Penguin Power: Dodger Blue, Hollywood Lights, and My One-in-a-Million Big League Journey

by Ron Cey, Ken Gurnick

Mention "The Penguin" to any Dodgers fan and you're sure to evoke not just memories of the beloved third baseman Ron Cey, but also of the glory years of modern Dodgers baseball, a rollicking run through the '70s and '80s highlighted by the loquacious Tommy Lasorda, Fernandomania, a historic infield anchored by Cey, and an unforgettable 1981 World Series title.

In Penguin Dodger Blue, Hollywood Lights, and a One-in-a-Million Big League Journey, "The Penguin" Ron Cey and veteran Dodgers scribe Ken Gurnick take fans on an amazing ride from Cey's formative years in the Pacific Northwest through his stardom on and off the field in Los Angeles and beyond.

As part of the longest running infield in MLB history, six-time All Star and 1981 co-World Series MVP Cey joined Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Bill Russell to help the Dodgers triumph after years of postseason heartbreak, and bring the first World Series back to Los Angeles since Sandy Koufax and the Boys of Summer of 1965.

Featuring charming stories from Cey's time in a memorable clubhouse alongside Dodger legends Lasorda, Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela, with Vin Scully and Jaime JarrÍn in the booth, as well as tales of the life of a star during a magical time in Los Angeles, Penguin Power is a must-read for fans of an unforgettable era of Dodgers baseball.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 13, 2023

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ron Cey was part of the infield combination that played the most number of games together for one team. With Cey at third base, Bill Russel at shortstop, Davey Lopes at second base and Steve Garvey at first base, this foursome played together nearly nine complete seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Each one of them was an all-star and Cey talks about his journey to the big leagues in this memoir.

The best part of this book was Cey’s candor. He wasn’t afraid to drop some criticism or share bad experiences with teammates, especially the other three infielders mentioned above. This is also true of his coaches, managers and front office personnel. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a book where he harps on the negatives – indeed, most of the stories are positive and at times funny. It just was refreshing to see that when he sensed something wasn’t right, he wasn’t afraid to call it like he saw it. The best example of this was his experience with former Dodger GM Al Campanis, whom Cey felt never was totally sold that Cey would be a key part of a winning Dodgers club, which he certainly became.

There are also times where Cey shows that he played in a different era than today as there is more analytical data in the decisions made by on-field managers as well as general managers. I’ll stop short of calling it sounding like he is yelling at people to get off his lawn, but he clearly doesn’t agree with some of this process today. To his credit, he gives counterarguments to what was done when he was a player. For example, when he mentioned that today, players are shuffled in and out of a lineup because of data showing strengths and weaknesses, that was done by communication between players and managers during the 1970’s and 1980’s when Cey played.

Overall, the book does read like a typical memoir with some extra name dropping since after all, this was Los Angeles and Cey was able to rub elbows with many celebrities. He also talks about his time with the Chicago Cubs, including their memorable 1984 season, but for the most part, both during and after his playing career, he certainly bleeds Dodger blue. Any Los Angeles fan will enjoy reading this book.

I wish to thank Triumph Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated 4 stars. Own on Kindle.

Very much enjoyed this memoir by Ron Cey, baseball 3rd baseman, who played for the LA Dodgers, Chicago Cubs & Oakland Athletics in the 1970's and 1980's. It felt like Cey was having a casual conversation with the reader.

Even though my love of baseball and the Dodgers began as a 9 year old in 1958, by the time Cey was in the Majors in the 1970's I had become a San Diego Padre fan (and still am....GO PADRES!). Padres now have a very competitive team but back then they were pitiful. Went to many games at Jack Murphy Stadium with 1st husband and friends. Even though we cheered on our Pads we also were treated to seeing some great teams: Dodgers, Cubs, Pittsburgh, Reds, etc and great players. And one of my favorite Dodgers was Ron Cey. And yes he did run (waddle) like a Penguin! And us females had quite a crush on Cey. If you look at the cover, he looked just like a cute Southern California surfer guy! Back then there were no huge jumbo video screens but we did read Sports Illustrated which featured articles and pictures.

