Buzzie and the Bull: A GM, a Clubhouse Favorite, and the Dodgers' 1965 Championship Season

by Ken LaZebnik, Bob Bavasi (Foreword by)

Overview

Buzzie and the Bull is the story of two men, a championship baseball season, and a country on the brink in 1965.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496238634
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	04/01/2024
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ken LaZebnik is a writer best known for his work in television, film, and theater. Among his many credits are writing and producing the television series Touched by an Angel and co-writing (with Garrison Keillor) the screenplay for the film A Prairie Home Companion. A lifelong baseball fan, LaZebnik co-founded (with Steve Lehman) the Minneapolis Review of Baseball, which later became Elysian Fields Quarterly. Bob Bavasi is an attorney, longtime Minor League club owner, and principal with Bavasi Sports Partners.
 

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Foreword by Bob Bavasi
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Winter of 1964
2. Spring Training
3. April
4. May
5. June
6. July
7. August
8. September
9. October
10. Winter
11. 1966 and Beyond
Epilogue: Two Lives, One Team
Sources

Editorial Reviews

Buzzie Bavasi was an unparalleled practitioner in the increasingly lost art of finding player talent that statistics fail to disclose, which helped win a pennant when he found it in Al Ferrara.”—Bob Fontaine Jr., scouting director for the Toronto Blue Jays and former scout for the San Diego Padres, California Angels, and Seattle Mariners

Bob Fontaine Jr.

To memorable duos in baseball history—Ruth and Gehrig, Spahn and Sain, and Abbott and Costello—now add Buzzie and the Bull. In Ken LaZebnik’s masterful hands this unlikely pairing of canny executive and rambunctious player comes alive with flair and fluency.”—Lee Lowenfish, author of the award-winning biography Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman

Lee Lowenfish

Buzzie’s ability to see intangibles gave him extraordinary insight into a player’s makeup, as evidenced in this delightful read of Al Ferrara, who played eight years in the big leagues.”—Mike Port, former vice president and general manager of the California Angels and the Boston Red Sox

Mike Port

"A fun, quick read that fans of the Dodgers will enjoy."—Lance Smith, Guy Who Reviews Sports Books

Guy Who Reviews Sports Books - Lance Smith

09/01/2020

The 1965 Dodgers season was both the most trying and satisfactory, and, perhaps the most emblematic of all. Sportswriter Lazebnik focuses on two of the catalysts: general manager Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi and journeyman outfielder Al "the Bull" Ferrara. The book highlights how Bavasi's sly maneuverings and careful handling of his players propelled the Dodgers to the championship. Lazebnik also insists that Ferrara, a reprobate in the best of ways, kept the team loose and provided much-needed levity during this tumultuous season. The 1965 Dodger season was underscored by the exemplary pitching of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, and many of the games were decided by a single run as the Dodgers were not a strong offensive team. Highlights of the book are the stories of how Ferrara lived the good life along the Sunset Strip, while still giving 100 percent on the field when called upon. VERDICT A wonderful exploration of a single baseball season told with great verve and exceptional research augmented by hours of interviews with Ferrara himself and numerous other baseball luminaries.—Brian Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM

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