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Extra Innings: Fred Claire's Journey to City of Hope and Finding a World Championship Team
Fred Claire served 30 years as an executive with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the team’s Executive Vice President and general manager from 1987 until 1998. During his tenure, Claire earned a reputation for his integrity and for his fighting spirit that built what ultimately led to the team's last World Series championship in 1988. His drive and determination in the face of opposition and doubt from all sides became a defining trait not just of his time with the Dodgers, but of who he is as an individual. In the spring of 2015, Fred would again tap into his fighting spirit after being diagnosed with skin cancer that later migrated to his jaw. Again, the odds were against his survival, but Fred was determined. This time, he found his championship team at City of Hope National Medical center in Duarte, California. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, frontline research, and staffed by top oncologists, City of Hope was the perfect home base for Claire's treatment. Extra Innings highlights how both the landmark career of Fred Claire and the remarkable rise of City of Hope exhibit mutual endurance and give promise to those facing cancer diagnoses.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published July 7, 2020
8 people want to read
About the author
Tim Madigan
31 books100 followersTim wrote his first book in 1968 when he was eleven years old. Every week in the autumn of that year, he scribbled down his account of the latest University of Minnesota football game in a notebook. Sales were modest.
But a love of books, words and writing never left released him, leading from his small-town Minnesota upbringing to a career writing newspaper stories and eventually books that were more formally published and found slightly larger audiences.
After college at the University of North Dakota, Tim worked as a sportswriter at a small paper in that state. Then came the cop beat in Odessa, Texas, and feature writing at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. By the mid-1990s, Tim had become one of the most decorated newspaper reporters in recent Texas history (three times named the state’s top reporter), while writing about everything from sick children, to serial killers, cowboy poets, to his own experiences as a husband and father.
His first book, See No Evil: Blind Devotion and Bloodshed in David Koresh’s Holy War was published in 1993, followed eight years later by The Burning: Massacre, Destruction and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. In its review, the New York Times called The Burning, published by St. Martins in New York, “A powerful book, a harrowing case study made all the more so by Madigan’s skillful, clear-eyed telling of it.”
Tim’s 2006 book, I’m Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers, (Gotham/Penguin) reveals his life-altering friendship with Fred Rogers, which began in 1995 when he profiled the children’s icon for the Star-Telegram. In 2012, Tim published a second edition of I’m Proud of You under his own imprint, Ubuntu Books. The book continues to sell steadily, and inspire readers around the world. Tim also tells the story of his friendship with Mister Rogers in lectures around the country.
Fred Rogers was one of the first readers of Tim’s first novel, Every Common Sight, which was published by Ubuntu in February. It is the story of Wendell Smith, a hero of the Battle of the Bulge who came home to Texas with horrible memories of the battlefield, debilitating emotional trauma, and a secret, the one thing about the war he could not confide to the love of his life. The beautiful young woman Claire had a secret of her own. After a chance meeting, the two developed an unusual friendship of haunted survivors. But would the bond heal them, or destroy them both? The book has resonated deeply with early readers.
When not writing books or newspaper stories, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife, Catherine, being a dad, playing the guitar, coaching and playing ice hockey, and backpacking in the Canadian Rockies.
But a love of books, words and writing never left released him, leading from his small-town Minnesota upbringing to a career writing newspaper stories and eventually books that were more formally published and found slightly larger audiences.
After college at the University of North Dakota, Tim worked as a sportswriter at a small paper in that state. Then came the cop beat in Odessa, Texas, and feature writing at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. By the mid-1990s, Tim had become one of the most decorated newspaper reporters in recent Texas history (three times named the state’s top reporter), while writing about everything from sick children, to serial killers, cowboy poets, to his own experiences as a husband and father.
His first book, See No Evil: Blind Devotion and Bloodshed in David Koresh’s Holy War was published in 1993, followed eight years later by The Burning: Massacre, Destruction and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. In its review, the New York Times called The Burning, published by St. Martins in New York, “A powerful book, a harrowing case study made all the more so by Madigan’s skillful, clear-eyed telling of it.”
Tim’s 2006 book, I’m Proud of You: My Friendship With Fred Rogers, (Gotham/Penguin) reveals his life-altering friendship with Fred Rogers, which began in 1995 when he profiled the children’s icon for the Star-Telegram. In 2012, Tim published a second edition of I’m Proud of You under his own imprint, Ubuntu Books. The book continues to sell steadily, and inspire readers around the world. Tim also tells the story of his friendship with Mister Rogers in lectures around the country.
Fred Rogers was one of the first readers of Tim’s first novel, Every Common Sight, which was published by Ubuntu in February. It is the story of Wendell Smith, a hero of the Battle of the Bulge who came home to Texas with horrible memories of the battlefield, debilitating emotional trauma, and a secret, the one thing about the war he could not confide to the love of his life. The beautiful young woman Claire had a secret of her own. After a chance meeting, the two developed an unusual friendship of haunted survivors. But would the bond heal them, or destroy them both? The book has resonated deeply with early readers.