Loved all his memories of players, coaches, and games. Even though he isn't in the MLB baseball Hall of Fame he was an All Star player and also MVP of a World Series game. His love of the game and his baseball heroes such as Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, etc shines through in his writing.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"If a guy hit a home run and Bob Gibson was on the mound, I wouldn’t suggest that he celebrate too much running around. Suggest not doing a bat flip at home plate and then make it around the bases in slow motion, then cross yourself when you get to home plate, and raise your hands, Because the next time you would be facing Gibson, you’d end up in the dirt".

"At the top of my heroes list is a Giants player. For me, Willie Mays was Mike Trout, Ken Griffey Jr., and Barry Bonds all rolled into one."

Cey also had chapter on his special friendship with the late Bill Buckner who unfortunately is remembered for an error that cost the Red Sox the World Series. I was glad he emphasized how that one play shouldn't color Buckner's career.

Also really loved his memories of Tommy Lasorada, a basball legend. His quotes on Lasorda's rants were priceless but I'm not including them as TOO many "F" bombs!

It's obvious to me that Ron Cey wasn't just a very talented player but he is also dedicated to his family. He calls his wife, Fran, One In A Million, and they've had a loving marriage since the early 1970's. The chapter on his wife, children and grandchildren was heartwarming. He doesn't get too much into his life with his parents other then to briefly mention that his childhood was somewhat dysfunctional.

The writing style of this memoir isn't as poetic as other sports authors such as Joe Posnanski or the late David Halberstam but I would still recommend this title to Dodger fans and all fans of baseball. Oh and I was really "stoked" to find out that Ron Cey was from Tacoma, Washington. He was born in 1948. I was born in 1949 at Tacoma General Hospital :)

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It took me right back to the beginning of my love for the Dodgers in 1977. My dad and I tuned in accidentally to the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees and that was it. Dodgers fans for life. We watched on television when the games were on, otherwise we listened to Vin Scully on my transistor radio. My favorite lineup of all time is: Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey in the infield; Baker, Monday and Smith in the outfield; Yeager behind home plate, and Hooton on the mound. I found this book both informative and funny. Cey writes like he's having a conversation with the reader. It was interesting to get Cey's perspective on how the game has changed over the years. The chapter on manager rants was hilarious.

Thanks, Ron Cey, for the look back to a simpler time in baseball.

[Benny The Bookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, and here is my honest review.

It was difficult for me to be unbiased in reviewing this book, but I will try. I have been a Dodger fan in the Midwest since I knew what baseball was. It was a joy to read the life story of one of my childhood heroes, the Penguin, Ron Cey. Penguin Power helped me relive those cherished childhood memories, and I thank Ron Cey and his co-writer Ken Gurnick for providing this.

I devoured this book in a few days as I was thoroughly entertained as I had the opportunity for a few hours to get a true feel of what it was like being on those memorable and historic Dodgers’ teams with Ron Cey and the help of his co-writer Ken Gurnick.

Being young while I idolized the Dodgers’ players in the seventies and early eighties and before social media, it was great to get the “tea” if you will of what was happening behind the scenes. There were some very funny anecdotes with Tommy Lasorda and other Dodgers told from the perspective of someone that was there.

My father would love this book. He retired to Florida from the Midwest so he could be near Vero Beach, just so he could be close to the Dodgers during spring training. He was heartbroken when the team moved their spring training to Arizona. I do remember about Holman Stadium there wasn’t an outfield fence. Also, how open to fans spring training was, where fans had almost unlimited access to the players of today and yesterday.

I loved the stories that Ron Cey shared of his time in baseball from college, the minors and his time with the Dodgers and the Cubs. You have here his recollections of his defeats and triumphs. No spoilers here, but I can still see my father screaming at the television when Reggie Jackson broke up a huge double play with his butt in the World Series.

