6.5" x 9.5", 284 page hardcover with dustjacket titled ONCE A BUM, ALWAYS A DODGER: MY LIFE IN BASEBALL FROM BROOKLYN TO LOS ANGELES by Don Drysdale with Bob Verdi/ St. Martin's Press, ISBN # 0-312-03902-6, First Edition, Copyright 1990/ This autobiography of Don Drysdale tells the story of his ?accidentally? becoming a pitcher as a teenager through his career in the Dodger organization. His first couple of years in the big leagues were spent while the team was still in Brooklyn. The team moved to Los Angeles in 1958 where the team played the first few years in Los Angeles Coliseum, a venue not designed for baseball (it was only 250 feet down the left field line). He moves us through his years in baseball and then into his post career life. The baseball years offers up a good history of the National league from the late 50s through the 60s (Drysdale retires in 1969) with the Sandy Koufax and Drysdale duo being a dominant pair of pitchers for the Dodgers. The book is a first person narrative and is very conversational in tone as if Drysdale is just sharing stories and anecdotes as you sit across from him. The final chapter is about his family life and is titled ?Happier Than Ever? and tells of his family situation at the time of the writing of the book. He had married for the second time to basketball icon, Ann Meyers, and they had had two small children (there are pictures midway through the book). There is a certain melancholy about this as Drysdale died of a heart attack three years after the publication of this book leaving behind his young family, another reminder of the uncertainty of life. The book is complete and in VERY GOOD condition with some overall wear. There is a light insect chew on the side edge of the closed book pages. (see pictures)