Sign-In
Cart
Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger
Paperback
Biographies GeneralBaseball & Softball
Publisher Price: $22.95
ISBN13: 9781938532825
Publisher: August Publications
Published: Feb 4 2025
Pages: 340
Weight: 1.00
Height: 0.71 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
This first full-length biography of the pioneer covers Jim Junior Gilliam's role during important baseball transitions. An established star in the Negro Leagues, Gilliam followed Jackie Robinson in MLB's integration efforts. As both a Brooklyn Dodger and Los Angeles Dodger, Gilliam notched some of the final baseball highlights at Ebbets Field and then served as a face of the new Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jim Gilliam faced long odds throughout his life and had a knack for overcoming them. His father died when he was less than a year old. He was raised by his mother in segregated Nashville, Tennessee, during the Great Depression, dropping out of high school to play ball. He rode buses through the Jim Crow south as a member of the Nashville Black Vols and Baltimore Elite Giants, Negro Leagues teams in the 1940s. He spent two years with the Montreal Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers' top minor-league team, ostensibly because it was easier for the Dodgers to keep mediocre white talent on its big-league roster than face the scrutiny of fielding a team with five Black players. He persevered to win Rookie of the Year honors as part of a long career in the majors, becoming one of MLB's first Black coaches before tragically passing away right before the 1978 World Series.
On the field, Gilliam was truly the bridge between Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He recorded the last hit in Brooklyn Dodger history, scored a run in the final game at Ebbets Field, scored the first Dodger run in both the Los Angeles Coliseum and Dodger Stadium, and blasted the first home run in Dodger Stadium. He was also a notable bridge between MLB and the Negro Leagues: Gilliam is the only player to hit a home run in both the Negro League East-West All-Star Game (1950) and the Major League All-Star Game (1959) and is one of the few players to win both a Negro League Championship and a World Series.
Gilliam never commanded the spotlight yet was influential in the Dodgers reaching seven World Series, winning four, during his career. He never had a permanent position and was frequently the subject of trade rumors. In the meticulously researched and elegantly written Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger, Gilliam's life story and its important place in both MLB and Dodgers history is detailed while also providing valuable insights into the racial history of Nashville, the Negro Leagues, MLB and 1960s Los Angeles. Featured are interviews with the Dodgers Gilliam played alongside, played for and coached-Dick Tracewski, Bobby Valentine, Peter O'Malley, Steve Garvey-as well as a foreword from former Dodgers GM Fred Claire.
Also from
Dittmore, Stephen W.
Also in
Biographies General
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle and Generally Have
Rubin, Gretchen
Paperback
Bar Yarns and Manic-Depressive Mixtapes: Jim Walsh on Music from Minneapolis to the Outer Limits
Walsh, Jim
Hardcover
Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World
Olshaker, Mark
Peters, C. J.
Paperback
Through No Fault of My Own: A Girl's Diary of Life on Summit Avenue in the Jazz Age
Irvine, Coco
Paperback
From Here to the Great Unknown: Oprah's Book Club: A Memoir
Keough, Riley
Presley, Lisa Marie
Hardcover
A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon
Fedarko, Kevin
Hardcover
Undercover Junkie: Chasing Highs, Confronting Killers, and Unraveling in the Chaos
Cartwright, Brent
Hardcover
Covet the Comeback: How a Son of Greek Immigrants Found Success, Lost Everything, Then Built a Fashion Empire
Garkinos, Christos
Paperback
The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to his son: Perspectives, Ideology, and Wisdom
Rockefeller, J. D.
Paperback
Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty
Clinton, Hillary Rodham
Hardcover
We Will Be Jaguars (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Memoir of My People
Anderson, Mitch
Nenquimo, Nemonte
Hardcover
The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
Sobel, Dava
Hardcover
Undercover Junkie: Chasing Highs, Confronting Killers, and Unraveling in the Chaos
Cartwright, Brent
Paperback
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Sheldrake, Merlin
Paperback
I Am Maria: My Reflections and Poems on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home
Shriver, Maria
Hardcover
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend
Romney, Rebecca
Hardcover
When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines
Carter, Graydon
Hardcover
The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty
Bauerlein, Valerie
Hardcover
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Gwynne, S. C.
Paperback
What in the World?!: A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings
Morgan, Leanne
Hardcover
True Gretch: What I've Learned about Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between
Whitmer, Gretchen
Hardcover
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)
Lenz, Bethany Joy
Hardcover
Voice for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People
Lama, Dalai
Hardcover
Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark
Henion, Leigh Ann
Hardcover
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
Pember, Mary Annette
Hardcover
Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
Lankford, Andrea
Paperback
The Survivor: How I Made It Through Six Concentration Camps and Became a Nazi Hunter
Lewkowicz, Josef
Hardcover
Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition): Reese's Book Club: Advice from Dear Sugar
Strayed, Cheryl
Paperback