When the Dodgers Were Bridegrooms

<p> Urbane real estate investor Charles Byrne and hustling news editor George J. Taylor joined forces in 1883 to create the club that would become the Brooklyn Dodgers. Nicknamed the Bridegrooms by sportswriters after several players got married they won their first major league pennants in 1889 and 1890 under pioneering manager Bill Gunner McGunnigle. This first history of the birth of the Dodgers franchise chronicles the owners' efforts to build the team woo fans and oversee the antics of the colorful cast of athletes--with nicknames like Adonis Needles and Oyster--who filled the Bridegrooms' roster.</p>