Ron Cey was very candid and open at times with his relationship with his former teammates and where baseball was in the seventies and eighties compared to today, like the fight between players and owners.

The book excels when Ron is sharing little vignettes with us of his playing days in the MLB and those he played the game with. There is a terrific tribute to Bill Buckner that fans of the Cubs and the Dodgers will enjoy. Also, what I learned about one of my favorite players as a child, Steve Garvey, was honest and eye-opening, reminding us that baseball players as with the game itself is a game full of imperfection where the individual fails more than succeeds.

My one flaw was that at times, maybe this is true of baseball books in general, some of the prose became too stat driven. But this is only because I wanted to hear more human stories about the players and those that were a part of the Dodgers and Cubs franchises than cold statistics that could be found in any baseball almanac, or today probably googled.

In these pages, one thing became clear, Ron Cey was not just someone that played the game, but also was a fan of the game. He was a baseball player who had the opportunity to meet his own childhood heroes from the diamond. And with this book, we get to share this joy with him that he was able to live out his childhood dream of becoming a professional Major League ballplayer, a world that few of us will ever get to experience, except for the players, like the Penguin, that played the game.

[Michael Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than most baseball bio's. Cey comes off as a bright athlete who doesn't stoop to the low
hanging fruit of disrespecting the game or it's participants - an all too common occurrence in today's sports publishing world. You will learn something about baseball and Mr. Cey from this book, but don't expect too much. Entertaining read.

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first year that I really remember following baseball was 1984. I was four turning five and for the first time in fifteen years the Cubs had a chance to win the pennant. They did win the division but we all know that their curse was very much intact for another thirty two years after that. For the entire year my mom kept me a scrapbook with pictures and highlights of the entire team. I hadn’t started school yet, so it became an activity, that and turning into Cubs games every day at 1:20 pm. In the ‘80s all players had a nickname. It was a thing that made the game colorful, and to this day, those nicknames help me remember players. The Cubs ace pitcher was the Big Red Baron.The outfield had the Sarge and a backup utility player was the Grave Digger. Their infield included Ryno, Bull, and the Penguin. All those animal names appealed to my preschool self, and, even though Ryno was and still is my favorite player, I love penguins, probably because of the penguin scene in Mary Poppins. The five year old me did not know that Ron Cey had already enjoyed a ten year big league career as a member of the Dodgers. Until I started studying baseball history, I knew him as a member of the 1984 Cubs. When I discovered his baseball memoir, I knew it would be a must read as I continue to read about the game in the players’ own words.

Ron Cey comes from Tacoma, Washington. Like many athletes of his generation, he played three sports in high school. As he grew up, the only game he got to watch was baseball’s game of the week, and sometimes his family could catch Giants games on the radio. Ironically, Cey’s first baseball idol was Willie Mays because the Giants became his de facto home team. He also grew up rooting for Elgin Baylor because he also came from Washington and lead his school to the Final Four before signing with the Lakers. It was not until Vietnam and the draft lottery looked that Cey settled on baseball and signed to play at Washington St, assuring his student status and ensuring him a place in the national guard reserve so he would not have to ship out overseas. As a result, Cey matured as a ball player and person at Washington St and then became part of the Dodgers 1968 draft class, still considered one of the best drafts of all time. That draft produced eleven major league players, some of them enjoying careers on teams other than the Dodgers because with a farm system so loaded, not all promising prospects were guaranteed a spot on the major league team. In fact Cey moved to play third only because his future teammate Steve Garvey was also a first base prospect. That’s how stacked the Dodgers system was throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s, which lead to later success.

