THE STORY

​A story about baseball, family, the American Dream, and the fight to turn Los Angeles into a big league city.


Dodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian public housing project. Then, in a remarkable turn, public housing in the city was defeated amidst a Red Scare conspiracy.

Instead of getting their homes back, the remaining residents saw the city sell their land to Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Now LA would be getting a different sort of utopian fantasy -- a glittering, ultra-modern stadium.

But before Dodger Stadium could be built, the city would have to face down the neighborhood's families -- including one, the Aréchigas, who refused to yield their home. The ensuing confrontation captivated the nation - and the divisive outcome still echoes through Los Angeles today.

ERIC NUSBAUM

Eric Nusbaum is a writer and former editor at VICE.  His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, The Daily Beast, Deadspin, and the Best American Sports Writing anthology. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he has also lived and worked in Mexico City, New York, and Seattle. He now lives in Tacoma, Washington with his family.

Follow him on Twitter
@ericnus 

ART

The maps and illustrations in STEALING HOME ​were all hand drawn by Adam Villacin 
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Follow him on Instagram
​@adamvillacin

PRAISE

“As a sports book, Stealing Home is astonishingly good—but it's more than just a sports book. The human experience it depicts resonates far beyond Los Angeles. The writing is lean, hard, and urgent. You'll read it quickly and think about it for a long time.”
     ―Brian Phillips, New York Times-bestselling author of Impossible Owls

"In Stealing Home, this visceral capsule on the working class originals of Palo Verde, Eric Nusbaum combines the scope of a historian, the diligence of an investigative reporter, and the grace and love-of-game of a seasoned sports writer. A rich and satisfying read from start-to-finish."
     ―Daniel Hernandez, author of Down and Delirious in Mexico City: The Aztec Metropolis in the Twenty-First Century

"A story perfectly told, riveting, moving, and deeply human."
     ―Will Leitch, author of Are We Winning? and God Save the Fan

"A detailed, compelling history that goes well beyond Los Angeles. Eric Nusbaum asks an urgent modern question: what do the things we love actually cost? And who pays the price?"
     ―Jay Caspian Kang, writer-at-large, New York Times Magazine



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Eric Nusbaum:
enusbaum (at) gmail (dot) com
twitter.com/ericnus
Representation: 
David Patterson at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency
dp (at) skagency (dot) com
​Publicity: 
Jocelynn Pedro, PublicAffairs books
jocelynn (dot) pedro (at) hbgusa (dot) com

Author photo by Jennifer Maharry. 
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