 and their pivotal games, Michael Leahy explores these men's interpersonal relationships and illuminates the triumphs, agonies, and challenges each faced individually.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeahy 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. While the nation around them changed, these players each experienced a personal and professional metamorphosis that would alter public perceptions and their own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComprehensive and artfully crafted, \u003cem\u003eThe Last Innocents\u003c\/em\u003e is an evocative and riveting portrait of a pivotal era in baseball and modern America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeahy, Michael:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eMichael Leahy is the author of \u003cem\u003eHard Lessons \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eWhen Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback, \u003c\/em\u003e which was described by \u003cem\u003eGQ Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e as \"the best sports book of the year...easily the most fully formed portrait of Jordan ever written and one of the best sports books in recent memory.\" His award-winning career has included thirteen years as a writer for \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e. Leahy's 2005 \u003cem\u003eWashington Post Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e story about a California sperm donor won the Society of Professional Journalists' \u003cem\u003eSigma Delta Chi\u003c\/em\u003e Award for best magazine story of the year. His stories have been selected four times for the annual \u003cem\u003eBest American Sports Writing\u003c\/em\u003e anthologies. He lives outside Washington D.C.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Large Print","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844016869650,"sku":"9780062466754","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d0bf6278-3446-4048-b01f-1250752eff24.jpg?v=1737307102","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-last-innocents-lp-9780062466754","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}