Cey notes that his home growing up was borderline dysfunctional. He writes little of his upbringing other than in relation to sports. It was not until he married his wife Fran the year he reached the big leagues that he saw how supportive a wholesome family could be. This was the 1970s, and inter-denominational marriage was beginning to become more common. Cey notes that his in-laws welcomed him to the family and became his biggest fans. Fran noted that her father at first had been skeptical because a baseball player’s future can be iffy; however, Fran stated that this guy was the only one she ever dated who was absolutely certain of his future. Sold. They’ve been together for over fifty years and still live in the same home in the Valley that they bought after his rookie year. With the Dodgers being family owned at the time, all players and their families were treated like family. It was a wholesome atmosphere, kids taking part in all pregame activities during both spring training and the regular season. After talking to players on other teams, Cey said that he had it best on the Dodgers who gave players the royal treatment, even with a team plane. This is in contrast to today when guys sign lucrative deals and don’t have to worry about finances for life. He says that he enjoyed his time better although he does not begrudge today’s players; the game is just different.

Cey appears humble. He does not have “enough material” for a book on his own life so he jumps around and discusses teammates, managers, and his entire experience. He cites Tommy Lasorda when as a minor league manager he paid for his players’ food money so they’d have where and what to eat. Lasorda came to the majors with his infield of Cey, Russell, Lopes, and Garvey and remained the Dodgers’ manager for over twenty years. Players like Bill Buckner and Fernando Valenzuela as well as broadcasters Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin received full chapters because they were that important to Cey’s career and to Dodger history overall. Whereas Buckner was Cey’s favorite teammate in both Los Angeles and Chicago, his infield teammates were the glue that held the team together. They enjoyed an eight and a half year run as a starting infield, the longest ever, which lead the team to four pennants and a World Series title in eight years. In today’s game of free agency and deals that price teams out of assembling quality teams, Cey believes that in the early days of free agency when owners wanted to lock guys into long term deals, that there was more loyalty and teams stayed together longer. By the 1980s this was no longer a guarantee, but that is when Cey joined the Cubs and stayed there for five years at the end of his career. Even two team loyalty is not a given any more and Cey preferred his time. He loved playing for the Dodgers and everything about Dodgertown and it’s history. That is why as a ball player he never considered a backup plan; he just wanted to play ball.

Today Cey and Fran still live in the Los Angeles area. Like many former players, he has enjoyed a post playing day role with the Dodgers and still helps out in spring training. I still remember his first as the Penguin who helped the Cubs win during my first true year as a fan. I am always interested in player memoirs because no two careers are the same. Whether it’s a player, coach, manager, broadcaster, or wife, I will be apt to read about their experiences with baseball just to see what has changed and remained the same. Cey began his career on the eve of the end of the reserve clause and the start of free agency. He experienced four work stoppages, including the one in 1981 that lead to the start of true free agency and a better future for new generations of ball players. Veterans at the time said they would gladly strike if it meant having more control of their careers and pension funds. Today’s players hardly need a pension fund, making all those millions. It doesn’t seem to matter to Ron Cey. He is the type who would have played for free, loving the game as much as he did. Yet, to me he was the Penguin who waddled like one but still hit for power but played his hardest. I’m just glad that those last five years were with the Cubs and with his teammates lead me to be a fan of this game.

4 stars

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 4 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: THE “PENGUIN” RON CEY IS THE GREATEST ALL-AROUND THIRD BASEMAN IN DODGER HISTORY!
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To be so emboldened to title my review as I have… I feel I owe potential readers why I feel qualified to make a statement like that… and for you to have at least an ounce of confidence in my declaration:

I was the third generation of my Brooklyn born family… and our family was absolute live and die… die hard Brooklyn Dodger fans… with our hallowed beloved idol… on and off the field… being Jackie Robinson. The unquestioned love of “OUR-BELOVED-BUMS”… and Jackie… has now been successfully… with heart and soul been passed down by me to two more generations… making five… if your fingers are too busy to add this up. The first big league game I ever went to… was at Ebbets Field on September 30, 1956 against the Pittsburgh Pirates… our “Bums”… had to win this game… to win the National League Pennant by one game…

