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| Introduction |
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| The Early Years |
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| Entering The... |
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| The Dodger Saga |
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| A New Era Begins |
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| Ebbets Field Revisited |
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| The Memorable... |
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| Searching for New... |
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| L.A. Sends a Message |
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| This is Next Year! |
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| Putting Their Domes... |
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| The Political Game |
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| 1957 |
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| Los Angeles Bound |
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| Where to Play in L.A. |
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| Curveball Right... |
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| Page 55 |
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| Page 56 |
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| Page 57 |
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| Page 58 |
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| The Red Head is a... |
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| 1959: A Year of... |
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| Home Sweet Home |
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| Construction of... |
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| L.A.'s Sparkling New... |
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| 1963: A Taxing Year... |
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| The Business of.. |
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| Growing the Game... |
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| Moving to Chairman... |
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| The Last Inning |
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| Curveball Right Down the Middle |
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“We appreciate the contract with the City and County of Los Angeles negotiated with the Dodgers has the support of every worthwhile civic organization...
“It is a miserable situation which finds our players and staff worrying over the opposition of two councilmen and one minor league owner. We regret being in the throes of a political controversy instead of a contender in the National League race for the pennant. J.A. Smith testified he and his brother own the San Diego Baseball Club and that he put up about 40% of the money to circulate the Referendum petition. His San Diego interest in keeping major league baseball out of Los Angeles is obvious. Without his contributions we probably never would have had the Referendum. As to the councilmen, they are public officials and they voted on the matter. I regret that they want to second-guess the official vote of their body.
“The Dodgers have acted in good faith and have obligated themselves as follows:
- We have already moved the franchise to Los Angeles.
- A contract has been signed by the Dodgers and Giants to pay the Pacific Coast
League $900,000 for this privilege.
- We have contracted to pay the Coliseum $600,000 in round figures for a two-year lease. We receive no parking fees at the Coliseum.
- We have spent $300,000 converting the Coliseum for temporary baseball use, including restoration to original conditions for the following: Mary’s Hour, Scout-O-Rama, collegiate track meets, American Legion fireworks and college and professional football games at a cost of another $50,000.
- We gave up the Fourth of July date plus other dates to accommodate traditional tenants.
- We still own and maintain Wrigley Field. In addition, we are maintaining Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. We are the only ball club in the country with three vacant ball parks while paying the highest rental in the country to play in a converted one.
- We have committed ourselves by contract to build what I know will be the finest and most modern baseball stadium in the world at Chavez Ravine. We will make up all excess costs for grading and interior roads. Yankee Stadium was built in 1923 with baseball money. All other major league stadia since have been built with taxpayers’ money on tax-exempt property. When the Braves move[d] from Boston to Milwaukee they became tenants in County Stadium. When the Browns went from St. Louis to Baltimore they moved into Municipal Stadium. Kansas City purchased the Blues’ Stadium from the Yankees and refurbished it for major league ball and the Philadelphia Athletics. San Francisco has voted on a bond issue to house the Giants in their new ball park. The Dodgers, on the other hand, will build, finance and maintain a baseball park, pay taxes and become part of your Los Angeles family. We believe this shows our faith in BASEBALL and LOS ANGELES.
- We have committed ourselves by contract to donate to the City of Los Angeles for twenty years a $500,000 Youth Recreation Center and to financially support it at the rate of $60,000 per year.
- We have committed ourselves and contracted to turn over Wrigley Field — land, stadium, equipment and lights — to the City of Los Angeles. This has been appraised at $2,250,000 by the City. Reproduction costs have been testified to as $4,250,000 by City officials. (Several years ago Mr. Wrigley had a careful study made and reproduction cost at that time was given as $4,500,000.) We bought Wrigley Field and the Los Angeles minor league franchise for $3,000,000.
- We have kept every promise we made and we know the City and County will do likewise.
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Los Angeles Mayor Norris Poulson supported the Dodgers in the “Proposition B” debate in 1958, as this brochure explains. |
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