Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between

By Eric Nusbaum

Book Overview

The "scrupulously detailed" (Los Angeles Times) story of how the fight to build Dodgers Stadium, and transform Los Angeles into a big league city, came at the cost of everyday Angelenos
Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.
Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now LA would be getting a different sort of utopian fantasy -- a glittering, ultra-modern stadium.
But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood's families -- including one, the Ar chigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation - and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541742214
• ISBN13: 9781541742215
• Release Date: March 2020
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Stealing Home is a perfect LA story

I found Stealing home to be a delightful read. Any fan of baseball history should indulge as it dives into the stories of Los Angeles and popular culture at the time, specifically the relationship and importance of baseball within our culture. Specifics sites of early Los Angeles, such as historic streets, theaters are referenced, as are the families of Angelenos whose lives were affected by the evacuation of Chavez Ravine. Incredible read if you are a fan of baseball, the Dodgers, or the city of Los Angeles, Nusbaum paints a great picture of the truths of the time.