THE LAST GOOD SEASON: BROOKLYN, THE DODGERS, AND THEIR FINAL PENNANT RACE TOGETHER (2003)

p>In this exhaustively detailed tome, Shapiro recounts the inspiring last hurrah of the 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers, an aging dynasty that managed to squeeze one last pennant out of banged-up stars like Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. He also gives a blow-by-blow of the fiery backstage battle between owner Walter O'Malley and New York public-works czar Robert Moses over building a new Brooklyn ballpark. The ending is well known: O'Malley breaks Brooklyn's heart by moving the team to L.A. Shapiro lovingly re-creates one of baseball's -- and New York's -- most poignant tales by describing a city in transition and a group of heroes in the twilight of their careers.