Seinsoth: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Dodger (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781620067161)

In 1968, Bill Seinsoth overcame a lifetime of adversity to become the best college baseball player in the world. Few were surprised. After all, as a high school senior and the top prep pitcher in the country his team won the California state championship, and he was named MVP. He attended USC, where his team won an NCAA title and he was chosen College World Series MVP. During the summers, he played for the elite Alaska Goldpanners college baseball team and again was MVP. Finally, he was chosen in the first round of baseball's draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. A big, strong, handsome, confident and personable slugger, he was to have become the team's first baseman long into the future. However, storm clouds formed. As he drove across the California desert toward home following his first season in the Dodgers organization a gust of wind blew Seinsoth's car over, killing him. A carton of bats emblazoned with his name may have delivered the fatal blow as his car flipped multiple times.

This book chronicles the incredible life of Bill Seinsoth, whose death while en route to watch his good friend O.J. Simpson's final preseason football game a week before the running back's NFL debut paved the way for Steve Garvey to become a star first baseman with the Dodgers. The book includes interviews with former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, college coach of the century Rod Dedeaux, and former major leaguers Ron Cey (who was supposed to ride with Seinsoth but who backed out at the last minute), Jim Barr and Bill "Spaceman" Lee. While pure entertainment, this book is important to readers as a road map for overcoming adversity and achieving greatness.