NOTE: That was in the days of… you either won the National League or American League Pennant and earned the right to go to the World Series or you went home. Not like today… where it seems like every team other than the Russian Cosmonauts make the playoffs… and then uneducated (on true baseball history and statistics) babbling talking heads… make asinine comments such as Justin Turner has the most home-runs in Dodger playoff history… not even mentioning… that “THE DUKE OF FLATBUSH” SNIDER… has the most World Series Home-runs in National League history… ELEVEN… AND IS THE ONLY PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF BASEBALL TO HAVE TWO SEPARATE WORD SERIES WITH FOUR OR MORE HOME-RUNS ! Being that in Duke’s time there were only World Series not interminable levels of playoffs. By the way Turner had three World Series home-runs . I mention this… because from my first game in 1956 on I read every book on the history of the Dodgers and then obviously went to their games for the next sixty-seven years. So I know of what I speak!

Incidentally… the game I went to on September 30, 1956… though nobody knew at the time… WAS THE LAST REGULAR SEASON GAME… THE GREAT JACKIE ROBINSON EVER PLAYED… AND I WAS THERE!

You may wonder why thus far my comments tie to “THE PENGUIN” being a Dodger all-time great? That’s because it’s a major point of contention to Cey throughout this book… and some ways that Cey attacks the subject I agree with… but when “Mr. Old-School” Cey starts grabbing at straws… by all of a sudden… touting all the ridiculous new-fangled… get a Harvard Graduate who had a rich Mommy and Daddy get him through school and make up analytical statistics… that baseball somehow managed to succeed… without these ridiculous transgressions… and still remained The National Pastime for a hundred years… and now their main purpose is to solely make idiots like Dave Roberts… mismanage and lose games and especially playoff games.

One last thing… how dedicated was my family to “OUR-BOYS-OF-SUMMER”???? Our family moved from New York to Los Angeles the exact month and year as “OUR-BELOVED-BUMS”.

Cey knew from the time he was a child in the state of Washington that he wanted to be a Big League ballplayer… and everything he did was geared to accomplishing that. He shares his year round dedication… which was tough due to the weather in the Northwest obviously being different than what young aspiring ballplayers were blessed with in places like Florida and California among others. A very enjoyable part of the book… is when the Penguin shares who his childhood idols were. In basketball it was the otherworldly future Laker Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor… who led Seattle University to the final four… was the number one draft choice in the NBA… and probably saved the Laker franchise. **HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT NOW DODGER FANS!** Cey’s favorite baseball player was Willie Mays of the hated Giants. And amazingly Cey got to play against him years later… and become friends with him.

For me… with my Brooklyn background… one of the most touching and “classy” parts of the book… is the perpetual homage The Penguin pays to the entire history… class… and meaning of the Dodger history. He especially zeroes in on Jackie… Sandy… and the Dodger ownership during the O’Malley period. He very proudly states (numerous times) that he was an All-Star six times… a World Series champion… and I’ll never forget when he was the “TRI-MVP-IN-THE-1981 -WORLD-SERIES” after being scarily hit in the head by the flame throwing Yankee reliever Goose Gossage. If that happened today… with the concussion protocols he would be lucky to have been allowed to play for months.. and yet he just missed a game. (aided by one rain out.)

One very disappointing contradiction by the author… revolves around his rightfully claiming he’s and old-school guy and the way things have changed… but then… what seems very hypocritical to me… is when he’s trying to support his claim for being one of the best third baseman in all of baseball… he starts flailing with new age analytics… which he tries to act wide-eyed and innocent about… like… “wow”… look what I found… I must be better than I thought?!

