SSTN Interviews Author Steve Dittmore

By Paul Semendinger

August 7, 2025

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This morning I share my recent interview with baseball author Steve Dittmore.

Please tell our readers a little about yourself.

I am a lifelong Dodgers fan and student of baseball history. I spent a decade working in sport public relations before going back to school for a PhD. For the past 23 years I have worked as a professor and higher education administrator. I currently serve as Dean of the Silverfield College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Please tell our readers about your book and any other projects you are working on.  

My first book-length baseball research project, Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger, was published in February by August Publications. I began researching in 2019 and continued up until early 2024 when the final manuscript was finished.

I was drawn to Gilliam’s story as he was such an integral part of four World Series winning teams for the Dodgers, yet I don’t believe he received the attention he deserved. He is in the top 10 in a number of Dodgers career categories. He was a four-time Negro Leagues All-Star and the National League Rookie of the Year in 1953. He died of complications from a brain hemorrhage on the eve of the 1978 World Series against the Yankees.

I remember that. The Dodgers, as I recall, wore a patch on their uniforms for Gilliam.

I believe you have a new project underway.

Currently, I am working on growing the John Henry “Pop” Lloyd (Jacksonville) SABR Chapter as I just assumed the role of chair.

As a fellow member of SABR, I wish you all the best. It's a great organization.

Why are people so drawn to baseball and its stories, legends, and people?

I hesitate to speak for anyone other than myself, but I am drawn to baseball stories that reflect the broader social climate of the time. Had Gilliam been born 10 years earlier, or later, his experiences as a baseball player would have been very different. He came along at a moment in history when his life could positively impact people and, indirectly, society, even if he did not perceive himself in that way. Sports, as a whole, is such an interesting mirror of American society.

What is your favorite baseball book? (You can list as many as you wish.)

“I really enjoyed Michael Leahy’s “The Last Innocents” about the 1960s era Los Angeles Dodgers. Others that I keep on my bookshelf as reminders of great writing include David Maraniss’ biography of Roberto Clemente and Luke Epplin’s “Our Team,” about the 1948 Cleveland Indians. Jason Turbow has fun reads about the 1970s Oakland A’s and the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers and Fernando Valenzuela. Finally, I would give a nod to Jonathan Mahler’s “The Bronx is Burning” as well-written and informative to someone who grew up in Los Angeles and the Midwest.

Outside of baseball, what is your favorite book and/or who is your favorite author?  (You can list as many as you wish.)

Oh, goodness… I have many. While I don’t read a lot of fiction, my favorite author is John Steinbeck and my favorite book is “Grapes of Wrath.” Other non-baseball sports books that were wonderful narratives include S.L. Price’s “Playing Through the Whistle” about high school football in Aliquippa, Pa. and David Maraniss’ “When Pride Still Mattered,” the biography of Vince Lombardi. I am a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and was captivated by Warren Zanes’ “Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.”

David Maraniss is a great author. I have also read the biographies of Clemente and Lombardi. His book on the 1960 Olympics is also excellent. I have his new (gigantic) book on Jim Thorpe. I'll get to it one day...

There's a lot of talk about baseball needing to be "fixed."  Is baseball broken?  If you were the Commissioner of Baseball what change(s) (if any) would you make to the current game?

For the most part, I enjoy the recent changes to the game regarding pace of play, etc. But the dumbest thing about MLB right now is the antiquated blackout rules. I lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas for 14 years and endured blackouts for the Cardinals, Royals, Rangers, and Astros. It was just dumb.

I agree. In order to grow the game...people have to be able to see the games. One cannot become a fan if they never see the game.

I love to talk about the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Which former Yankee most deserves to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Well, as a Dodgers fan, I don’t know how qualified I am to answer this. I was astonished to find that Jim Gilliam had never received a single vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In conducting research comparing Gilliam to contemporaries of his era, he matches well with Gil McDougald in terms of awards (both won ROY), and World Series played/won - 8/6 for McDougald and 7/4 for Gilliam. Both have similar career WAR. So, I will say McDougald.

What is the greatest baseball movie of all time?  (Yes, you can list a few!)

Bull Durham, 42, and Major League are movies I will always stop and watch if they are on.

What is your favorite baseball memory?

I know this is a Yankees-centric site, but I have to say Ken Landreaux catching the final out of Game Six of the 1981 World Series. After the disappointments of 1977 and 1978 being able to celebrate the Dodgers defeating the Yankees was a great memory. I was 13 years old, so old enough to appreciate the significance of the moment.

Oh well. That was one of my least enjoyable baseball memories!

That said, the play Jim Gilliam made in Game Seven of the 1965 World Series to rob Zoilo Versalles of an extra base hit and preserve Sandy Koufax’s shutout would probably be my favorite memory of an event for which I was not yet born.

Please share anything else you'd like with our audience.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss baseball and my book about Jim Gilliam. I am certain many Yankees fans on this site will recall his contributions in the four World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees between 1953 and 1963.

Thank you, Steve. I wish you continued success, always. Please keep in touch!