When not writing books or newspaper stories, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife, Catherine, being a dad, playing the guitar, coaching and playing ice hockey, and backpacking in the Canadian Rockies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 6, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: YOU ALWAYS EVALUATE SOMEBODY BY HOW THEY TREAT THE LEAST PERSON IN THE ROOM
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I am a born and raised Dodger fan. I was born in Brooklyn to Dodger loving parents… and our family actually moved the exact same time to Los Angeles right along with our “BELOVED-BUMS”! As an old Grandpa now… I conservatively estimate that I have read at least 500-700+ baseball books in my lifetime. (Many reviewed on this site)… if you wonder why I’m starting my review of “Extra Innings*… with this personal information… it’s to try make a drastic… comparative… heretofore… impossible personal statement regarding this book.
I bought this book to read about the Dodgers and Fred Claire… the relatively low keyed… former sportswriter… former Dodger marketing executive… who shockingly became the general manager of one of the most storied franchises in all of sports… in an utter surprise… and dismay to many fans and industry pundits. He became general manager as a byproduct of the infamous Al Campanis… idiotic statement regarding “the lack of essentials” of African Americans for management and executive positions in baseball. Adding insult to injury (if possible) the statement was made on the 40th anniversary (April 6, 1987) of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Claire was hired when Campanis was fired and everyone thought it was just for a year. I will get back to the baseball side of the book in a few minutes…
Because the point I’m making about the book… the baseball portion became the second or third most poignant portion of the book. I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime… but I was almost disappointed when the story went back to baseball because… as Fred Claire in his later years… faced a life and death… and a quality of life battle with jaw and neck cancer. In telling Fred’s battle with cancer… his battle in the literary telling of this story… almost takes second in the telling of the story… and putting… in my shocked opinion… the Dodger story a distant third! I never would have thought that possible.
So what… may you ask… could possibly make me so humanly… and literarily… flabbergasted??? It’s the story of **CITY-OF-HOPE-MEDICAL-CENTER** in Duarte, California!! **THE-CITY-OF-HOPE** (If you are human… and have a loving heart… you will only want to put their name in capitals also after reading this book!) Fred’s late life battle with cancer… did not look promising… until he went to **CITY-OF-HOPE**. This wonderfully unique book… even goes back to the founding of **CITY-OF-HOPE** over a hundred years ago. It originally was two tents to humanly treat homeless tuberculosis victims who were literally dying in the streets alone. As the hospital grew… eventually becoming one of the leading cancer science and discovery medical centers… right in the same buildings as patients being treated. One of the early leaders Samuel H. Golter stated: “I became aware of an unaccountable ‘something’ in the air. Before too long I had identified the mysterious element as a spirit of kindness and goodwill which was manifested toward the patients to a degree that was unprecedented in my experience… the founders and supporters of the sanatorium were determined to preserve the dignity of suffering people.”
That early G-d sent dedication and environment… has only grown… and grown… in the years since. I must add another personal note. I am a totally blessed… thankful… seventeen-year… brain tumor survivor… and to read about every doctor at **THE-CITY-OF-HOPE**… every nurse… every admin person… and even… AND I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE… you will read it in this gloriously written book… EVEN THE VALET PARKING GUY… who said to a new patient: “Parking is free your first time here, and I just want you to know you’re in the right place. We’re going to take care of you!” As a human being… I felt almost tearful at times… happy as can be… that with such top to bottom… empathy… humility… love… friendship… with doctors and patients and every one in between… cannot do anything but lift you spirits… at a time when the world is in such a mess.
Don’t worry you baseball fans… who may have planned to buy this book… for baseball. There is baseball in this book. How Fred helped build the team of overachievers… with true spirit… camaraderie… and clubhouse chemistry. There are some great… great Kirk Gibson stories… But… (And this is really me saying this Mom!) Thank goodness they are a minor part of the book!
One of my favorite quotes in the book… was from Dr. Thomas Gernon of **CITY-OF-HOPE**… and will live within me way after I finished this book. “I ALWAYS REMEMBER MY MOM SAYING YOU ALWAYS EVALUATE SOMEBODY BY HOW THEY TREAT THE LEAST PERSON IN THE ROOM. YOU NEVER PUT YOURSELF ABOVE ANYBODY.”
Another thing I was wrong about. When I received this book… I went wow… what a short book two-hundred-two pages… that’s a little expensive for such a short book. Half way through the book I felt totally foolish for that original misguided thought. The emotions in this book touch… everything that is supposed to be good in a human being!
I sincerely don’t know how to end this review… because of how deeply I was touched… and above all… I had been searching… without knowing it… for some type of sign… that this ugly world… could change with some type of magical light of good… and true compassion… not archaic catch phrases. And I now can see a glimmer of that light… and it’s in Duarte, California… at the **CITY-OF-HOPE**!
P.S. There are also some baseball stories.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a born and raised Dodger fan. I was born in Brooklyn to Dodger loving parents… and our family actually moved the exact same time to Los Angeles right along with our “BELOVED-BUMS”! As an old Grandpa now… I conservatively estimate that I have read at least 500-700+ baseball books in my lifetime. (Many reviewed on this site)… if you wonder why I’m starting my review of “Extra Innings*… with this personal information… it’s to try make a drastic… comparative… heretofore… impossible personal statement regarding this book.