Then he goes back to being “old-school” about show-boating bat flipping current players… and starts giving in that maybe it’s not that bad… but then jumps to this story about all-time bad-ass Bob Gibson…

“NOBODY WANTED TO EMBARRASS OR UPSTAGE ANYBODY BACK THEN. BECAUSE IF A GUY HIT A HOME RUN AND BOB GIBSON WAS ON THE MOUND, I WOULDN’T SUGGEST THAT HE CELEBRATE TOO MUCH RUNNING AROUND. I WOULD SUGGEST NOT DOING A BAT FLIP AT HOME PLATE AND MAKE IT AROUND THE BASES IN SLOW MOTION AND THEN CROSS YOURSELF WHEN YOU GET TO HOME PLATE AND RAISE YOUR HANDS TO THE SKY AND TIP YOUR HAT AND POINT TO PEOPLE IN THE LUXURY SUITE. BECAUSE THE NEXT TIME YOU WOULD BE FACING BOB GIBSON, YOU’D END UP IN THE DIRT, IF NOT THE HOSPITAL. WE CELEBRATED WHEN AND HOW IT WAS APPROPRIATE. MOSTLY WE’D DO IT IN THE CLUBHOUSE.”

There are wonderful detailed stories on Tommy LaSorda… and Fernando Valenzuela… and with another old-school… “new-age-Cey” contradiction when he discusses the player that I thought was a disgrace to all that is holy about the Dodger uniform and history… a guy I considered “THE VILLAGE IDIOT”… Yasiel Puig! The Penguin says…

“HE WASN’T FOCUSED. HE DIDN’T TAKE HIS JOB SERIOUSLY. AND HE INSISTED ON BEING THE CENTER OF ATTENTION, WHICH ALIENATED HIS TEAMMATES.”

“PUIG IS THE POSTER BOY FOR HOW IT CAN ALL GO TERRIBLY WRONG.”

In summary… this is a good book… with contradictions. Also on the very opening introduction page… Cey says he played fifteen seasons in the major leagues. He says it again in the middle of the book… yet on the absolute last page of the book in the ABOUT THE AUTHORS… it says… “He capped a 17-year Major League Baseball career”… my stats say he played 17 years… so I’d say that was a major editing problem.

[Stephen Dittmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up watching the 1970s Dodgers, so it was an honor for me to interview Ron Cey for my biography, Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger. As such, I was excited to read this. I appreciate Cey’s honesty about the state of baseball, his teammates, and, most importantly, his first-person account of his career. I recently toured the former Dodgertown (now the Jackie Robinson Training Complex) and could easily understand why Cey recalls the experience fondly. This was a fun read that will appeal to Dodgers fans from the 70s, like me.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I greatly enjoyed this biography by Ron Cey. It had all the insight you would want on the period - both what was going on behind the scenes as well as Cey's perspective on the Dodgers/baseball,teammates/games all these years later. In addition, Cey makes some interesting comments about how different MLB was at the time compared to what is happening with players today. He is very straightforward, gives honest opinions but doesn't spend time on the sensational recollections (such as pitcher Howe's substance abuse).

The book is fairly chronological but for the most part sticks with themes during the time. You won't have to skip through his family history or growing up in Washington - he begins the book with getting into the minors and ends it with his work with the Oakland A's. The lionshare of the book is spent during that golden era of the Dodgers: the infield that included Garvey, Russell, Lopes, and Cey in the 1970s. He goes into some interesting discussions about those players but you'll learn a lot less about others such as catcher Yeager or outfielder Guerrero. But he gives very honest opinions and thoughts and this feels like a book that is straight home truths rather than fanciful remembrances.

I was pleased to see some information about Vin Skully in there and certainly there is a lot about Lasorda and O'Malley - and how they ran the club like a family business. Cey did not always get along with e.g., O'Malley but he is very fair in what other players/owners/staff brought to the club and game in addition to their shortcomings. He is very fair and evenhanded in what is here, even about himself.

It was a great read: I was never bored and Cey has a great tone of voice throughout. You can hear his straightforward personality and it was fascinating to see names again that I had not heard since the late 1970s, when I attended/watched games as a 12 year old girl with my family (I can remember amusing my teacher on a class trip to a Dodger game by describing Steve Sax as "virile").

