The 1957 PCL season faced uncertainty about the pending ""invasion of major league baseball"" in 1958. While the meetings, wheeling and dealing and politics took place off the diamond, the historic San Francisco Seals, a charter member of the Golden Era of the league, 1903-1957, played baseball and clinched the pennant two days before the season ended. We follow this team one game at a time as players faced historic rivals from spring training through the final game of the era. Readers experience minor league baseball as it was over fifty years ago when there were no agents, next year's contract was based on this year's performance, and PCL teams consisted of a blend of major league veterans and minor leaguers on the cusp. The Pacific Coast League was no ordinary league, the Seals were no ordinary team, and 1957 was no ordinary season.

House of David barnstorming baseball (1915-1957) was played without pre-determined schedules, leagues, player statistics or standings. The Davids quickly gained popularity for their hirsute appearance and flashy, fast-paced style of play. During their 200 seasons, they travelled as many as 30,000 miles, criss-crossing the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Benton Harbor teams invented the pepper game and were winners year after year, becoming legends in barnstorming baseball. Initially a loose affiliation of players, the Davids expanded to three teams--Western, Central and Eastern--as their reputation grew, and hired outsiders to fill the rosters. Prominent among them were pitchers Grover Cleveland Alexander and Charlie "Chief" Bender, both player managers in the early 1930s. They resisted the color barrier, eagerly facing Negro League teams everywhere. In 1934, before their largest crowd to date, they defeated the first Negro team invited to the famed Denver Post Tournament, the great Kansas City Monarchs, for the championship.

Written from the heart, this book demonstrates Gib Bodet's 70-year love affair with the great game of baseball that goes back to his childhood in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and carries through his 45-year scouting career with the Red Sox, Tigers, Expos, Angels, Royals, and 35 years with the Dodgers after playing ball in high school and the military, coaching youth and legion teams, and how he became a scout at age 38. In addition to memories and humorous stories about people he worked for and with like Peter O'Malley, Walter Shannon, Gene Autry, John Schuerholz, Al Campanis, and others, he recalls the role he played in the drafting and signing of such players as Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Todd Hollingsworth, Paul Konerko, Matt Kemp, and others plus his long friendship with Tom Lasorda.