In the spring of 1987, when Al Campanis was fired for insensitive remarks on television’s , the choice of his successor as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers raised eyebrows across Major League Baseball.
Fred Claire was a longtime marketing executive with the team, widely admired for his character, work ethic, and ingenuity. But he was a former sportswriter with no experience in player trades and roster construction. Yet, just a year later, the Dodger team Claire built shocked the baseball world by winning the 1988 World Series.
But his greatest challenge would come long after he left the game. In 2016, skin cancer that began on Claire’s lip had spread to his jaw. With his life on the line, the former baseball executive found his way to City of Hope National Medical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Duarte.
While Extra Innings recalls Claire’s remarkable baseball career, it also recounts the miraculous story of his cancer fight at City of Hope. Readers will be inspired by Claire’s unflinching decency and fortitude—and by the cutting-edge science and compassion that make City of Hope unique in the annals of American medicine.
In a compelling narrative, Extra Innings ultimately celebrates the best of humanity and offers hope for cancer patients everywhere.