THE 1988 DODGERS:

• Orel Hershiser IV…Kirk Gibson…the irrepressible Tom LaSorda…you know all about them. But Rick Dempsey, Mickey Hatcher, and Danny Heep—aka “The Stuntmen”—not so much. Now, thanks to K. P. Wee’s The 1988 Dodgers: Reliving the Championship Season, you will. This is the story of a very improbable and, yes, lovable bunch, the last LA Dodger squad to win a championship. (Bob Ryan, Boston Globe, ESPN)

• K. P. Wee brought back great memories for every Dodgers fan. This book is very informative and gives fantastic insight by interviewing the players and general manager Fred Claire. I highly recommend this book for all baseball fans! (Tom Candiotti, television analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks, former major-league pitcher)

• With thorough input from a variety of sources—star players, scouts, a third-string catcher, bat boys, broadcasters—Wee takes the reader on a candid journey through the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 1988 season. It’s a must-read for hardcore fans, and for anyone whose memories have been reduced to Orel Hershiser’s scoreless-inning streak and Kirk Gibson’s home run. The lost moments, colorful characters, and behind-the-scenes drama all come alive. (J. P. Hoornstra, MLB reporter for the Southern California News Group and author of The 50 Greatest Dodger Games of All Time)

• The 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers were overloaded with big, bold personalities, with the likes of Kirk Gibson, Rick Dempsey, Mickey Hatcher, Jesse Orosco and, of course, manager Tommy Lasorda. K. P. Wee makes you feel like you have snuck into a corner stall in their clubhouse for their magical run to the World Series. (Steve Ewen, sports reporter for the Vancouver Province/Sun)

Reader Reviews:

Preston Bealle, September 29, 2018 (via Amazon.com): Beautifully written and researched account of an unlikely and amazing season (Format: Kindle Edition)

-The author spoke to absolutely everyone remotely involved here, and wrote the authoritative account of an incomparable season. Fred Claire rose from sports columnist to winning general manager and audaciously put together a team that proved shockingly cohesive and capable. He spotted in Kirk Gibson a group of character traits that could transform the team, and somehow, he was right. He could not have exactly foreseen the Gibson home run that has been called the greatest moment in the history of LA sports, and yet it happened. You will get a strong sense of Claire’s style, Lasorda’s triumphant energy, and the steady, authoritative and high-quality hand of the Peter O’Malley ownership ethos that combined to bring the world championship to Dodger Stadium.

Josiah, September 21, 2018 (via Amazon.com): Great read (Format: Hardcover)

-Very insightful and interesting to see the perspective from someone on the inside.

Niall ODonohoe, April 29, 2019 (via Amazon.ca): Perfect book for the hardcore Dodgers fan who wants to relive the glory of 1988. (Format: Kindle Edition)

-K.P. Wee hits this one out of the park. This book provides a thorough and extensive look at how the Dodgers upset the Mets and the A’s to win it all in 1988. Though Orel Hershisher and Kirk Gibson were the headliners, there was so much more to the Dodgers championship club that year and this book highlights everybody who played a part – big or small – during that championship year. Even if you’re not a Dodgers fan, it’s still an entertaining read.

THE END OF THE MONTREAL JINX:

• As a Boston Bruins fan since the days of Bobby Orr, I actually loved this era more than any other even though the B’s did not win a Stanley Cup in the ’80s and ’90s. The reason you can read right in this fantastic book reliving all those days and the glory of Cam Neely drifting that shot past Patrick Roy to finally (FINALLY!) move the Bruins past the Habs in a series…and to start winning those matchups more often than not. As a B’s fan who grew up surrounded by Ken Dryden 1971-inspired Hab fans, the deliciousness of being able to defeat the enemy was sweeter than any Cup (and face facts the B’s luck was to make two Cup Finals and meet the powerhouse Oilers twice) from the ’70s.

The book itself is very detailed but without being bogged down in stats and boring newspaper sports page game stories. It’s a super fun read because the author gets into the personalities and the incidents that make this still one of the best sports rivalries on the planet. (Reader Brian Maitland via Amazon.com, May 21, 2018)

• This book was a self-published book. I’m still, a-hem, unsold, on self-publishing. I’ve always felt that if you want to be published, you should be vetted by an agent or a publisher. As someone who works in a library and spent high school working in bookstores, there are plenty of books that passed that test and were still utter rubbish. But then again, if you’re not in it for the money and just want to get your very esoteric or idiosyncratic book out there, well then, that I can get on board with. And boy did I get on board.

I love hockey. I’m also getting old enough to enjoy the occasional jaunt down memory lane. This book was my tour guide through the street where my love of hockey was found. My favorite Bruin of all time is Andy Moog. After reading about how Gretzky felt about him in The Great One’s book, I was dying to read more about it. That’s when I came across this self-published book. It details not only my favorite Bruin (among other nostalgic names like Gary Galley, Joey Juneau, Craig Janney, Bob Sweeney, and of course Glen Wesley, Don Sweeney, Ray Bourque, and Cam Neely) but also my favorite rivalry, Bruins/Habs. But wait, there’s more: it goes over those halcyon days when the B’s pwned (not a typo) the Habs in the playoffs.

It was great reading what some of the players’ thoughts were on the rivalry and the detailed descriptions of some of the games were great, too. The only complaint I had was that in setting the scene, Mr. Wee gave away the ending of some of the games. I admit that the mystery was only a mystery because I don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of games that took place when I was between 7 and 12 years old. It’s not the spoilers that I didn’t like, it was the confusion. I thought he wasn’t going into detail. Then he would. Then he would back up. I got lost a couple of times. But like I said, that was minor.

This book is an excellent read for any Bs fan that grew up in the late 80s/early 90s. (Reader Brad McKenna via Goodreads.com, Dec. 18, 2018)