This is well worth the read. Fans and non fans alike, it really sets the stage and tells a tale about life in the 1970s, a second golden age of baseball (especially for the Dodgers) and about a team that took chances and ended up with quite a few accolades when those decisions paid off. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Jackie Trimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG - I was soooo excited when I won this from a Goodreads giveaway. Cey was MY PLAYER when I was a teen and die-hard Cubs fan in 1984. He played 3rd base/I played 3rd base. He was a power hitter/I was a power hitter. Boom. Instant love for the guy. 1984 was my first job. I was a concessions operator at a local swim & tennis club. I worked 12-4 every day/7 days a week. I worked solo - just me and the stand - and my AM radio. I listened to, and documented every game that season. IYKYK, it was a magical season. Cey played a big part of it and I loved him. I knew he came from the Dodgers, but I didn't know he was a World Series winner. I didn't know how much he played in free agency. I just knew, as a teen, that he was my guy. I'm so happy now the adult me was able to learn more about his baseball career. #11 forever!

[Joshua Samuels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a kid during the Dodgers golden years from 77-81, and so to me players like Cey and Garvey were heroes. Well, we know what happened to Garvey, and so Cey really became more of an intriguing figure. Back then, we had less access to players, and players were more stoic, so we never really got to know them. This book changes all that! Cey’s love of the game and those years really comes through.

He doesn’t pull punches, but is also diplomatic and fair. The players come off as real people with real relationships. The insights and stories are so much fun to read. They say never meet your heroes, but I feel I met Cey, and he did not disappoint.

For anyone who loved that team, or that era of baseball, you will love this book. (I still remember the headline of the Dodgers program they had at the game in May of 1977. The headline was “Oh Cey, what an April.”)

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful baseball book whether you are a Dodger fan or not. His story was very interesting from college through his time in the minors and then finally making it to the majors. He speaks of the different players on the teams he was with and also the wins and losses. Especially losing the World Series to the Yankees in 77 and 78 and how getting back to the Series winning not just for him, but for the Dodgers and for the infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey. For not to have won a World Series would have been disappointing just for the amount of time that they were together. A really good book and he really speaks about his wife in one chapter as well which was nice also. Very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com

[Greville Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoyed this book and wallowing in nostalgia about life with the Dodgers in their pomp in the 80s.

I was a massive Mets fan living in NYCat the time but I so respected the Dodgers and their all star infield and I learned so much from this book about the Dodgers's way of doing tings and why they were so successful.

The book is packed full of great insights and anecdotes from those glorious days when the Dodgers reigned supreme and Cey, aided and abetted by an excellent ghost writer has a keen eye for detail and a good story. This book is highly recommended for all baseball fans of a certain age who want to understand how and why the Dodgers were so successful.

[Tom Gase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but also not as detailed as I hoped for. Book kind of goes all over the place and not necessarily in chronological order. I guess I was hoping for a little more on the 77-78, 81 Dodger teams, but the topic is covered. Same with the 84 Cubs team. It's a pretty good book on the life so far of one of the best Dodger third baseman ever, but nothing mind-blowing. Glad I read though. I think the better book would have been a longer one on each of the four Dodger infielders - Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey -- together. That could be a book twice as long and maybe more interesting.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading about those great Dodger teams during Ron Cey's time. This book was in dire need of an editor. There are so many errors "Hooton's Game Four win", "Valenzuela got the ball for Game Four" is just one of many examples. Most books at least tell you when and where a person was born. I don't blame Ron Cey but the person he told his story to did a terrible job. There is no flow to this book. It jumps around. Most baseball books are such easy and fun reads. I had to keep rereading and checking what was happening.

[Gerald L Pike · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Coug Reading About another One

Love the Dodgers of that era. Saw them play in Spokane before they moved to Albuquerque. Saw Ron play at WSU for Bobo Brayton and saw him hit homers the left field fence of Bailey field that landed in the entrance to the old golf course. Even bought gasoline at his family's statio

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on the teams I grew up rooting for.

[Sam Pasthing · Rating 5 out of 5]

page turner

A nice, breezy read. If time allowed, I would have read it in a day. Great storytelling and provides incredible insight to a career in baseball.