HOT CORNER

What: “Images of Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Author: Mark Langill.

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing, Chicago.

Price: $19.95.

There are more than 200 photographs in this 128-page paperback book that chronicles the Dodgers’ history in Los Angeles. One of the most interesting is not of a player, but of a letter dated Dec. 11, 1957.

The letter was sent by a sporting goods manufacturer to Dodger publicity director Red Patterson. In the upper right-hand corner is a rough sketch of the L.A. monogram the Dodgers adapted for their caps.

This book includes interesting narrative by Dodger team historian Mark Langill, but it is the photographs that make it so appealing.

Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax adorn the cover. And inside are pictures of all the other big names in L.A. Dodger history, both on and off the diamond.

One of the most striking photos is of Roy Campanella Night at the Coliseum in 1959, when the lights were dimmed and the fans were asked to light matches in Campanella’s honor. The crowd that night was 93,107.

The book also includes such things as a 1961 program that has Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett on the cover, Tom Lasorda and Fernando Valenzuela wearing sombreros, and pitcher Jim Gott showing off his skills as a third-degree black belt.

The book is available at most book stories, or it can be ordered through arcadiapublishing.com.

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-- Larry Stewart