ERIC VICKREY BASEBALL HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR
Even those who are well-versed in baseball history might not know that one of Major League Baseball’s premier rosters of the 1970s and beyond was drawn heavily from a Minor League Baseball team’s lineup in eastern Washington just a few years prior.
On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Port Townsend Public Library will host local author and baseball historian Eric Vickrey to talk about his 2025 book, “Before They Wore Dodger Blue: Tommy Lasorda and the Greatest Draft Class in Baseball History,” about how most of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 1968 amateur draft class played for the Spokane Indians, under Lasorda, in 1970.
Vickrey noted this included Steve Garvey, Bobby Valentine, Bill Buckner, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson, Doyle Alexander and Geoff Zahn, making them perhaps “the greatest amateur draft class in baseball history,” and “one of the most talented minor league teams ever assembled.”
Vickrey elaborated: “This colorful cast of characters defeated the Hawaii Islanders to win the Pacific Coast League championship. Later, the class of ’68 and Lasorda formed the foundation of multiple pennant-winning teams in Los Angeles.”
Port Townsend author and baseball historian Eric Vickrey will talk about his 2025 book, “Before They Wore Dodger Blue: Tommy Lasorda and the Greatest Draft Class in Baseball History” at the Port Townsend Public Library Feb. 19. Courtesy photos
When the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn in 1958, they moved their Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Los Angeles Angels, north to Spokane.
The 1970 Spokane Indians, managed by Lasorda, won 94 of 146 games (.644) in the regular season to win the northern division by 26 games, then swept the Hawaii Islanders in four games in the Pacific Coast League playoffs.
Vi ckrey became aware of the Indians’ connection to the Los Angeles Dodgers while doing research for his 2024 book, “Season of Shattered Dreams,” about the Spokane Indians’ 1946 bus accident, the deadliest transit accident in the history of American professional sports in which nine team members died and six were severely injured. “Season of Shattered Dreams” was a finalist for the 2024 Casey Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year.
Vickrey contextualized the events of “Before They Wore Dodger Blue” by explaining that Major League Baseball held its first amateur draft in 1965, and pitcher Sandy Koufax’s retirement in 1972 left the L.A. Dodgers “reeling,” so “talent scouts were scouring the country, looking for future stars.”
Looking back, Vickrey described the Lasordaled Spokane Indians as “a powerhouse team,” with Valentine probably constituting one of their biggest stars at the time, “but even Davey Lopes, who spent more time on the bench at first, went on to future success.”
In Vickrey’s estimation, not only has “no team since come close to replicating this draft class,” but no team could anymore, given how quickly talented players are snapped up by the big leagues today, as compared to the days when such players could spend as many as half a dozen years in the minors.
Vickrey’s own history with baseball runs deep, with his Midwestern upbringing and his childhood affinity for the St. Louis Cardinals, whom he still follows, alongside the Seattle Mariners.
“I fell in love with the game when I was 6 years old, and it’s been so ingrained in my life that it’s hard to separate myself from it,” Vickrey said. “Baseball has such a rich history, and is such a huge part of American culture. You have all these great teams and great characters, and their stories contribute to our shared history. The integration of baseball was part of the civil rights movement. Baseball has reflected where our country has stood over time.”
Vickrey’s author talk runs from 6-7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Port Townsend Public Library, at 1220 Lawrence St. in Port Townsend.