A TALE OF THREE CITIES: NEW YORK, L.A. AND SAN FRANCISCO IN OCTOBER OF ‘62

STEVEN TRAVERS

Copyright, 2007

1962 was the last year of American innocence;
before the assassination of John F. Kennedy, before Vietnam; before
the protests, the drugs and the "sexual revolution"; before
Watergate and the great division of American culture. But 1962 also
represents one of those years that stand out in history, like 1776,
1865, 1927, 1945, 1989 and 2001. It was a year of enormous cultural
change, in which the tides of modern politics were formed, thus
shaping the world we have lived in ever since.

1962 was also one of the greatest years in
the history of sports; a particularly great California sports
season in which the Southern California Trojans won the national
championship in football, the recently-arrived Los Angeles Lakers
started their famed rivalry with the Boston Celtics; and the
transplanted New York teams, the San Francisco Giants and Los
Angeles Dodgers, intensified their rivalry in ways never even seen
back east.

In one of the greatest pennant races of all
time, the Giants survived to overtake the favored Dodgers, only to
face the winner of New York’s war of baseball attrition, the fabled
Yankees, in a classic World Series for the ages. While all of this
was going on, events were taking place in Washington, Moscow and
Cuba that would have profound consequences on the Cold War and
beyond.

The easygoing Beach Boys
persona
of
L.A., the last vestiges of San Francisco sophistication, and the
final throes of Sinatra swank in the Big Apple, were threatened by
the Earth-shaking fact that the Soviets were planting missiles in
Fidel Castro’s enslaved Communist Cuba. While baseball games were
being played, a deadly serious chess match was fought between
President Kennedy, Castro and Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev.

Here are the heroes: Mickey Mantle and Whitey
Ford; Willie Mays and Willie McCovey; Sandy Koufax and Don
Drysdale. Here is Hollywood adoration of the Dodgers; San
Francisco’s psychic battle between inferiority and superiority; and
New York: the New Rome, rulers of sport and society. We see the
Angels in the "Sunset Strip summer" of '62; across the continent,
the comical Mets as a sideshow; and of course, the “missiles of
October.”

STEVEN TRAVERS

(with photo)

Steven Travers is a USC
graduate and ex-professional baseball player. He is the author of
the best-selling
Barry Bonds: Baseball’s
Superman
, nominated for a Casey Award (best
baseball book of 2002). He is also the author of
The USC Trojans: College Football’s All-Time
Greatest Dynasty
(a National Book Network
“top 100 seller”);
One Night, Two Teams:
Alabama vs. USC and the Game That Changed a Nation
(subject of a documentary and major motion
picture, a 2007 PNBA nominee); five books in the Triumph/Random
House
Essential
series (
A’s
,
Dodgers, Angels, D’backs,
Trojans
);
The
Good, the Bad & the Ugly Los Angeles Lakers
;
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Oakland Raiders
;
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly San Francisco
49ers
;
The Last
Miracle: Tom Seaver and the 1969 Amazin’ Mets
;
College Football's All-Time Top 25
Traditions
TITLE WILL CHANGE and
A
Tale of Three Cities:
New York, L.A. and San Francisco in October of
‘62
.
Steve was a
columnist for
StreetZebra
magazine in Los Angeles and the
San Francisco Examiner
.
He also penned the screenplay,
The Lost
Battalion.
Travers helped lead Redwood High
School of Marin County, California to the baseball national
championship his senior year; attended college on an athletic
scholarship; was an all-conference pitcher; and coached at USC,
Cal-Berkeley and in Europe. He also attended law school, served in
the Army, and is a guest lecturer at the University of Southern
California. A fifth generation Californian, Steve has a daughter,
Elizabeth Travers and still resides in the Golden State.

Books written by Steven Travers

One Night, Two Teams:
Alabama vs. USC and the Game That Changed A Nation
(also a documentary,
Tackling Segregation
, and soon to be
a major motion picture)

A’s Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be A
Real Fan!

Trojans Essential: Everything You Need to
Know to Be A Real Fan!

Dodgers Essential: Everything You Need to
Know to Be A Real Fan!

Angels Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be
A Real Fan!

D’Backs Essential:
Everything You Need to Know to Be A Real

The USC Trojans: College Football's All-Time
Greatest Dynasty

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly Los Angeles
Lakers

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly Oakland
Raiders

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly San
Francisco 49ers

Barry Bonds: Baseball’s Superman

College Football’s Top 25
All-Time Greatest Traditions
TITLE WILL
CHANGE

The Last Miracle: Tom Seaver and the 1969
Amazin’ Mets

A Tale of Three Cities: New York, L.A. and
San Francisco in October of ‘62

God's Country: A
Conservative, Christian Worldview of How History Formed the United
States Empire and America's Manifest Destiny for the
21
^st
Century

Angry White Male

The Writer’s Life

Praise for Steven Travers

Steve Travers is the next great USC
historian, in the tradition of Jim Murray, John Hall, and Mal
Florence! . . . The Trojan Nation needs your work!