I bought this book to read about the Dodgers and Fred Claire… the relatively low keyed… former sportswriter… former Dodger marketing executive… who shockingly became the general manager of one of the most storied franchises in all of sports… in an utter surprise… and dismay to many fans and industry pundits. He became general manager as a byproduct of the infamous Al Campanis… idiotic statement regarding “the lack of essentials” of African Americans for management and executive positions in baseball. Adding insult to injury (if possible) the statement was made on the 40th anniversary (April 6, 1987) of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Claire was hired when Campanis was fired and everyone thought it was just for a year. I will get back to the baseball side of the book in a few minutes…
Because the point I’m making about the book… the baseball portion became the second or third most poignant portion of the book. I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime… but I was almost disappointed when the story went back to baseball because… as Fred Claire in his later years… faced a life and death… and a quality of life battle with jaw and neck cancer. In telling Fred’s battle with cancer… his battle in the literary telling of this story… almost takes second in the telling of the story… and putting… in my shocked opinion… the Dodger story a distant third! I never would have thought that possible.
So what… may you ask… could possibly make me so humanly… and literarily… flabbergasted??? It’s the story of **CITY-OF-HOPE-MEDICAL-CENTER** in Duarte, California!! **THE-CITY-OF-HOPE** (If you are human… and have a loving heart… you will only want to put their name in capitals also after reading this book!) Fred’s late life battle with cancer… did not look promising… until he went to **CITY-OF-HOPE**. This wonderfully unique book… even goes back to the founding of **CITY-OF-HOPE** over a hundred years ago. It originally was two tents to humanly treat homeless tuberculosis victims who were literally dying in the streets alone. As the hospital grew… eventually becoming one of the leading cancer science and discovery medical centers… right in the same buildings as patients being treated. One of the early leaders Samuel H. Golter stated: “I became aware of an unaccountable ‘something’ in the air. Before too long I had identified the mysterious element as a spirit of kindness and goodwill which was manifested toward the patients to a degree that was unprecedented in my experience… the founders and supporters of the sanatorium were determined to preserve the dignity of suffering people.”
That early G-d sent dedication and environment… has only grown… and grown… in the years since. I must add another personal note. I am a totally blessed… thankful… seventeen-year… brain tumor survivor… and to read about every doctor at **THE-CITY-OF-HOPE**… every nurse… every admin person… and even… AND I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE… you will read it in this gloriously written book… EVEN THE VALET PARKING GUY… who said to a new patient: “Parking is free your first time here, and I just want you to know you’re in the right place. We’re going to take care of you!” As a human being… I felt almost tearful at times… happy as can be… that with such top to bottom… empathy… humility… love… friendship… with doctors and patients and every one in between… cannot do anything but lift you spirits… at a time when the world is in such a mess.
Don’t worry you baseball fans… who may have planned to buy this book… for baseball. There is baseball in this book. How Fred helped build the team of overachievers… with true spirit… camaraderie… and clubhouse chemistry. There are some great… great Kirk Gibson stories… But… (And this is really me saying this Mom!) Thank goodness they are a minor part of the book!
One of my favorite quotes in the book… was from Dr. Thomas Gernon of **CITY-OF-HOPE**… and will live within me way after I finished this book. “I ALWAYS REMEMBER MY MOM SAYING YOU ALWAYS EVALUATE SOMEBODY BY HOW THEY TREAT THE LEAST PERSON IN THE ROOM. YOU NEVER PUT YOURSELF ABOVE ANYBODY.”
Another thing I was wrong about. When I received this book… I went wow… what a short book two-hundred-two pages… that’s a little expensive for such a short book. Half way through the book I felt totally foolish for that original misguided thought. The emotions in this book touch… everything that is supposed to be good in a human being!
I sincerely don’t know how to end this review… because of how deeply I was touched… and above all… I had been searching… without knowing it… for some type of sign… that this ugly world… could change with some type of magical light of good… and true compassion… not archaic catch phrases. And I now can see a glimmer of that light… and it’s in Duarte, California… at the **CITY-OF-HOPE**!
P.S. There are also some baseball stories.
August 2, 2020
Former Dodger executive Fred Claire's series of treatments for cancer and its complications, and his near-miraculous recovery at City of Hope medical center (he was the only patient to survive a clinical trial), is the heart of this story, but there's some Dodgers history in here too for the fans, particularly about the 1988 World Series-winning team that Claire built. The doctors, however, are the "world championship team" of the subtitle. An honest, sobering look at cancer's toll.
June 7, 2022
This book had so much heart. It tells of an amazing couple, the Claires, who lived in the baseball world and the world of cancer. The City of Hope takes an equal starring role in the narrative of life being life and people who care being people who care. Tim Madigan weaves into and out of those near and dear to the Claires in an inspiring way. This was a book which left me thankful to belong to the human family.
January 18, 2024
A great read with stories focusing on a variety of different types of situations, but ultimately extremely inspiring. Fred's story can be viewed by so many as the definition of motivational and shows how one should view the battles they may face. The book was very easy to read through and I'm happy I added it to my collection!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews