Dazzy Vance: Review

Dazzy Vance - a biography of the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Famer is the full title of the book by John C. Skipper. Once, years ago, the Brooklyn period of the Dodgers felt too long ago for me, all black and white. But after reading biographies of Campy, Walker, Hodges among other books about the pre L.A. Dodgers that period now is in full color. Because the players were colorful. Or in Dazzy's time: Daffy!
Dazzy was a minor leaguer for ten years, had trouble with his pitching arm but finally got a break and was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1922 till 1932. Not a very succesful period for the team. He is famous for being the first Dodger to be elected in the Hall of Fame. Yes, you learn about Dazzy and his struggle to get into the Show and his years with the Dodgers, but especially the 'in-season' parts are kinda matter of factly. Often you'll read sentences like: Dazzy started the season with a win, then a loss then three wins in a row, followed by the scores. When I checked the bibliography I understood. The entire book was written with newspaper articles as source material.
So, while the book itself is not a Hall of Famer and lends a lot from the articles it is based on, Vance and the time he played with the Robins is interesting enough to recommend it to any Dodger fan.