- USC Head Football Coach Pete Carroll

I knew you loved USC, but you
really
love USC! This is a book about American society. It sheds
incredible light on little-known events that every American must
know to understand this country . . . In 20 years, people will say
of this book what they said about Roger Kahn's
The Boys of
Summer
.

- Fred Wallin, CRN national sportstalk
host

Steve Travers combines wit, humor, social pathos and
historical knowledge with the kind of sports expertise that only an
ex-jock is privy to; it is reminiscent of the work of Jim Bouton,
Pat Jordan and Dan Jenkins, combined with Jim Murray’s turn of
phrase, Hunter Thompson’s hard-scrabble Truths, and David
Halberstam’s unique take on our nation’s place in history. His
writing is great storytelling, and the result is pure genius every
time.

- Westwood One sports media personality Mike
McDowd

Steve Travers is a great writer, an educated athlete
who knows how to get inside the player’s heads, and when that
happens, greatness occurs. He’s gonna be a superstar.

- Dave
Burgin/Editor,
San Francisco
Examiner

Steve Travers is a phenomenal writer, an artist who
labors over every word to get it just right, and he has an
encyclopedic knowledge of sports and history.

Steve Travers is a Renaissance man.

• Jim Rome Show
  

Travers' new book finally explains the phenomenon .
. . the Bonds tale is spelled out in the most thorough,
interesting, revealing, concise manner ever reached.

- Maury Allen/www.TheColumnists.com, Gannett
Newspapers

Travers appears to have the right
credentials for the task: He is a former minor leaguer who also
penned screenplays in addition to a column for the San Francisco
Examiner. He calls on that background in crafting a
straightforward, warts-and-all profile that remains truthful
without becoming a mean-spirited hatchet job . . .

-
USA Today Baseball Weekly

This is a fascinating book written by a man
who knows his subject matter inside and out.

- Irv Kaze/KRLA Radio, Los
Angeles

Get this book.
You've brought Bonds to life.

- Fred Wallin/Syndicated
sportstalk host, Los Angeles

This promises to be the biggest sports book of
2002.

- Greg Papa/KTCT Radio, San Francisco

This cat struck out Kevin Mitchell five
times in one game. I'll read the book for that reason alone. Plus,
he hangs out with Charlie Sheen. How do I get that gig?

- Rod
Brooks/
Fitz &
Brooks
, KNBR Radio, San
Francisco

. . . gossipy, easy-to-read tale . . .
explores the sports culture that influences this distinguished
slugger . . . entertaining.

-
Library Journal

Warts-and-all . . . Travers explores Bonds'
mercurial temper and place in baseball history.

-
Novato Journal

…
the first comprehensive
biography of Barry Bonds.

-
Bud Geracie/
San
Jose Mercury News

Travers thought he hit the jackpot . . .

- Furman
Bischer
, Atlanta
Journal-Constitution

Travers…hit the big time .
. . Travers . . . established himself as a writer of many
dimensions . . . a natural . . . You were ahead
of your time with the Bonds book. I still think it is the best
biography of him I've seen. It does more to capture his personality
than all the steroid books and articles.

- John
Jackson/
Ross Valley Reporter

Travers is a minor league
pitcher-turned-sportswriter, and therefore qualified to evaluate
[Larry] Dierker's thought process in ordering all those walks
regardless of the score or the situation.

- Stan
Hochman/
Philadelphia Daily News

. . . looks at all of Barry's warts, yet remains in
the end favorable to him. Not an easy balancing act. This is not
your average sports book. It is edgy and filled with laughs . . .
and inside baseball. Good, solid reading.

- www.Amazon.com

It's a great read.

- Pete Wilson/KGO Radio, San Francisco

This is a good book that really covers his whole
life, and informs us where Bonds is coming from. His entire life is
laid out. He is very qualified to continue to write books such as
this one. Good job.

- Marty Lurie/
Right off the Bat
Oakland A’s
pre-game host

. . .
a quality piece . . .
(Travers) uses his experiences in baseball . . . providing a
humorous glimpse into the life of a player. Would I recommend this
book? Absolutely . . . laughed out
loud several times at
Travers' unique way of explaining his experiences. This book is
definitely worth the time.

- John Kenny/www.esportnews.com

Travers’ account mentions everything from cocaine to
sex to car crashes to what Bonds said he would do to Roger Clemens
. . . more than a “hit” piece.

-
Johnson City Press

Travers' book does do a more well-rounded
job of solving the mystery of who Bonds is . . . appealing . . . is
the more inside look at Bonds in Travers' book.

-
San Jose Mercury News

. . . Travers' work is every baseball
aficionado's dream.

-
Fairfield Daily Republic

You've created quite a stir here at the
station, with the Giants, and throughout baseball.

• Rick Barry/Hall of Fame basketball star and
  sportstalk host, KNBR Radio, San Francisco
  

You've stirred a hornet's nest here,
man.

- J.T. “The
Brick”/Syndicated national sportstalk host

This is a controversial subject and a
controversial player, but you've educated us.

- Ron
Barr/
Sportsline
,
Armed Forces Radio Network

A baseball player who can write . . . who
knew? This one sure can!