Walter O’Malley established a legacy as one of sport’s top visionaries and businessmen, building a first-class organization based on long-term stability and success. As President of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, one of baseball’s most enduring and beloved teams, he inscribed his reputation as an astute owner.
In his pioneering move of the Brooklyn Dodgers to the West Coast, he advanced the nationwide growth and success of the sport. O’Malley’s crowning achievement was designing, privately financing and building Dodger Stadium, the finest baseball ballpark of its time and, more than 40 years after it opened, remains as one of Los Angeles’ most recognizable and popular landmarks.
On December 3, 2007, O’Malley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in its ballot of executives/pioneers. Induction ceremonies will be held on July 27, 2008 in Cooperstown, New York. In December 1999, The Sporting News named O’Malley the 11th Most Powerful Person in Sports over the last century, while ABC Sports ranked O’Malley in its Top 10 Most Influential People “off the field” in sports history as voted by the Sports Century panel.